New way to protect your hearing....

Today's post: Friday, 2-20-2009

There are a lot of people who need to protect their hearing.

The vast majority of young people listen to music using earphones. And many of them listen to music turned up loud on both earphones and otherwise. This is proven to damage hearing.

Many people today use cell phones in loud places.

Some jobs have either sudden or continuous loud noises the people in them are subjected to.

And, people in combat are often subjected to sudden or continuous loud noise. Even in training this is the case.

In fact, there are even actors, including some from the original Star Trek who were, that get subjected to loud noises on the set when the script calls for explosions or gunfire.

Lastly, almost all of us occasionally are subjected to sudden or continuous loud noises. For example, my wife and I take our car to commute on some days & take the train to commute on others.

On the days when we drive, our car is so noisy at freeway speed we have to just about double the volume setting on our radio to hear it. Then when we take the train, every time it pulls in both its warning horn that they always blow and the engines are very loud. Just yesterday, as we were getting off the train employee who does announcements and speaks loudly gave an announcement. And, the loudspeaker in the part of the train where we were by the doors was turned up to about double the normal volume for some reason. That was LOUD.

So many young and middle aged people have impaired hearing; and many older people can only hear if they get hearing aids.

For going to a rock concert, you can put in ear plugs in advance. And, in many jobs, wearing noise protecting ear muffs is now part of the job and required.

But even so, many people get their hearing diminished or have to get hearing aids. So, it would be nice if there was a way to prevent this damage from loud noises and sounds.

One clue is that some people don’t seem to have this problem. Of course many people live lives where they are much less exposed to loud noises. But what if something else was protecting many of these people?

There very likely is and has been something else protecting their hearing.

Four supplements taken in advance prevented hearing loss.

A recent study found that supplementing research animals in advance with:

the beta carotene form of vitamin A; vitamin C; vitamin E; & the mineral magnesium prevented damage to their hearing. And it did this when the loud noise was on all the time PLUS when the noise was very loud and sudden.

1. There is separate evidence that beta carotene and other carotenes in foods together tend to prevent skin damage from the ultraviolet rays of the sun. So it may be a very similar effect that makes it protective of hearing. Also, with carotenes, getting a mix of the different kinds of carotenes in the foods that contain them in addition to a modest beta carotene supplement such as the 5,000 iu of beta carotene in a daily multivitamin produces more robust health benefits than taking more beta carotene in a supplement and not eating these foods. Cooked tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, squash, sweet potatoes, broccoli, and most kinds of organic greens have carotenes. (These foods also have other health benefits.)

2. There is also evidence that natural vitamin E as alpha tocopherol is more effective in a supplement than the artificial forms that either contain both the right and left handed isomers of instead of just the natural version or alpha tocopherol acetate is used. And, just as with carotenes, taking natural alpha tocopherol AND eating several foods that contain it works better. One of the reasons for this is that alpha tocopherol is only one of the EIGHT components of related compounds that you get in the foods that are high in alpha tocopherol. There are also beta, delta, and gamma tocopherols. And there are alpha, beta, delta, and gamma tocotrienols. Some leafy greens, olives, extra virgin olive oil, nuts, wheat germ, and avocados all have vitamin E. (These foods also have other health benefits.)

It’s controversial; but it may be that the best approach is to only take 200 to 250 iu of natural vitamin E and rely on these foods for more. Taking more than 200 iu of natural vitamin E, perhaps especially taking more than 200 iu of artificial vitamin, has been associated with problems that taking 200 iu of the natural alpha tocopherol and eating the foods has not.

3. With vitamin C, there is also some evidence the natural version is more effective. And many fruits and vegetables are high in vitamin C. Those fruits and vegetables also have many other health benefits besides the vitamin C. So they are worth eating for those benefits alone. But larger doses of vitamin C supplements in the 500 to 2,000 mg a day range have been found to have more health benefits than the smaller amounts that are in a daily multivitamin.

4. Magnesium is an extremely important mineral that a very large number of people today are deficient in. In addition to eating the foods such as nuts and greens that have some, it’s desirable to take 200 mg a day for general health and 400 to as much as 800 a day if you need to prevent or help lower high blood pressure. Magnesium is important in over a dozen chemical reactions your body needs to do to stay in good health. This so much the case that I’ve read people who start taking it begin to feel healthier than they did before.

So, if you take these four supplements and eat the fruits, vegetables, and foods with health OK fats and oils listed in this post, you’ll get two benefits and many more.

You’ll feel better and get sick less. Your hearing will be better and stay OK longer.

And you may stand up better to the sun’s rays. You may also lose some fat weight if you substitute these foods for junky foods made with refined grains and for foods with added sugar.