The Role Of Diet And Nutrition In Maintaining Healthy Hearing

From the day you are born, to your older self, your hearing is an aspect of your life that you should be looking after. Just like your diet, you should be paying close attention to your hearing, ensuring you do your best to support it, instead of damaging it – such as playing too loud music through headphones.

No matter your age, you should often attend a hearing test to assess your level of hearing. The number of times you should visit a hearing health professional will change depending on your age. At face value, if you are under the age of 60, you should be visiting every three to five years. If you are over the age of 60, you should be visiting every year.

This being said, if you ever suspect you are struggling with your hearing, you can book an appointment at any time – hearing loss shouldn’t be seen as a negative. There are many ways you can be supported if you are experiencing hearing loss. Your hearing health professional will be able to recommend the best possible treatment options for you.

Diet and nutrition have a big role in maintaining healthy hearing. Eating a healthy balanced diet has many benefits for your overall health with your hearing being one of them. You may have seen several studies have been taken out, suggesting that the following nutrients can help reduce the chances of hearing loss.

Potassium

Essential to our body, potassium is very much needed as part of a healthy diet. It can be found in many foods including, oranges, bananas, potatoes, white beans and brussels sprouts. Studies suggest that consuming ample enough potassium within your diet can help reduce the risk of noise-induced hearing loss. Noise-induced hearing loss can happen as you get older, leading to the requirement for hearing aids.

When consuming more potassium, try to include fruits and vegetables within the meal you are preparing. This way you find it easier to consume more.

Folate

You may have heard of folate as sometimes it’s referred to as vitamin B. Folate is important for your red blood cells and your deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) structure. It is often found in beans, peas, nuts and leafy vegetables. If you are struggling to get enough folate in your diet, you can take supplements to increase your intake.

When it comes to your hearing, folate can assist with reducing hearing loss. If you are having symptoms of hearing loss, try to eat more folate as this can potentially slow down the process of losing your hearing.

Vitamin D

A vitamin that a lot of us are deficient enough in is vitamin D. Vitamin D is obtained by spending time in the sunlight as well as eating fatty fish and fortified foods. It is important for our overall health as well as our hearing health.

By consuming enough vitamin D, you are able to develop the small bones that are located in your inner ear. By developing these, you will be able to improve how they function, helping maintain healthy hearing.

If you struggle to take in enough vitamin D, a lot of people turn to supplements or vitamin D drops as this is an easy way to increase your vitamin D levels. If you suspect you are low on vitamin D, there are a number of tests that you can take part in.

As you can see your diet and nutrition plays a very important part in your overall health and in your hearing health. For this reason alone, it’s important that you look after your diet, to ensure your hearing is operating at its best.

Along with your diet, there are other ways to protect your hearing from avoiding spaces that have loud noises like stadiums, wearing hearing protection, taking a break from intense noises, turning the volume down and educating yourself on hearing loss. The more you do now to help protect your hearing, the less likely you are to have issues further down the line.

Are you ready to get your hearing health back on track? Give our friendly team a call to schedule your hearing test and find out what we can do for you! Please call Hearing Solutions of Northwest Michigan at (231) 518-4422 to book your appointment!