Is Your Diet Connected to Tinntius?

Can your diet cause tinnitus? It likely comes as no surprise that your diet impacts your overall health. Eating too much can lead to obesity, leading to other health problems such as an increased risk of heart disease, high cholesterol, obesity, and more.

Individuals that suffer from tinnitus experience a constant ringing in their ears that can occur randomly and inconsistently. However, recent studies have discovered a possible connection between tinnitus and your diet.

What does this mean if you are experiencing regular tinnitus flare-ups? It may be time to analyze your diet and determine if there is anything you can cut out to reduce your outbreaks. By avoiding foods that have been linked to tinnitus and other hearing-related problems, you may be able to improve your comfort and reduce your hearing issues.

To improve your diet with hearing health in mind, it’s essential to know exactly which foods you should be avoiding. Follow along as El Dorado Hearing walks you through foods that have been shown to cause tinnitus flare-ups.

Foods Linked to Tinnitus Flare-Ups

Do you think your diet may be causing your tinnitus flare-ups? Although we’ve often heard the phrase, “you are what you eat,” we now have reason to believe there is a connection between diet and tinnitus! To improve hearing health and minimize the chance of food-triggered tinnitus flare-ups, try eliminating (or reducing) these foods from your diet.

Keep in mind that these foods may affect individuals differently. We recommend cutting them each out one at a time so you can determine if a particular type of food is causing more flare-ups than others. Removing each of these foods from your diet at one time will make it more difficult for you to pinpoint which food(s) are causing your flare-up.

Here are a few different foods that may be causing you to have a food-triggered tinnitus flare-up:

• Alcohol – Although you may not think one or two glasses of wine (or another form of alcohol) will harm your health, it’s proven that alcohol consumption affects your blood pressure. Because your ears rely on proper blood flow to work correctly, drinking excess alcohol increases the chance that you’ll experience a tinnitus flare-up. Limit your alcohol consumption or avoid it altogether by opting for non-alcoholic options when out with friends.
• Sodium -We’ve already hinted that your blood pressure directly correlates to your flare-ups. Your sodium intake can cause your blood pressure to increase dramatically! Keep an eye on nutrition labels to monitor your sodium intake. While sodium content is more apparent on foods such as french fries, it’s often hidden in processed or frozen foods, causing individuals to consume way more sodium than they realize!
• Sugar – Not only does injecting too much sugar impact the glucose levels in your body, but it can leave you too wired to fall asleep at night. If you find yourself lying there in the darkness of your bedroom, struggling to fall asleep, the chances of a tinnitus flare-up are heightened. Too many disruptions to your sleep cycle can wreak havoc on your body, resulting in more frequent hearing problems.
• Caffeine – Although many of us rely on caffeine to keep us functioning throughout the day, it may make it more difficult for us to fall asleep at night when consuming too much or too late. When your sleep cycle is disrupted and you don’t get quality sleep, you’re more likely to have your tinnitus flare up. While the caffeine doesn’t directly cause the flare-up, it can lead to poor sleep, which will result in more hearing problems.
• If you believe there is a connection between your diet and tinnitus, start by tracking everything you eat and when your flare-ups occur. This will help you begin to notice patterns between the flare-ups and foods so you can remove them from your diet.

El Dorado Hearing Can Help With Tinnitus and Diet Concerns

If you are experiencing constant tinnitus flare-ups, it is recommended that you schedule a tinnitus evaluation with one of our skilled audiologists at El Dorado Hearing. We will work with you to understand what is happening and help you devise a plan to reduce or resolve them. If you or a family member is struggling with tinnitus, we can help you find a solution, starting with tracking and tweaking your diet.

Our doctors of audiology specialize in evaluating, diagnosing, and treating tinnitus with great success. Contact us to schedule an appointment.