Can Diet Lower Risk Of Hearing Loss?

Approximately 48 million Americans are affected by hearing loss. There is now some evidence suggesting that diets may influence the risk of developing hearing loss. Studies conducted in the past have looked at specific nutrients which affect risks, overall relation of diet on the risks were unclear.

70,966 women were followed for 22 years who were on 3 diets: Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension; the Alternative Healthy Eating Index; and the Alternative Mediterranean diet; and it was found that consuming a healthy diet was associated with lower risk of acquiring hearing loss in women, and following and overall healthy diet was observed to be associated with lower risk of moderate or worse hearing loss.

Researchers collected detailed data on dietary intake every four years and found that women with diets most resembling DASH and AMED dietary patterns had 30% lower risk of moderate or worse hearing loss. 33,000 participant’s data suggested the magnitude of reduction may even be greater than 30% which may pertain to the AHEI diet which contains grains, legumes, extra virgin olive oil, fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts, and low-moderate alcohol intake. DASH diets are high in vegetables, fruit, low fat dairy, and low in sodium. AHEI diets have common components with DASH and AMED diets.

Researchers suggest that further research is required in additional populations as assessment of hearing loss was based on self reporting.