Good advice for your hearing and your ears

" You are musician ? »

This is how I strike up a conversation when, in transport, I find myself near someone who has set their headphones so loudly that it prevents me from concentrating or remaining calm.

I usually have to repeat the question a second time, with a big smile, while my interlocutor comes out of his daydream and unplugs.

- " You are musician ?

– Uh…

– I ask you the question because you seem to like music a lot! (Big smile)

– Uh…

– Yes, because if you are a good musician, you should lower the volume of your headphones considerably. At this level, you are damaging your eardrums and you risk losing your hearing. Excuse me but I was worried about you… (still big smile)

– Uh…”

The interlocutor, in general, mumbles a few words, lowers the sound, puts back his headphones, and goes back to his dreams. Sometimes I have the right to smile. The atmosphere relaxes, and I can resume my reading, or my work.

It was better before

The development of the Walkman, MP3 player, and later the iPod are unquestionably the worst things that have ever happened to human hearing. Human ears were rarely exposed to loud noises in the past, and especially not before the advent of industrialization. We primarily only damaged our hearing with fifes and drums during well-known events. However, it was less frequent during conflicts. Finally, not every person in the forges was a blacksmith.

Several of my college buddies had walkmans at recess when I was 12 years old. One of them came up with a "game" that involved inserting the headphones into his ears and turning up the volume. The one who kept the headphones in their ears for the longest was said to have "won."

It was called "busting your ears".

The result is that an alarming number of people today suffer from deafness or tinnitus, i.e. buzzing, whistling or ringing felt in the skull or in the ears.

Three cohort studies, i.e. studies that followed a population over several years, showed an increase in hearing loss problems in young people. In 10 years, with the introduction of walkmans, the number of young people aged 14-15 suffering from hearing problems has quadrupled [1].

Over the age of 45, 18% of the population is affected. 30% of seniors aged 65 to 74, and 47% of those over 75 report having hearing problems. France has 5 million people with hearing problems and prosthetic stores are popping up on every street corner.

But nutrition can make a big difference.

Omega-3s to the rescue

High intakes of omega-3 fatty acids found in fatty fish from cold seas have been linked to a significantly reduced risk of hearing problems in people over 50.

Indeed, hearing is not only related to the functioning of the ear and mechanical problems in the ear canal. The problem often comes from poor processing of information in the brain. The brain must perform incredibly complex tasks to filter, sort and interpret the signals sent to it by our five senses.

Without a good filter system, you are more likely to be overwhelmed by the mass of auditory information.

However, omega-3s contribute to the proper functioning of the brain, and therefore to the proper processing of auditory information. These are indeed fats that enter into the formation of the walls of neurons. The composition of neuron membranes allows the proper functioning of synapses, areas of information exchange. Omega-3s serve to thin these walls, make them more flexible, to facilitate the transmission of nerve signals.

They are, in a way, the oil that lubricates the cogs of the brain. Without this lubricant, the mechanics may seize up. Infants whose mothers ate a lot of oily fish during pregnancy have better cognitive performance, according to a study published in The Lancet [2]. Similarly, omega-3s limit the loss of IQ in the elderly, and contribute to better cognitive functioning [3].

It should be noted that good intakes of omega-3 also limit the risk of dementia, Parkinson's disease [4] and Alzheimer's disease [5].

But that's just the beginning of the program for your ears.

Magnesium and antioxidants good for hearing

A study conducted by American and Korean researchers suggests that beta-carotene, vitamin C and magnesium promote good hearing. The study was published in 2013 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition [6].

These results confirm those of the 2001-2004 NHANES study which followed 2,592 people and concluded that those who had good intakes of beta-carotene, vitamin C and magnesium had better hearing.

You find beta-carotene in yellow-orange fruits and vegetables, to which it gives their color: carrots, pumpkin, apricot, squash, sweet potato...

Vitamin C is found in many fruits and vegetables such as kiwi, citrus fruits, avocado. Be careful, it is important to consume your fruits as fresh as possible. Vitamin C oxidizes on contact with air, which causes it to lose its antioxidant properties.

Magnesium, finally, is found in mineral waters rich in magnesium (Hepar), green vegetables, nuts, chocolate and whole grains.

If you are concerned that your diet does not provide you with enough of these nutrients, all three can be purchased very easily and inexpensively in the form of dietary supplements.

The best you can do for your ears

Other studies have shown that zinc and vitamin D are also involved in the quality of hearing. You have to make sure you don't miss it, according to the LaNutrition.fr site, which published this information.

But first of all, if you like music and you use a walkman or headset with your mobile phone, please turn down the volume!

When the eardrum vibrates, deep inside your inner ear nerves are stimulated, which produces sound. The vibrations are converted into nerve impulses there by tiny hairs called cilia, which then send the information to your brain.

These eyelashes are destroyed by prolonged exposure to noise of 85 dB or higher. The rate of hearing loss increases with loudness.

Only high-quality headphones used at moderate noise levels will protect your eardrums.

During a rock concert at 120 decibels, hearing loss begins after 7.5 minutes of listening.

Percussions (natural or electronic), which produce powerful and repeated sounds, as well as highly amplified high-pitched noises (electric guitar, synthesizer) can cause irreversible hearing loss.

If you listen to this music with headphones, your exposure should be limited to 1 hour per day, at less than 80 dB (A). This sound level is roughly equivalent to the cry of a person or the noise of traffic near a road.

Sources for this article:

[1] Montgomery and Fujikawa, 1992, cited in the report of the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks, “Potential health risks of exposure to noise from personal music players and mobile phones including a music playing function”, 2008.

[2] Lancet 2007; 369: 578–85

[3] Am J Clin Nutr, April 2007; flight. 85: p. 1142-7

[4] FASEB J, November 2007

[5] J Neurosci, March 2005; flight. 25: p. 3032-40.

[6] Choi YH, Miller JM, Tucker KL, Hu H, Park SK. Antioxidant vitamins and magnesium and the risk of hearing loss in the US general population. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Nov 6.