35+ Foods That May Support Your Hearing Health

Plus, how your diet could protect you from hearing loss

Nissa Simon and Sarah Gleim,

Updated August 22, 2025

AARP

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En español

Published February 01, 2023

/ Updated August 22, 2025

bananas, mangoes, salmon, avocado, spinach

AARP (Getty Images 5)

Key takeaways:

Hearing loss and heart disease may be connected.
A healthy diet is associated with a lower risk of hearing loss.
There’s a difference between getting nutrients from foods and getting them from supplements.
See what foods may be good for your hearing.

While there’s no evidence that what you eat can reverse hearing loss, studies show that eating a healthy diet may help delay or slow the progression of hearing decline.

Take the connection between cardiovascular disease and your hearing, for instance. “The association of age-related hearing loss with heart disease has been well-documented,” says endocrinologist Robert H. Eckel, M.D., emeritus professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

Hearing loss and cardiovascular disease

Normal hearing relies on good circulation of oxygen-rich blood. The sensitive hair cells in your inner ear convert sound waves into electrical impulses that your brain interprets as sound. Poor blood circulation or inadequate oxygen damages these sensitive cells, Eckel says. “To reduce the risk of heart disease, it’s important to eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains, lean poultry and fish,” Eckel says.

Hearing loss and what you eat

There’s more evidence that eating a healthy diet could be a factor in lowering your risk of hearing loss. Hearing loss is often thought to be unavoidable as we age, says Sharon Curhan, director of CHEARS, the Conservation of Hearing Study at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. The CHEARS research team monitored the hearing and diets of more than 70,000 women for 22 years and published a paper on the study in the Journal of Nutrition. “We found that an overall healthier diet, including eating two or more servings of fish each week, was associated with a reduced risk of hearing loss,” Curhan says.

Foods vs. supplements

The study found that women who stuck to diets like the Alternate Healthy Eating Index 2010, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) and Alternate Mediterranean diet (AMED) lowered their chances of hearing loss by at least 30 percent, compared to women with the lowest diet adherence. Those diets prioritize fruits and vegetables, as well as vitamins and minerals like folate, potassium and zinc. A separate study by the CHEARS team found that more isn’t always better.

“We were surprised to find that taking very high doses of vitamin C supplements was associated with an increased risk of hearing loss,” she says. Instead of heavily relying on nutritional supplements, the research suggests eating more nutrient-dense foods rich in vitamins and minerals, as well as fiber and omega-3 fatty acids, which help the cells in your body function as they should. “As the nutritional supplement market is underregulated, patients should speak directly with their physicians before taking dietary supplements aimed to supposedly improve hearing, as they may cause potential unwanted side effects, as well,” says Elliott Kozin, M.D., an otologist (ear, nose and throat physician) at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and assistant professor of otolaryngology at Harvard Medical School.

Foods good for your hearing

Curhan says the CHEARS research shows that foods high in specific nutrients, including beta-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin, folate (vitamin B9) and long-chain omega-3 fatty acids were associated with a lower risk of hearing loss. Vitamins A, E and C, potassium and zinc are good for your hearing, too.

Here’s a list of foods you can eat to fill up on the nutrients that are good for your hearing.

Foods with beta-carotene

Dark, leafy greens
Sweet potatoes
Carrots
Butternut squash
Foods with folate
Asparagus
Avocados
Brussels sprouts
Dark, leafy greens

Foods with potassium

Dried apricots
Lentils
Acorn squash
Prunes

Foods with vitamin A

Sweet potatoes
Dark, leafy greens
Carrots
Skim milk
Red and yellow peppers
Mango
Salmon

Foods with vitamin E

Wheat germ oil
Sunflower seeds
Nuts like almonds, hazelnuts and peanuts
Spinach
Broccoli
Kiwi
Mango

Foods with vitamin C

Fruit like oranges, grapefruit, kiwi, strawberries and cantaloupe
Red and green peppers
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Potatoes
Tomatoes

Foods with omega-3 fatty acids

Chia seeds
Walnuts
Fatty fish like salmon, sardines and mackerel
Oysters
Edamame
Kidney beans

Foods rich in zinc

Lentils
Oysters
Blue crab
Pumpkin seeds
Lentils

Foods full of iron

Oysters
White beans
Lentils
Dark, leafy greens
Tofu
Dark chocolate
Kidney beans
Chickpeas

Editor’s note: This story, first published Feb. 1, 2023, has been updated.

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Nissa Simon is a health writer and editor whose articles have appeared in Reader’s Digest, Newsweek, The New York Times, Time, Vogue and other national publications. She is also the author of two books for teens on health.

Sarah Gleim is a contributing writer at AARP based in Atlanta. She has written for WebMD, Forbes , Time Inc. , Discovery Communications, HowStuffWorks.com, Atlanta magazine, CNN and more.