As children, most of us were most likely advised to eat our carrots for better vision. It’s likely that you were not given any similar suggestions about which foods were beneficial to your ears and hearing. Kids now can be taught what to eat for healthy hearing and ears; sensible advice that we should all follow.
Several things can contribute to hearing loss, including infections, age and noise. Vitamins and nutrients in the foods mentioned in this article can aid in the prevention of some commonplace causes of hearing loss.
The vitamin D and omega 3 fats found in some fish, including salmon and trout, have been demonstrated in research studies to prevent age-related hearing loss. The anchovies many of us hold from our pizza and the tuna fish most likely in your pantry are additional good sources of fish containing omega 3 fats and vitamin D. For a hearing boost later in life, consume any of these at least twice per week.
Music artists, construction workers, and other workers in contact with loud noises, are at a high risk for ear damage. Foods loaded with magnesium like potatoes, banana and artichokes may help protect the hearing of people with a profession or pastime subjecting them to intense sound. Foods rich in magnesium help safeguard against noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) despite the fact that the mechanism for how the magnesium does this is not known.
Contact with high decibel noise can trigger the formation of harmful free radicals contributing to the death of sensitive inner ear hair cells, according to The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). Antioxidants and folic acid can minimize free radical damage in the inner ear. Certain foods are particularly abundant in antioxidants and folic acid – among them asparagus, eggs, nuts and spinach.
Even some foods we consider treats, such as dark chocolate, are beneficial to hearing health. Dark chocolate contains zinc, and zinc deficiencies have been related to age-related hearing loss. If you don’t like dark chocolate, eat some oysters on the half shell; any foods which contain zinc will do!
Nowadays we can help our kids minimize future hearing loss with a few basic foods we most likely have in our kitchen. Simply add some of these to the grocery list next to carrots for better eye sight.
