Eat your carrots for good eye sight, is likely a bit of advice most of us were told as children. Most likely you weren’t given any comparable recommendations about what foods were beneficial to your ears. We can finally tell our children what to eat for good hearing; advice that’s undoubtedly wise for us to adhere to as well.
Numerous factors can result in loss of hearing, including age, noise, and infections. Nutrients and vitamins that can help prevent or impede some common causes of hearing loss are found within the food described below.
There’s more. Dark chocolate is also ideal for your hearing health! Age-related hearing loss has been connected to zinc deficiencies, and zinc is a component of dark chocolate. If you do not care for dark chocolate, try some oysters on the half shell; any foods which contain zinc will do!
Extreme noise exposure can provoke the formation of destructive free radicals which are linked to the demise of inner ear hair cells. Antioxidants and folic acid can help protect against free radical damage in the inner ear. Particular foods are especially rich in antioxidants and folic acid – among them nuts, asparagus, eggs and spinach.
Amazingly, fish like trout or salmon which contains vitamin D and omega 3 fats, has been shown in medical studies to reduce age-related hearing problems. Other good omega 3 fats and vitamin D choices are the anchovies on your pizza and the tuna fish sitting in your cupboard. For a hearing boost in old age, eat any of these at least two times per week.
Music artists, machinery workers, and other professionals exposed to loud noises, are at a greater risk for ear damage. Foods loaded with the mineral magnesium such as bananas, artichokes and potatoes may help safeguard the hearing of people with a job or pastime subjecting them to loud sound. Research studies have shown that magnesium-rich foods help protect against noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). The mechanism for this is not known, but the end result has been observed in animals and humans.
Now, together with the urging to eat carrots for better eye sight, we can help our kids and grandkids defend their ears from hearing loss with a few basic foods we probably have in our kitchen.