Heart Rate Variability (HRV)

Heart Quest

The Heart Quest is technology that can measure a patient’s heart rate variability. Heart rate variability (HRV) is the measurement of variation in the time interval between heart beats. The time between two heart beats is called the time domain.

A healthy heart rate variability will show lots of variation in the time domain between successive heart beats.

This would indicate a strong, healthy autonomic nervous system. A patient with less variation between heart beats would have low heart rate variability. This would indicate decreased autonomic nervous system regulation.

The importance of Heart Quest HRV is that it gives a quick and noninvasive view of a patient’s autonomic nervous system, allowing us to gauge the clients ability to adapt and respond positively to recommendations. It is also another way to track progress because as a client becomes healthier, their HRV score will improve.

Autonomic Nervous System

The autonomic nervous system is responsible for influencing the visceral organs, smooth muscle such as the blood vessels and glands, and has a big influence on the heart.

There are 2 branches to the autonomic nervous system:
1. The Sympathetic nervous system
2. The Parasympathetic nervous system

The Sympathetic nervous system deals with stress situations and is sometimes referred to as the “fight or flight” system. It is involved in mobilizing energy and resources for survival. The opposite system is the Parasympathetic nervous system. It is thought of as the calm system and has been coined the “rest and digest” system. Parasympathetic nervous system is involved in conserving energy and is highly involved with digestion.

Simply put, one is the gas pedal and the other is the brakes.

By knowing how each system is function, Trovato Nutrition can assess how the patient is responding to certain therapies.