Dr. Majid Fotuhi

And that's a natural and a good thing to have.

It means that your sympathetic and parasympathetic are balanced.

And then when you breathe in, your heart rate goes a little faster.

And when you breathe out, your heart rate is a little slower.

It means that you're in tip-top shape.

And when somebody is stressed out, this heart rate becomes rigid.

The sympathetic system overrides the parasympathetic system, and your heart rate becomes rigid.

It beats exactly at the same time.

There's less variability.

Now, when you do this slow breathing, you increase heart rate variability, you increase the activity of parasympathetic nervous system, which through your vagus nerve go to your brain and it sets a tone in your brain.

Your brain literally calms down and the cortisol levels are reduced and the blood flow is improved.

So I think that the biggest nerve stimulation through things like heart rate variability are good for the brain, but I wouldn't go as far as if you put a stimulation in your biggest nerve that it can reverse Alzheimer's disease.

Studies have shown that the biggest nerve stimulation can help depression, which is wild in my opinion.

If you put something

That stimulates your vagus nerve, which goes to the brain and somehow improves your mood, which is great.

Again, it improves the blood flow to the brain and reduces cortisol, which then makes a person feel better.

However, in order to have a healthier brain, you really need to have those five pillars of brain health and not just one.

Fruits and vegetables are extremely important for reducing inflammation in the brain.

The standard American diet, unfortunately, is very pro-inflammatory.

Studies have shown that people who eat a standard American diet, which is a lot of sandwiches or french fries and sodas, have a smaller brain.