Study: Getting More Omega-3s in Your Diet May Help Protect Your Hearing as You Age

Getting more omega-3 fatty acids, through dietary changes or supplements, may protect your hearing as you age, researchers say.

The claim comes from a new study presented Monday at NUTRITION 2023, the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition. Though the research is preliminary, it adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that eating more omega-3—a nutrient found in fish, nuts, and seeds—might contribute to better hearing later in life.

“With about 1.57 billion people experiencing hearing loss and an aging population globally, the role of omega-3 fatty acids, especially DHA [docosahexaenoic acid], in maintaining a healthy, functional auditory system is an important research question,” presenting study author Michael McBurney, PhD, FCNS-SCN, FASN, a senior scientist at the Fatty Acid Research Institute, told Health.

Below, experts explain what people should know about the new research, why omega-3 is important, and how to incorporate more into your diet.

How Dietary Adjustments Could Prove Beneficial to Your Auditory System As You Age

For the new study, which hasn’t yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal, the researchers analyzed data from more than 100,000 people aged 40–69. The participants were all enrolled in the UK Biobank, a large biomedical database that contains information on half a million U.K. residents.

The participants were asked two questions:

• Do you have difficulty hearing?
• Do you have difficulty following conversations when there is background noise?

The researchers also analyzed blood samples from the participants to check their levels of DHA, an essential fat that supports brain, eye, and heart health; and adjusted for risk factors known to affect hearing loss, such as age and sex, McBurney said.

The findings showed that people with the highest amounts of DHA in their blood were 16% less likely to say they had difficulty hearing, and 11% less likely to say they had difficulty following conversations with background noise. All told, middle-aged and older adults with higher DHA levels were 8–20% less likely to have had age-related hearing issues.

The study was limited by the fact that the researchers relied on self-reported data, which are generally less accurate than non-objective measurements taken by researchers, to draw their conclusions.

While the associations between higher DHA levels and good hearing were strong, McBurney said, the new research doesn’t prove anything definitively.

“This study does not prove low DHA in plasma or any tissue causes hearing loss,” he explained, adding that more research is needed to further determine omega-3’s role as it relates to preventing age-related hearing loss.

The new study also isn’t the first to establish the connection between omega-3 and hearing health.

“Epidemiologic studies have reported inverse associations of fish and omega-3 consumption with hearing loss in humans,” McBurney explained. He cited a 2014 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, which found that consuming two or more servings of fish, which contain high levels of omega-3, was associated with a lower risk of hearing loss in women.

Though the research is still in its infancy, experts have a theory as to why higher omega-3 intake has been linked to better hearing. “The idea is that things that are good for you vascularly are good for hearing health as well,” David Friedmann, MD, an otolaryngologist at NYU Langone, who was not involved in the new research, told Health.

Vascular health relates to the health of your circulatory system, or the system of blood vessels within your body. Omega-3 has certain plaque-fighting abilities, Friedmann said—which means it can help reduce the buildup of fatty substances in the arteries.

The inner ear relies on blood flow from the labyrinthine artery, and if there is plaque buildup in that artery, it could contribute to hearing loss, Friedmann said. Therefore, by reducing the amount of plaque in the arteries, omega-3 may in turn help reduce the risk of hearing loss, he added.

How to Incorporate More Omega-3s Into Your Diet

Getting enough omega-3s isn’t just important for your hearing. They also contribute to better heart health, cognitive function, and eye health. Eating an adequate amount of omega-3s during pregnancy may also be beneficial for infant health and development, studies suggest.

Though omega-3 supplements exist, most of your nutrients should come from food and drink. You can add more omega-3s to your diet by eating more cold-water fatty fish, such as salmon, mackerel, tuna, herring, and sardines; nuts and seeds, such as flaxseed, chia seeds, and walnuts; plant oils, such as flaxseed oil, soybean oil, and canola oil; and fortified foods, which include certain brands of eggs, yogurt, juices, milk, and soy beverages.

Other Ways to Protect Your Hearing

To protect your future hearing, you should also consider how much noise you’re around on a regular basis, Dr. Friedmann said. Occupational exposures—like working on a sound stage and repeatedly being exposed to loud music, or working in a military position and repeatedly being exposed to loud shooting sounds—can eventually cause hearing loss, he explained.

But everyday occurrences, like frequently listening to the radio at a loud volume, can also contribute. “It’s the intensity, but also the duration,” Dr. Friedmann explained. “The louder the sound, the shorter the duration the inner ear will tolerate before you start to see damage.”

Aside from incorporating more omega-3s into your diet, you should be mindful of how much noise you’re regularly exposing yourself to. You should wear hearing protection if you know you’re going to be around loud noises; avoid noisy activities when possible; take breaks from unavoidable noisy activities; and keep the volume on your headset and/or radio turned down to protect against hearing loss, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Taking these small steps now could go a long way in keeping you healthy as you age, Dr. Friedmann said. “Hearing loss, like lots of things, is a mixture of genetic and environmental exposures,” he explained. “You can’t do much about your genetics, but the environmental exposures could be positively impacted.”