You’re feeling hungry so you look in your fridge for a little bite to eat. How about a salty treat… maybe some crackers? Potato chips sound good! Wait. Maybe this leftover slice of cheesecake.

Maybe you should just go with a banana on second thought. A banana is a healthier choice obviously.

With the human body, everything is connected. So the fact that your diet can affect your ears shouldn’t be surprising. If you consume a diet high in sodium, for instance, it can raise your blood pressure and that can increase your tinnitus symptoms. Research is adding weight to this idea, suggesting that what you eat could have a direct impact on the development of tinnitus.

Tinnitus and your diet

The official journal of the American Auditory Society, called Ear and Hearing, published research that looked at the diets of a wide variety of individuals. Your danger of certain inner ear disorders, including tinnitus, increases or diminishes depending on what you eat. And, according to the research, a lack of vitamin B12, particularly, could increase your potential for developing tinnitus.

There were nutrients other than B12 that were connected with tinnitus symptoms. Consuming too much calcium, iron, or fat could raise your risk of getting tinnitus as well.

That isn’t all. This research also indicated that tinnitus symptoms can also be influenced by dietary patterns. For example, your risk of developing tinnitus will be reduced by a diet high in protein. It also appeared that diets low in fat and high in fruits and veggies had a positive impact on your hearing.

So should you make a change to your diet?

Diet by itself isn’t likely to drastically change your hearing, and actually, you’d probably have to have a fairly significant deficiency for this to be the cause. Other issues, like exposure to loud sound, are much more likely to affect your hearing. But your overall health depends on a healthy diet.

This research has revealed some practical and meaningful insights:

• Protecting your ears takes many strategies: As reported by this study, eating a good diet can help lower your vulnerability to tinnitus and other inner ear conditions. But that doesn’t mean the overall risk has gone away. It simply gives you better odds of avoiding ear conditions. So if you want to reduce the chance of tinnitus even further, you’ll have to take a comprehensive approach to safeguard your ears. This will often mean safeguarding your ears from loud noise by using earplugs or earmuffs
• Nutrients are essential: Your general hearing health is going to be impacted by your diet. Naturally, your hearing will be benefited by a balanced diet. So it’s not difficult to see how issues like tinnitus can be an outcome of poor nutrition. This can be especially important to note when people aren’t getting the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that they need.
• Quantities vary: Sure, you require a certain amount of vitamin B12 (for example) to keep your hearing healthy. Getting less than that could increase your vulnerability to tinnitus. But getting more vitamin B12 won’t necessarily make your ears healthier. Always talk to your doctor about any supplements you use because getting too little or too much of these elements can be unhealthy.
• Get your hearing tested professionally: If you’re dealing with hearing loss or tinnitus, get your hearing tested. We will help you figure out what type and degree of hearing loss you’re dealing with and how to best manage it.

Research is one thing, real life is another

While this is inspiring research, it’s significant to note that there’s more to be said on the subject. More research must be conducted on this topic to confirm these results, or to improve them, or challenge them. We’re not sure, for example, how much of this relationship is causal or correlational.

So we’re not implying that tinnitus can be prevented by a B12 shot alone. Keeping that ringing in your ears from surfacing from the start could mean taking a multi-faceted approach. One of those facets can definitely be diet. But it’s crucial that you don’t forget about proven methods, and that you focus on protecting your ear health as much as you can.

We can help, so if you’re experiencing hearing problems, call us.

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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