Hearing Center: Could Nutrition Stop Natural Auditory Loss?

Auditory loss is a part of aging, as any hearing center, doctor, or gerontology major will tell you. But does it have to be? As it turns out, studies indicate that what we eat could have a lot to do with what we hear.


Auditory loss is a part of aging, as any hearing center, doctor, or gerontology major will tell you. But does it have to be? Certainly, not everyone suffers from such a disability when they get old, although it is common. Is it just the luck of the draw? A combination of good genetics and the avoidance of loud noise volumes? Or could it be something more? As it turns out, studies indicate that what we eat could have a lot to do with what we hear. We all know that vitamins and other nutrients are important for our general health, but it turns out that it could have a big impact on the health of our ears.



Not only are studies showing that the inclusion of certain vitamins can stave off the need for a visit to the hearing center, but they also indicate that making up for a deficiency could actually improve one's ability to hear. This is unlikely to be the case unless the deficiency was the original reason for your auditory loss, but this is certainly something to be aware of. Especially since the vast majority of Americans eat what few would consider a balanced diet or make any attempt to cover the gaps in their diet with good multivitamins.

Vitamin D is one of the prime nutrients that studies have examined in conjunction with auditory loss. The vitamin is already widely known as a boon to healthy bone strength and growth, but it isn't often connected to your ability to hear. A lack of vitamin D, however, can easily lead to osteopenia, which is where the bones in the body become porous and lose many of the minerals that keep them strong. If osteopenia occurs in the bones of the ear, it can easily lead to deafness or a lesser degree of auditory loss. The good news is that getting an appropriate amount of the vitamin back into your system can reverse the process and restore your senses.


Vitamin D is far from the only nutrient responsible for both good and bad hearing. Magnesium, vitamin C and E, glutathione, and zinc are also among the vitamins and minerals studies have looked at as showing promising results when taken by those who have suffered some loss of auditory function. While your local hearing center isn't likely to put you on a regimen of multivitamins in lieu of a listening aid anytime soon, it's worth making sure you're getting enough of each important vitamin to both protect your ears and give yourself the best health possible.