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A Healthy Diet Supports Your Hearing
A healthy diet is great for some of the more obvious reasons – lowering our blood pressure, keeping us energetic, bolstering our immune system, even helping with our eyesight! But did you know that a healthy diet also supports your hearing?
A couple of new studies have found that certain nutrients central to a healthy and balanced diet can contribute to protecting your hearing as well as reducing the risk of developing hearing loss. We’ll take a look at these two studies, and discuss the nutrient-rich foods that support healthy hearing.
Study: The Role of Antioxidants in Reducing Noise-Induced Hearing Loss
From the Kresge Institute of the University of Michigan, Dr. Colleen Le Prell and Dr. Joseph Miller found that “high doses of certain antioxidants reduce noise-induced hearing loss in animals when taken both before and after loud noise.” This study was funded by the American Hearing Research Foundation and was published in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine.
Drs. Le Prell and Miller introduced certain vitamins to guinea pigs before and after exposing them to high levels of noise. Over a five-day period, guinea pigs received doses of vitamins A, C, E, and magnesium an hour before noise exposure, as well as after. These two researchers found that this daily treatment of high-doses of vitamins effectively prevented noise-induced hearing loss in test subjects. The loudest noise played was equivalent to 120 decibels, or a jet engine at take-off.
The important takeaway from this study lies in the way noise-induced hearing loss was believed to happen. Older research indicated that noise-induced hearing loss occurred due to damage to inner ear cells when exposed to loud noise. This study by Drs. Le Prell and Miller revealed that in fact, “noise exposure damages sensory cells by the formation of free radicals, damaging molecules known to cause cell death…damage to sensory cells can be prevented by antioxidants that prevent free radical damage by binding to free radical molecules and rendering them harmless.”
What did this study conclude? Drs. Le Prell and Miller found that the combination of vitamins A, C, E and magnesium “worked in synergy to prevent cell damage” and “showed significantly less noise-induced hearing loss.” Dr. Le Prell says that “people would likely benefit by consuming a pill or nutritional bar before going to work in noisy environments, or attending noisy events…we think this micronutrient combination will work even post-noise.”
Study: Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Folic Acids Support Healthy Hearing
Dr. Joe McDermott, AuD, reports in The Daily Sentinel that “eating foods rich in certain nutrients help boost hearing or even prevent or delay hearing loss.” Dr. McDermott points specifically to omega-3 fatty acids for their anti-inflammatory properties and to antioxidants and folic acids to protect against free radicals.
Omega-3 fatty acids are found most commonly in fish such as salmon, tuna, and sardines. According to Dr. McDermott, “people who eat two or more portions of fish per week are 42% less likely to develop presbycusis [age-related hearing loss] compared with those who do not eat fish on a regular basis.”
Additionally, Dr. McDermott believes that antioxidants, specifically folic acid, are important in preventing damage to our hearing. He notes that people “over the age of 50 years with folate deficiency have reported to have a 35% higher risk of haring loss.” To ensure our hearing health, Dr. McDermott recommends that we include more omega-3 fatty acids, folic acid, vitamins B12, C, D, and E, as well as nutrients such as zinc and magnesium.
Nutrients that Protect and Improve Hearing
In an article for ProHealth, Dr. Mercola writes, “Age-related hearing loss is actually not due to any kind of mechanical dysfunction in your ear. Rather, it’s how your brain processes information that results in reduced hearing. Dr. Mercola reports that nutrients such as carotenoids, such as Vitamin A; folate; zinc’ and magnesium all support hearing by “protecting against oxidative stress in the cochlea, preventing free radical damage, and improving blood flow.” The inner ear environment requires a healthy flow of oxygen to thrive. These vitamins help to ensure a healthy inner ear environment.
Incorporating leafy greens and colorful vegetables into your diet will increase the level of folic acid intake – which helps your blood flow and your brain function. Whole vegetables such as asparagus, spinach, romaine, and broccoli bring other vitamins to your diet as well. If you eat fish, then two servings a week will add a healthy dose of omega-3 fatty acids to your diet.
