FOUND: Simple ways to reverse the effects of stress

Experts say a strong vagus nerve is crucial for your body to effectively deal with tension and the physical damage It inflicts. Keep reading to learn how to keep it in shape to help you feel your best!

- MELISSA GOTTHARDT

For so many of us, stress has become a daily companion. In fact, a recent Gallup poll found that 53% of women say they are "frequently" stressed. And while the body's stress response was built to help us react and deal with physical threats that come our way, the daily chronic stress we faceeverything from financial worries to traffic jams, spilled coffee and more-sabotages our health in a myriad of ways.

Indeed, study after study shows that this constant stress state triggers exhaustion, brain fog, digestive problems and even a decreased ability to handle stress and anxiety, creating a vicious stress cycle run amok.

How does this happen? Daily stress weakens the vagus nerve, explains Paul Spector, M.D., a preventive medicine expert and vagus nerve researcher. Wandering from the brain to the abdomen, the vagus nerve passes through several organs, including the heart, lungs and digestive tract. The nerve acts as a master switch for the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS)-a group of nerves that restores the body to a state of calm after a bout of stress or heightened activity.

The PNS provides a counterbalance to the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), a different group of nerves that prepares the body to respond to a perceived threat or stressor in a variety of ways, including increasing heart rate and blood pressure.