Hearing loss supplements and herbal remedies – What’s recommended? – Healthy Hearing

Browse through the vitamin aisle in the pharmacy—or peruse page after page of offerings in online stores—and you’ll see a wide variety of supplements and herbal remedies available, often with bold statements about the products’ effects.

How much merit do these claims have when it comes to hearing?

Here, a look at what supplements offer when it comes to safeguarding your hearing and counteracting hearing loss—along with the limitations of these over-the…….

How much merit do these claims have when it comes to hearing?

Here, a look at what supplements offer when it comes to safeguarding your hearing and counteracting hearing loss—along with the limitations of these over-the-counter products.

Diet matters

Here’s one truth: What you eat can affect your overall health—and the health of your ears.

“Accumulating evidence suggests that a healthier diet, such as one that resembles the Mediterranean diet or DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet, may help protect against aging-related hearing loss,” Dr. Sharon G. Curhan, MD, and director of The Conservation of Hearing Study, says. Part of this is because these diets are better for your blood circulation, and, in turn, healthy blood flow is important for healthy hearing.

Dr. Sharon Curhan

But vitamin intake plays a role here, too.

“Our NIDCD-funded research shows that individuals with higher intakes of certain vitamins…whether from diet or supplements, appear to be at lower risk for developing hearing loss,” she says. (NIDCD is the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.)

That is: Your nutrient intake may help safeguard your hearing.

“Eating a healthy diet and adequate nutrient intake can help protect against a number of adverse health outcomes and possibly could also help protect against progression of hearing loss,” Dr. Curhan says.

In-depth: Diet and hearing loss

To learn more, see: Can a healthy diet reduce your risk of hearing loss? Here’s what the research says.

Emerging area of research – the impact of supplements

If what you eat affects hearing, it stands to reason that taking supplements might also make a difference, whether your goal is to protect your hearing or counteract hearing loss or other ear issues.

But the research simply isn’t there yet to make a one-to-one connection between supplements and hearing.

“Currently there isn’t enough evidence to make clinical recommendations regarding the use of vitamins or supplements for hearing protection,” Dr. Curhan says. Furthermore, she adds, “more evidence is needed to determine whether additional intake (i.e. over and above the standard recommended doses) may influence hearing health.”

That said, there are some vitamins, minerals, herbs and other dietary supplements that potentially help reduce the risk of hearing loss and tinnitus: