Lowering the volume on earbuds or wearing earplugs in noisy environments is known to reduce a person’s risk of tinnitus.

Now, new research suggests that eating more fruit and fiber or drinking more milk and coffee may also stave off the vexing and persistent buzzing that can drive folks to distraction.

Simple dietary changes appear to reduce people’s risk of developing tinnitus, researchers reported in The BMJ.

“Diet-based strategies for tinnitus prevention are anticipated to play a significant role in chronic tinnitus management,” the research team led by senior researcher Qinxiu Zhang with the Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Sichuan, China, concluded.

“Existing evidence suggests that consuming fruit, dietary fiber, caffeine and dairy may be associated with a reduced incidence of tinnitus,” researchers wrote.

About one in every six (14%) adults has tinnitus, researchers said in background notes.

Although exposure to loud noise is a key risk factor for the hearing problem, “the origins of tinnitus remain elusive and involve a range of factors,” researchers wrote.

For the evidence review, researchers pooled data from eight previous studies that looked at potential links between tinnitus and diet. The studies involved more than 300,000 people.

Results showed that increased consumption of certain foods reduced tinnitus risk:

• Fruits by 35%

• Dairy by 17%

• Caffeine by 10%

• Fiber by 9%.

These foods might influence tinnitus risk by providing the body with specific nutrients that protect hearing health, researchers said.

For example, caffeine might promote the release of hormones that protect nerves related to hearing, researchers said, while fruit and fiber might keep blood sugar level and prevent potentially damaging inflammation.

“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,” researchers added.

“However, it is crucial to interpret our findings cautiously because of the overall low quality of the evidence available.”

The review did not find any evidence for other foods that might potentially lower tinnitus risk, such as chocolate, vegetables, eggs, meat or fish.

The studies included in the review also could not support a dose-response relationship between these foods and tinnitus, researchers said.

In other words, eating tons of fruit or imbibing lots of caffeine will not necessarily produce ever-increasing protection against tinnitus.

More information

NYU Langone Health has more on preventing tinnitus.

SOURCE: The BMJ, news release, March 18, 2025

Source: HealthDay

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