You’re feeling hungry so you go to your fridge for a snack. Will it be something salty… what about crackers? Oooo, chips! Hold up. Maybe this leftover piece of cheesecake.
Perhaps you should just go with a banana on second thought. A banana is a healthier option after all.
Everything is interrelated in the human body. So maybe it’s not a huge surprise that your diet can affect your ears. If you consume a diet high in sodium, for example, it can elevate your blood pressure which can increase your tinnitus symptoms. Current research is indicating that diet can have a strong influence on the development of tinnitus.
Tinnitus and your diet
A study published in Ear and Hearing, the official publication of the American Auditory Society, observed all kinds of people and looked closely at their diets. The data indicates that what you eat might increase or diminish your vulnerability to certain inner ear conditions, tinnitus among them. And, based on the research, a deficiency of vitamin B12, in particular, could increase your potential for developing tinnitus.
Vitamin B12 wasn’t the only nutrient that was linked to tinnitus symptoms. Eating too much calcium, iron, or fat could raise your risk of developing tinnitus too.
That’s not all. The researchers also noted that dietary patterns could also trigger tinnitus symptoms. In particular, diets high in protein appeared to reduce the likelihood of developing tinnitus. It also seemed that diets low in fat and high in fruits and veggies had a positive effect on your hearing.
So should you make a change to your diet?
You would have to have an extremely deficient diet in order for that to be the cause, so changing your diet alone probably won’t have a significant impact. Your hearing is much more likely to be impacted by other factors, such as exposure to loud noise. But your general health depends on a healthy diet.
There are several substantive and practical insights that we can get from this research:
- Nutrients are essential: Your diet will have an impact on your hearing health. Obviously, your hearing will be benefited by a balanced diet. So it’s not difficult to see how issues like tinnitus can be a result of poor nutrition. This can be especially important to note when people aren’t taking in the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that they require.
- Quantities vary: Certainly, if you want to keep your ears healthy you need a certain amount of B12 in your diet. 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. Getting too little or too much of these elements could be detrimental to your hearing, so always talk with your doctor about any supplements you take.
- Always get your hearing checked by a professional: Come in and get your hearing evaluated if you’re experiencing tinnitus or hearing loss. We will help you determine what type and degree of hearing loss you’re dealing with and how to best treat it.
- Protecting your ears takes many strategies: Based on this study, eating a good diet can help reduce your susceptibility to tinnitus and other inner ear ailments. That doesn’t mean you’re no longer at risk. It just gives you better odds of avoiding ear conditions. You’ll need a more comprehensive approach if you really want to be protected from the risk of tinnitus. This might mean using earmuffs or earplugs to ensure volume levels remain safe.
Real life doesn’t always echo the research
While this is exciting research, it’s important to mention that there’s more to be said on the subject. In order to verify and sharpen the scope of these conclusions, more research will still need to be carried out. We’re not sure, for instance, how much of this connection is causal or correlational.
So we’re not implying that tinnitus can be stopped by a B12 shot alone. It may mean using a multi-faceted approach in order to prevent tinnitus in the first place. Diet is one of those prongs, sure (eat that banana). But it’s crucial that you take steps to protect your hearing and don’t forget about established strategies.
We can help, so if you’re experiencing hearing problems, call us.
References
https://journals.lww.com/ear-hearing/Fulltext/2020/03000/Relationship_Between_Diet,_Tinnitus,_and_Hearing.8.aspx
