You go into the kitchen to find a bite to eat. Will it be something salty… what about crackers? Oooo, chips! There’s a leftover slice of cheesecake that would be delightful.
On second thought, maybe you should just eat a banana. After all, a banana is a much healthier choice.
When it comes to the human body, everything is connected. So the fact that your diet can affect your ears shouldn’t come as a surprise. For instance, too much sodium can increase blood pressure and could make tinnitus symptoms more pronounced. Recent research is suggesting that diet can have a strong influence on the development of tinnitus symptoms.
Tinnitus and your diet
The official publication of the American Auditory Society, called Ear and Hearing, published research that looked at the diets of a wide variety of people. The data suggests that what you eat may increase or diminish your vulnerability to certain inner ear conditions, tinnitus among them. And your chance 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. Consuming too much calcium, iron, or fat could raise your chances of getting tinnitus too.
And there’s more. The researchers also noted that dietary patterns could also bring about tinnitus symptoms. For example, your risk of developing tinnitus will be reduced by a diet high in protein. Not surprisingly, low-fat diets that were high in fruits, vegetables, and meats also seemed fairly good for your ears.
Does this suggest you should change your diet?
You would need to have an extremely deficient diet in order for that to be the cause, so modifying your diet alone probably won’t have a significant effect. Other issues, such as exposure to loud sound, are far more likely to affect your hearing. But your general health depends on a healthy diet.
This research has uncovered some practical and meaningful insights:
- Safeguarding your ears takes many approaches: According to this research, eating a healthy diet can help reduce your vulnerability to tinnitus and other inner ear conditions. But that doesn’t mean the entire risk has disappeared. It just gives you better odds of avoiding ear conditions. You’ll need a more extensive approach if you truly want to be protected from the risk of tinnitus. This may mean wearing earmuffs or earplugs to make sure noise levels remain safe.
- Quantities vary: Sure, you need a certain amount of vitamin B12 (for instance) to keep your ears healthy. You will be more susceptible to tinnitus if you go below this level. But getting more vitamin B12 isn’t necessarily going to make your ears healthier. Always speak with your physician about any supplements you take 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 evaluated if you’re experiencing hearing loss or tinnitus. We can help you determine what type and degree of hearing loss you’re dealing with and how to best manage it.
- Nutrients are important: 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 a result of poor nutrition. This can be especially important to take note of when people aren’t taking in the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that they require.
Real life doesn’t always echo the research
While this is exciting research, it’s significant to mention that there’s more to be said on the matter. In order to verify and sharpen the scope of these results, more research will still have to be carried out. How much of this connection is causal and how much is correlational is still something that needs to be determined, for example.
So we’re a long way from claiming that a vitamin B12 shot will stop tinnitus. Keeping that ringing in your ears from appearing in the first place could mean taking a multi-faceted approach. One of those facets can definitely be diet. But it’s important that you don’t forget about tried and tested methods, and that you focus on safeguarding your hearing health as much as you can.
If you’re experiencing tinnitus, contact us. We can help.
References
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tinnitus/symptoms-causes
https://journals.lww.com/ear-hearing/Fulltext/2020/03000/Relationship_Between_Diet,_Tinnitus,_and_Hearing.8.aspx
