Best Foods for Hearing Health

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A healthy body must take in enough nutrients to keep it functioning properly – and the ears are no exception.

Like any other organ, ears need nutrition to support peak performance. Finding the right foods with the necessary vitamins and minerals can help your ears stay in tune longer throughout your life.

Boots Hearingcare takes a look at food for ears and discovers some of the best products to boost your hearing health.

Bananas and other high-potassium foods

When it comes to the inner ear, potassium helps convert sound into nerve impulses that get sent directly to the brain. However, because our potassium levels drop as we age, maintaining healthy levels of this important mineral is key to combating age-related hearing loss.

Bananas are a common food staple that promote a healthy potassium uptake. You can eat bananas whole or blend them into smoothie; slicing a couple up to have with your morning cereal also works. Just make sure to avoid potassium related health-issues by consuming no more than the recommended daily allowance of 3,500mg, which should come naturally from your regular calorie intake.

Fish

Fish is one of the best foods for a healthy body, rich in both heart-healthy omega 3 and vitamin D. The latter actually strengthens the middle bones in your ear, helping prevent osteopenia and otosclerosis, both serious ear issues that cause irreversible hearing loss. It’s recommended that you have two portions of fresh, unprocessed fish per week to keep your omega 3 and vitamin D levels topped up, as well as reducing the likelihood of suffering from permanent hearing damage.

Lentils, peas, and beans

Zinc is an important mineral for growth and development, but it also appears to boost hearing health. This is because zinc supports the immune system and may even help fight tinnitus or ringing in the ears. As such, it is a good idea to at least make a start with increasing your daily intake of zinc, so your ears can reap the benefits in the long run.

Lentils, split peas, and dried beans are all excellent ways of getting the zinc you need for your ears and hearing to stay on top form. Whether mashed, whole, salad-style or in a soup, these types of foods can ensure you hear and live well for as long as possible.

Broccoli

They may look like tiny trees, but broccoli is brilliant when it comes to creating a healthy body – and that includes the ears as well.

Packed full of amazing nutrients like vitamin K, vitamin C, and fibre, broccoli helps stop free radicals – which create the foundation for disease and accelerated aging – from damaging the delicate and sensitive tissue in your ears. The best part though is no matter if you prefer it raw, steamed or grilled, all the health benefits of broccoli are yours to enjoy, including improved hearing.

Dark chocolate

Because it contains magnesium, is an excellent way to boost your hearing health while still satisfying your taste buds. Magnesium helps expand blood vessels and can improve circulation in your ear, and there’s even evidence to suggest that it can offer protective effects against noise-induced hearing loss.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you should binge on excessive confectionery. Keep your dark chocolate intake to about an ounce a day and you’ll enjoy its effects without going overboard.

Garlic

Garlic and healthy ears go hand-in-hand. Its presence in your diet can help increase blood circulation and reduce inflammation in the body, especially around organs of hearing. This allows your blood supply to get to everywhere it’s needed absent the threat of high blood pressure as a major cause of long-term health problems.

For similar results, you can use odourless garlic supplements or add a few cloves to your cooking. Make garlic a part of your healthy eating plan and perhaps even notice relief from symptoms of common ear conditions, such as tinnitus.

While hearing health requires a lot more than diet to keep things in order, certain foods can have a positive impact on our ears. Visit an audiologist or your GP to see which foodstuffs may benefit your overall quality of hearing.

Want to talk about the correlation between diet and hearing health? Find your nearest Boots Hearingcare store and discuss this issue with a professional…

Best Foods for Hearing Health

Bananas and other high-potassium foods

Fish

Lentils, peas, and beans

Broccoli

Dark chocolate

Garlic

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