You hear it sometimes: “Everything you eat affects something.” And while that usually sounds like advice from a vague uncle at a birthday party, there is some truth to it. Even your ears – those two cute little shells on the side of your head – react to what you shove down your throat. But what exactly about fatty foods? Does your hearing deteriorate if you grab a french fry of mayo or an extra oliebol? Time to take a crack at that myth.
First things first: how does your hearing actually work?
To understand what food does to your hearing, you need to know a little about how hearing works. Sound moves through your ear, vibrates along your eardrum, thunders through the ossicles and eventually reaches your cochlea. There, there are cilia that translate all that noise into signals for your brain. And those cilia are divas: they don’t like stress, messy blood flow or inflammation.
In short, your hearing needs good circulation, healthy cells and rest. And that’s where your eating habits come in.
Eating fat and your blood flow
Eating fat does not necessarily have to be bad, but it just depends on which fats you ingest. In fact, you have two types:
- the bad ones – saturated fat and trans fats (hello fast food, bye heart and vessels)
- the good – unsaturated fats (hello avocado, nuts and olive oil)
A diet rich in saturated fat can constrict your blood vessels. And if there’s less blood anywhere, it’s in the tiny capillaries in your ears. Less blood = less oxygen = less happy cilia. And unhappy cilia work about as well as a microphone in the rain: not optimally.
Is there a direct link between fat and hearing loss?
Scientists aren’t quite there yet, but there is strong evidence that an unhealthy, high-fat diet contributes to long-term hearing loss. Especially when combined with:
- hypertension
- high cholesterol
- diabetes
- and, let’s face it, a lifestyle in which sports is something you watch mostly on TV
Your ear is small, but the system behind it is resilient. Everything’s connected – as if your body were one big spaghetti network.
But wait, there is also good news
Because not all fats are the bad guy. Quite the contrary, in fact! Unsaturated fats can actually help keep your blood vessels supple. People who eat lots of omegas (fish, nuts, seeds, olive oil) often have better hearing health in studies. It seems that these fats fight inflammation, stimulate blood flow and protect your cilia from stress.
In other words, the problem is not eating fat, but WHAT fat you eat.
How do you notice that nutrition affects your hearing?
It’s not that after three frikandells you immediately go deaf. Thankfully. But you can develop long-term symptoms:
- slight noise
- difficulty with high notes
- poorer speech understanding in crowds
- worse recovery after exposure to loud noises
Don’t be alarmed – this doesn’t usually develop in a week, but over years. But it is a reminder that your ears are damaged not only by noise, but also by what happens in your blood vessels.
Can you prevent hearing loss from food?
You can already hear me coming: yes, to a large extent I do. Because healthy eating is quite a bodyguard for your ears. Consider:
- less saturated fats
- more omega-3
- more fibers
- less sugar
- enough water
- and maybe a piece of fruit that doesn’t have a pie shape
Also important: combine this with good hearing. Do you listen to music often? Use earplugs. Do you work in noise? Use earplugs. Are you at a concert? You guessed it: get protection.
You can think of nutrition as maintenance. Protection as insurance. And your ears as an old-timer: they remain beautiful as long as you are kind to them.
What does this mean for daily French fry day?
Relax. You don’t have to suddenly give up all your snacks. Going loose once in a while is no problem, as long as you don’t live the rest of the week like a deep fryer on legs. It’s mostly about balance.
Do you structurally eat fatty and unhealthy foods? Then you may be at greater risk of hearing problems in the long run.
Do you eat predominantly healthy and consciously? Then that potato war is just a cozy splurge.
So: eating fat does have an impact (but you are not immediately lost)
Eating fat does not have an instant effect on your hearing, but an unhealthy diet can contribute to long-term problems. After all, your ears are your body’s Formula 1 cars: fast, precise and hypersensitive. And just like an F1 car, they need high-quality fuel. If you give them junk, they will protest.
So enjoy your food, but choose the good stuff more often. Your heart, your head AND your hearing will thank you. And that’s just a little nicer than saying in your old age, “What do you say?”
