The Relationship Between Hearing & Diet

We all know that there are many benefits of a healthy diet. With morbid obesity on the rise on a global level, there is an overall decline in the health of people of all ages. But maintaining a “healthy” diet is more complex than it sounds. It seems every week there is a new set of recommendations in the news, in magazines, or on YouTube telling us what we should and should not eat. And the science on this does not seem to be evolving as much as it seems just to be constantly… changing.

As we often argue on this website, the ear is a “canary in the coal mine.” By this we mean that the ear is a good- and sensitive- indicator of situations that are eventually damaging to our health. For example, we know that obesity is linked to hearing loss, as is cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. These conditions are also related to diet and exercise (but not exclusively as there are genetic and other environmental factors involved).

Therefore, it seems reasonable that the effects of a poor diet, sustained for many years, could have a negative impact on hearing health. Below is some compelling evidence of this relationship.

Is Diet Quality Related to Hearing Loss?

For years it has been shown that hearing loss is more common among people with cardiovascular disease. Studies have also confirmed an increase of hearing problems among people who are just obese or who have other metabolic issues, such as hypertension, pre-diabetes, and sedentary lifestyles.

Logically, then, researchers began asking the question whether diet, on its own, has an impact on hearing health- even if a person is not necessarily ill.

At this point the research has provided us with an answer. And that answer is a definite… maybe.

So far, research in animals is showing that what we eat can directly impact the cochlea (inner ear). In these studies, it has been shown that intensely poor diets have resulted in changes in cochlea morphology (structure of the organ) and hearing loss, mostly in rats. Additionally, studies have shown that animals fed an unhealthy diet were more susceptible to damage from loud noise.

What about studies in humans?

There are good clinical studies looking into this issue; however, human studies are more difficult as we cannot totally control a person’s diet, nor can we dissect the cochlea from a living person, just to study how it was damaged.

In human studies, we can assess the average hearing ability of people who report eating a certain kind of diet. This results in more vague results, but it does give us a sense of whether there is a relationship between these two variables: diet and hearing.

The Evidence That A Healthy Diet = Healthy Hearing

In 2017, Christopher Spankovich and colleagues published an article titled: Relationship between dietary quality, tinnitus, and hearing level: data from the national health and nutrition examination survey, 1999-2002. This article was published in the International Journal of Audiology.

These investigators looked at data for adults between 20 and 69 years of age in the national health and nutrition examination survey (NHANES) database. They looked at the reported hearing health of participants in relationship to the healthy eating index (HEI).

Their results showed that a healthier diet correlated well with a decrease in reported tinnitus (ringing or other noise in the ear).

Though the results did not show a strong relationship of the healthy eating index (HEI) and hearing loss, per se, they did show a relationship with tinnitus, which itself is known to be a moderately-strong predictor of hearing loss later in life.

More recently, in a review paper titled “The link between gut dysbiosis caused by a high-fat diet and hearing loss,” Dagmara Kociszewska and colleagues provide a conceptual and theoretical overview of the association of gut health and hearing loss. These investigators compiled research from a number of various studies that show how hearing loss is impacted by obesity, poor diet, and other factors, such as inflammation and oxidative stress (which can also result from a poor diet).

These investigators concluded that there is substantial evidence that suggests how a poor diet can increase several factors that can damage the ear, including: leaky gut, poor microbiome (unhealthy gut bacteria) and chronic systemic inflammation, to name a few. They hypothesize that these changes directly lead to inflammation of the cochlea, which in turn can result in tinnitus and eventual hearing loss.
Despite this compelling research, there are a few concerns one needs to have before running wild with this.

Firstly, what makes a healthy diet is very much up for debate. Though published research has often linked a high fat diet to ear problems, they have not completely broken down the kinds of fats that are of concern.

Nutrition research has long argued that there are healthy fats and unhealthy fats. And we know that a diet that is healthy for one person, such as someone who is already diabetic, is not necessarily healthy, or optimal, for a different person, such as someone with heart disease, or another who is already a healthy weight and younger.

Secondly, clinical studies, such as those that involve human participants, are very difficult to control. This basically means that an investigator never really knows what a person is eating from day to day. And we all know that people can be very bad at estimating their daily calories, fruits and veggies, and carbohydrates. And these studies almost always depend on participants to report what and how much they ate for a specific period of time.

In conclusion, however, it’s clear that there’s a relationship between diet and hearing health. Perhaps we should conclude that a diet that allows you to achieve a normal body weight, and allows you to feel generally energetic and satiated, is a good one. And don’t ignore the conventional wisdom that eating lean meats, with plenty of fruits and vegetables, is a good place to start.

What Research Still Needs to be Done?

Clearly more research is needed on this issue. We would all like to know exactly what we should eat, both at home and in restaurants, to be our best selves. At present, however, there is no consensus on exactly what that is.

We need more research that can truly control what study participants eat, for a long period of time, and only then examine the effects on health. The problem is that a research study that controls everything a person eats is not likely to be very popular.

Perhaps we will have to rely more on animal studies from this point on… as only with animal studies can we truly control the variables. The difficulty with this is determining how much a certain diet given to a lab rat will have the same effects on a human.

It is likely that we do have the information we need to make some very general assumptions. We likely need to eat a diet similar to that of our ancestors. Thousands of years ago, our ancestors had to forage for raw fruits and vegetables, and they only occasionally got their hands on animal meat. Also, our ancestors only ever ate what was in season. And I’m certain they never ate sweetened cereal or drank sweetened colas!

We Hear What We Eat… So To Speak.

“Diet is medicine…” as the saying goes. Or, said another way, “we are what we eat.”

Considering how important diet is to every aspect of our health, it is no wonder how important it can be to our hearing, also.

Aside from looking better, and feeling like our best selves, a good diet is certainly one that extends our life years, and if it helps us prevent hearing loss, it can also improve our wellbeing.

But what IS a healthy diet? It is likely the one that makes you look and feel your best. On this website, we always recommend that you consult with a trusted physician to get the best advice. And this is because you may have specific dietary needs that another person doesn’t have. Research on the internet may be a good place to start; however, before you actuate a specific plan, talk to your doctor.

Whether you are overweight or not… but you are experiencing tinnitus or a hearing problem, a comprehensive hearing assessment with an audiologist will be a good thing to add to your journey of better health.

References

Spankovich, C., Bishop, C., Johnson, M. F., Elkins, A., Su, D., Lobarinas, E., & Le Prell, C. G. (2017). Relationship between dietary quality, tinnitus and hearing level: data from the national health and nutrition examination survey, 1999–2002. International journal of audiology, 56(10), 716-722.

Kociszewska, D., Chan, J., Thorne, P. R., & Vlajkovic, S. M. (2021). The link between gut dysbiosis caused by a high-fat diet and hearing loss. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(24), 13177.