Module Three
Think of your nervous system as the main switchboard of your body.
“While you can’t live without any of the systems in your body ~ your circulatory system, your respiratory system, your digestive system, etc. ~ it’s your nervous system that is the command centre of all the other systems….
Your nervous system transmits, gauges, and relays your sense of safety, both internally, among the other systems of your own body, and externally, to other human nervous systems too.” James Dowler
I believe our nervous system is the bedrock for all our health, especially if you are someone whofinds processing your senses challenging. If you are living in a constant state of triggered overwhelm you will be exhausting your nervous system and distracting it from the many other functions it may need to be focusing on.
So why on earth am I talking about all of this in a cooking course? Because I believe cooking and eating well can very much help you calm and organise your nervous system. I believe that food helps to link our minds and bodies wonderfully together and through using the tools in this course it will help support you as best it can.
The nervous system is designed to take information from our body and its surroundings to the brain and also from the brain to the body, so we understand everything in the world around us and how to respond to it. We now know that 80% of the activity of the nervous system is actually the messages that the brain is RECEIVING and 20% is the messages that the brain sends out to the body. This just highlights the importance of wanting to support both mind and body as best we can.
The nervous system in the animal world has evolved over time to work really well. When we look at a zebra or a gazelle being chased by a lion, it transitions very swiftly into its sympathetic nervous system/flight or fightmode, in order to protect itself and survive a threatening situation. Once the threat has gone, its nervous system calms down . However, this is sadly not the case for us.
Typically, stress feels like a tension or pressure building up, usually brought on by changes in your nervous system being activated through triggers in the environment or our thoughts. However, we are living in a time with mobile phones permanently on us, fast food and AI, our systems are bombarded with more and more information than we could possibly process - often leading to nervous system dysregulation.
Learning which nervous system “state” you might be in and how to guide your body to more of a feeling of safety or stability I believe can make all the difference in a world that’s quite simply not slowing down.
Having previously believed that our nervous system responses are automatic, we now understand that we are actually able to control them, to a certain extent, with practice. The vagus nerve is a big part of that. The vagus nerve innervates the heart, lungs and gut. By working with and understanding the vagus nerve we can actively de stress these systems. There are two distinct branches of the vagus nerve: ventral (front) and dorsal (back)… which leads us onto the Poly Vegal Theory next….
POLY VEGAL THEORY
WHAT IS THE POLY VEGAL THEORY?
Contrary to what you might know about the autonomic nervous system (ANS) it’s now believed to be broken down into 3 primary states managed by different branches of the vagus nerve: the sympathetic(fight/flight) and then the parasympathetic which is split as the ventral vagal (safe/social) is at the front, and dorsal vagal (shutdown) is at the back. As opposed to previously being thought that the Nervous system was just 2 states– the parasympathetic and sympathetic.
Stephen Porges theorised that the 3 categories actually interact with one another and that our emotional states can “blend” into each other.
Example: Mobilised but Safe
This is a state where the ventral vagal and sympathetic branches are both active. It represents a balance between feeling alert and having a sense of safety. In this state, people might feel energised, focused, and ready to engage, but in a way that feels secure and purposeful rather than anxious or defensive.
Real-world example: Public speaking can invoke this blended state. The sympathetic activation provides alertness and physical energy, while the ventral vagal tone ensures a sense of calm and connection to the audience, supporting effective communication without overwhelming anxiety.
Learning a little more about these states can hopefully help you to understand what your individual body feels like, making you more aware of your responses to things. The more you become aware of these feelings and sensations within your system the more you will be able to find affective ways to move out of them and create stability and safety.
If you think of the nervous system similar to a ladder that you can go up and down on throughout the day – a healthy nervous system would allow for you to move seamlessly up and down, however for many of us, we might get stuck on certain rungs or find it hard to move or indeed move too much.
Safety and stability are the 2 keys areas in nervous system health we want to get to and be able to come back to. A state of anchored ventral where we can process information and react to life appropriately.
I believe the kitchen can be one of the best ways of creating that stability and safety (after all its always referred to as the heart of the house) and we will cover different practical ways of creating this.
Just to clarify the 3 states one more time -
Ventral Vegal – when you are feeling balanced, able to take on life’s challenges and confident
Dorsal Vegal – hypo arousal - often when you might be feeling shut down, wanting to spend time in isolation, deflated, flat
Sympathetic - hyper arousal - activated, pumped, finding things intense, too much, overwhelming
The Nervous System through a more Western lens
Being aware of the foods to boost or avoid for your nervous system can help to support you more. Sugar is so often the instant reliever to stressful moments. However, this can be an addictive relationship to build on and can also impact the important role our immune system has to play. Although, I have generally found an element of sweet can often help calm the nervous system, leaving it feeling reassured. As we can see from the 5 elements - the Earth Element (which rules the stomach and spleen and arguably the most important of all of the elements) is tonified through sweetners. I believe it’s through learning about sweetners and ways to create sweet that can make all the difference. Trying to balance a meal with proteins will help curb the sugar highs and possible crashes that come later, learning about the different ways to create sweetness ( through browning of meat and vegetables), as well as simply having more of a range of sweetness to hand (maples, agaves, or muscovado sugars), to help diversify your nutritional content.
Textures can also be key, both in terms of touch but also in your mouth. A silky smooth, lightly thick, hot drink can hugely affect how you are feeling, whereas a spicy, crunchy creation when you are in a moment of panic could send your senses reeling. This can, of course, be very individual, but something to bear in mind.
BOOST: Eating protein with every meal (and snack) is the foundation of helping to balance blood glucose levels. This helps to sustain us, providing a steady source of energy to our brain for healthy neurotransmitter production. Protein is also the building block of neurotransmitters so getting, a varied source of quality protein ensures we have the raw materials to support a healthy nervous system. Certain foods are rich in specific amino acids, for example GABBA our “inner yogi” neurotransmitter helping us to experience an overall sense of calm. focusing a lot on leafy greens to help support your B vitamins as well as live yoghurt or probiotic rich foods such as kefir (possibly preferring goats), miso. Try adding cinnamon into dishes to help balance blood sugar levels
AVOID: Refined sugar foods (sweets, cakes, chocolate, muffins, carbonated sugary drinks, sugary breakfast cereals) which contribute to blood glucose spikes. Dairy foods (milk, cheese, cream, ice cream) increase mucus production so eliminate these if you are suffering with a cold or cough. Dairy and gluten foods (wheat, rye, barley) can cause cognitive and/or inflammatory issues for some people and best avoided if eaten in excess. If you suspect this to be an area of concern seek the advice of a qualified Nutritional Therapist.
SIGNS OF AN IMBALANCE IN YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM
Feeling heightened or threatened Reduced Window of Tolerance Out of control thoughts Addictive behavioral patterns Muscle tension Anxiety Headaches Thyroid issues Autoimmune conditions
PMS symptoms
Worry/ depression Always catching colds and infections Craving sugary foods and stimulants such as coffee etc
