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Why are bananas good for your hearing health?

Contributed by HearingLife

1/4/2024 12:00:00 AM • 4 min read

Tags • Research

You may have heard that bananas are good for your hearing health – and it’s true! But bananas aren’t the only food that contains key nutrients to help you love your ears – read on for what foods to eat and our favorite recipes.

Which nutrients help your hearing?

Potassium

Research shows that potassium can protect you against age-related hearing loss because it helps regulate the fluid in your inner ear. As we age, that fluid level tends to drop, which can lead to hearing loss. Potassium is most commonly known to be found in bananas, but it is also present in milk and dairy foods, avocados and spinach.

Zinc

Zinc may help ease tinnitus (ringing in the ears), because it may regulate the cellular activity in the inner ear that causes tinnitus for some people. Additionally, the cochlear antioxidant effects of zinc could also be related to the improvement of tinnitus. Zinc is found in bananas, beef, pumpkin seeds, cheese and almonds.

Magnesium

Magnesium, which can be found in bananas, seeds and nuts, legumes and vegetables, has also been found to protect ears against noise-induced hearing loss because it may fight free radicals produced by ear cell mitochondria in response to loud sounds and act as a barrier to protect the inner ear.

 

In the kitchen

Our favorite banana recipes

We love bananas, since they include all three of these ear-loving nutrients! Here are some of our favorite banana recipes for your family to enjoy.

 

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