You go into the kitchen and you find a snack. How about a salty treat… how about crackers? Potato chips sound good! Hold up. Maybe this leftover slice of cheesecake.
Actually, maybe you should just eat a banana. A banana is a healthier option obviously.
When it comes to the human body, everything is interconnected. So it’s probably not a big surprise that what you eat can affect your ears. If you consume a diet high in sodium, for instance, it can elevate your blood pressure and that can escalate your tinnitus symptoms. Recent research is suggesting that diet can have a direct influence on the development of tinnitus symptoms.
Tinnitus and your diet
The official journal of the American Auditory Society, called Ear and Hearing, published a study that observed the diets of a wide variety of people. The data indicates that your diet could increase or diminish your vulnerability to specific inner ear disorders, tinnitus among them. And your risk of developing tinnitus increases, particularly when your diet is lacking vitamin B12.
Vitamin B12 wasn’t the only nutrient that was connected with tinnitus symptoms. Eating too much calcium, iron, or fat could raise your chances of developing tinnitus as well.
And there’s more. The researchers also reported that dietary patterns may also bring about tinnitus symptoms. Particularly, diets high in protein seemed to decrease the likelihood of developing tinnitus. Not surprisingly, low-fat diets that were high in fruits, vegetables, and meats also seemed fairly good for your ears.
So should you make a change to your diet?
You would have to have a seriously deficient diet in order for that to be the cause, so modifying your diet alone probably won’t have a significant impact. Your hearing is much more likely to be affected by other things, like exposure to loud sound. But your general health depends on a healthy diet.
This research has discovered some practical and meaningful insights:
- Nutrients are essential: Your diet is going to have an effect on your hearing health. It sure seems as if an overall healthy diet will be good for your ears. So it isn’t hard to see how problems like tinnitus can be an outcome of poor nutrition. And with individuals who are lacking the vital vitamins, minerals, and nutrients they need, this is particularly true.
- Quantities vary: Sure, you require a certain amount of vitamin B12 (for example) to keep your hearing healthy. You will be more susceptible to tinnitus if you get less than this. But your ears won’t necessarily be healthy just because you get enough B12. Always speak with your physician about any supplements you use because getting too little or too much of these nutrients can be bad for you.
- Get your hearing tested professionally: Come in and get your hearing tested if you’re experiencing hearing loss or tinnitus. We can help you figure out what type and level of hearing loss you’re coping with and how to best treat it.
- Protecting your ears takes many strategies: As reported by this research, eating a healthy diet can help reduce your vulnerability to tinnitus and other inner ear ailments. But that doesn’t mean the overall risk has disappeared. It simply means that your ears are a bit more robust. So if you want to reduce the chance of tinnitus even further, you’ll have to take an inclusive approach to safeguard your ears. This might mean using earmuffs or earplugs to guarantee noise levels stay safe.
Research is one thing, real life is another
While this is exciting research, it’s important to mention that there’s more to be said on the subject. More research must be carried out on this subject to confirm these conclusions, or to improve them, or dispute them. How much of this connection is causal and how much is correlational is still something that needs to be identified, for example.
So we’re not suggesting that tinnitus can be eliminated by a B12 shot alone. It may mean using a multi-faceted approach in order to prevent tinnitus from the start. One of those facets can definitely be diet. But it’s crucial to take steps to safeguard your hearing and don’t forget about established methods.
If you’re suffering from tinnitus, give us a call. We can help.
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References
https://journals.lww.com/ear-hearing/Fulltext/2020/03000/Relationship_Between_Diet,_Tinnitus,_and_Hearing.8.aspx