Eating of healthy foods could improve hearing ability in women

Consuming a diet filled with nuts, dry fruits, leafy greens and nutritional veggies could boost hearing ability, says a new study. The study published in the journal of Nutrition, examined the relation between three different diets and risk of developing hearing loss: The Alternate Mediterranean diet (AMED), Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH).

The Alternative Healthy Eating Index-2010 (AHEI-2010) in 70,966 women who were followed for 22 years. The research conducted by the Brigham and Women's Hospital found that consuming healthy diet is associated with lower risk of hearing loss amongst women. The team also revealed that healthy eating lowered risk of hearing loss by a whopping 30 percent. Through the study, the scientists were aiming to look at the relation of overall diet and risk of developing hearing loss was unclear. Previous studies have looked at how specific nutrients affect risk, but not many have studied the overall relation. 

"Interestingly, we observed that those following an overall healthy diet had a lower risk of moderate or worse hearing loss," said first author Sharon Curhan. "Eating well contributes to overall good health, and it may also be helpful in reducing the risk of hearing loss." For the longitudinal study, the team collected detailed information on dietary intake every four years. The findings revealed that women whose diets most closely resembled the AMED or DASH dietary patterns had an approximately 30 percent lower risk of moderate or worse hearing loss, compared with women whose diets resembled these dietary patterns the least.

In addition to this, it was also revealed from the findings in a sub cohort of over 33,000 women that the magnitude of the reduced risk may be even greater than 30 percent, and may also pertain to the AHEI-2010. For the uninitiated, the AMED diet includes extra virgin olive oil, grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits, nuts, fish and moderate intake of alcohol. On the other hand the DASH diet is high in fruits and vegetables and low-fat dairy, and low in sodium. The AHEI-2010 diet has common constituents as those found in AMED and DASH.