Fruit, dairy and coffee could be helpful for avoiding tinnitus

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International
Photo by Thalia Ruiz on Unsplash
Photo by Thalia Ruiz on Unsplash

Eating more fruits, dietary fibre, dairy products and caffeine is linked to a lower risk of tinnitus (ringing in the ears), according to international researchers. To investigate the link between diet and the condition, the researchers combined the results of eight observational studies involving just over 300,000 people overall. Looking at 15 different dietary factors, the researchers say higher fruit intake was linked to a 35% reduction in tinnitus risk, dietary fibre a 9% reduction, dairy products a 17% reduction and caffeine a 10% reduction. They say their findings are based on a relatively small base of evidence and the studies they looked at can't prove these diet choices caused the participants' lower tinnitus risk, but their findings do support the theory that high-quality nutrients can help prevent ear and hearing damage.

Media release

From: BMJ Group

BMJ Open

Externally peer reviewed? Yes
Evidence type: Systematic review and meta-analysis
Subjects: People

Increasing fruit, fibre, dairy and caffeine linked to lower risk of tinnitus

But quality of evidence low and further studies needed to verify the relationship, say researchers

Increased consumption of fruit, dietary fibre, dairy products and caffeine may be associated with a reduced risk of tinnitus (ringing in the ears), suggests an analysis of the available evidence, published in the open access journal BMJ Open.

The researchers stress that their findings can’t establish a direct (causal) relationship and should be interpreted with care because of the low quality of the evidence. But they say possible reasons may involve the protective effects of these diets on blood vessels and nerves, as well as their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

Tinnitus is the perception of sound (ringing, buzzing or clicking) when there’s no external source. Data suggests it affects around 14% of adults worldwide and is associated with depression, anxiety, stress, and in severe cases, suicide.

There is no cure, but treatments such as counselling, behavioral therapy, medications, and hearing aids can help to reduce symptoms.
Diet can also have a significant impact on tinnitus. It’s thought that eating high-quality nutrients can have a positive effect on hearing by improving blood flow to the inner ear and reducing oxidative damage and inflammation. But previous studies show conflicting results and it’s still uncertain which specific foods worsen or relieve symptoms.

To explore this further, the researchers trawled research databases looking for studies linking tinnitus and diet in adults published up to May 2024.

They found eight observational studies involving 301,533 people that assessed 15 dietary factors using validated questionnaires that were of suitable quality to include in their analysis.

The dietary factors included carbohydrates, caffeine, eggs, fruits, fibres, fat, meat, protein, sugar, fish, vegetables and dairy.

The combined findings revealed that increased consumption of fruit, dietary fibre, dairy products and caffeine was associated with a reduced occurrence of tinnitus. These reductions were 35% for fruit intake, 9% for dietary fibre, 17% for dairy products, and 10% for caffeine intake.
No associations were found between other dietary factors and tinnitus and results were consistent after further analyses, although the authors note that the association between caffeine intake and tinnitus remains contentious.

The authors acknowledge that due to the observational design of included studies, causality cannot be established, and the relatively small number of included studies may have led to certain conventionally accepted beneficial dietary factors (such as vegetables and eggs) not demonstrating significant differences.

However, they suggest that “the primary underlying mechanisms may involve the protective effects of these diets on blood vessels and nerves, as well as their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties” and say further large-scale studies are needed “to complement and verify the relationship between dietary intake and tinnitus.”

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Research BMJ Group, Web page The URL will go live after the embargo ends
Journal/
conference:
BMJ Open
Research:Paper
Organisation/s: Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China
Funder: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81774131, 82174198), ‘Xinglin Scholars Scientific Research Promotion Plan of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Innovation team of traditional Chinese medicine otorhinolaryngology discipline, natural science (No. XKTD2021003), the Sichuan Natural Science Foundation (No. 2023NSFSC0668).
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