Eat more carrots for better eyesight, is likely a bit of advice most of us were told as kids. But how about foods that are good for hearing and ears? Did anyone ever talk to you about those? Kids can now be told what foods to eat for healthy ears and hearing; sensible advice that we should all adhere to.
Several things may result in loss of hearing, including noise, age and infections. Nutrients that can help impede or prevent some common causes of hearing loss are found within the foods presented below.
Guess what? 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 don’t like dark chocolate, grab some oysters on the half shell; any foods which contain zinc will work!
Contact with loud noise can lead to the formation of harmful free radicals bringing about the demise of inner ear hair cells, according to The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Antioxidants and folic acid can minimize free radical damage in the inner ear. Particular foods are particularly abundant in folic acid and antioxidants – among them nuts, spinach, asparagus and eggs.
Musicians, construction workers, and other professionals in contact with loud noises, are at a high risk for hearing damage. Foods abundant in magnesium like artichokes, potatoes and bananas may help safeguard the hearing of individuals with a profession or hobby subjecting them to intense noise. Although the mechanism is not known, human and animal research studies have shown that magnesium helps protect against noise-induced hearing loss.
Believe it or not, fish such as trout or salmon which contains omega 3 fats and vitamin D, has been demonstrated in medical studies to prevent age-related hearing problems. Alternative good omega 3 fats and vitamin D sources are the anchovies on your pizza and the tuna fish probably sitting in your cupboard. Eaten two times per week, any one of these may help you hear better as you age.
Nowadays we can help our kids and grandkids minimize future hearing damage with a couple of basic foods we probably have in our home. Just add some of these to the checklist alongside carrots for better eye sight.