04/02/2025
The Vagus Nerve and Matured Bitter Hops Plant -MHE3™
WHO KNEW IT?
Matured Hops Extract Activates the Vagus Nerve.
The Vagus Nerve - Cranial Nerve X - is the longest cranial nerve, connecting the brain to vital organs like the heart, lungs, and digestive system. It plays a crucial role in stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system into action, which leads away from the sympathetic default mode of flight, fight and freeze into "rest and digest" functions, helping the body relax, lower stress, repair and maintain homeostasis. Here's how matured hops extract contributes to its activation:
1. Rich in Bioactive Compounds: Matured hops extract contains polyphenols, flavonoids, and bitter acids such as humulones and lupulones. These compounds have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that improve gut health, a key player in the gut-brain axis regulated by the vagus nerve. Bitter taste receptors in the gut are activated which activates the vagal nerve endings.
2. Enhancing the Gut-Brain Connection: The vagus nerve serves as a communication bridge between the gut and the brain. By promoting a healthy gut microbiome, matured hops extract helps enhance this communication, improving vagal tone and overall well-being.
3. Reducing Stress and Inflammation: Chronic stress and inflammation negatively affect vagal function. The calming and anti-inflammatory effects of the compounds in matured hops extract can mitigate these issues, supporting healthy vagus nerve activity.
4. Supporting Parasympathetic Functions: The vagus nerve helps slow the heart rate, improve digestion, and regulate emotional well-being. Hops extract promotes relaxation and reduces cortisol levels, indirectly strengthening the parasympathetic response.
5. Impact on Fat Metabolism: Visceral fat contributes to systemic inflammation, which impairs vagus nerve function. Stimulation of the vagal nerve in the gut activates the brain to send a message to increase thermogenesis in the brown adipose tissue via increasing UCP-1 (uncoupling protein 1) and the number of mitochondria in which this chemical is used. UCP-1 helps the mitochondria turn fuel, in the form of fat, into heat rather than ATP. Fat for this process is obtained from white adipose tissue elsewhere in the body which includes visceral fat and deep subcutaneous fat. By helping to reduce visceral fat, matured hops extract supports a healthier inflammatory environment, further aiding vagus nerve performance. Mobilising fat stores also increases the amount of raw materials we have access to for hormone synthesis and brain function and repair as well as to be built into cell membranes and organelle structures. Releasing visceral fat also allows the NKT cells (natural killer T cells) we make as part of our own immune system into the rest of the body to do the job they are created to do which is to destroy any new cancer prone cells whenever they emerge. We don’t want our NKT cells held hostage and firefighting in the toxic fatty environment - they have work to do elsewhere.
By supporting the vagus nerve, matured hops extract contributes to improved digestion, stress management, heart health, and overall systemic balance, making it a powerful natural tool for enhancing wellness. It is the ultimate in restoring well needed balance and homeostasis. 🌱
