The connection may not be immediately obvious in the beginning, but nutrition can have a significant influence on the severity of the tinnitus, at least at times. On has to remember that tinnitus is a nervous condition, and many substances in food and drinks can affect the nervous system one way or another. Generally speaking, substances that stimulate the nervous system will aggravate the condition, those that calm it will alleviate it. So for most people it is for instance advisable to avoid caffeine (coffee, tea, cola and related stimulants), but also alcohol (which is also a nerve stimulant).
With drinks it is thus rather straightforward: avoid caffeine and alcohol, but on the other hand drink enough fluid to prevent any dehydration (which would aggravate the condition as well).
With food the situation is slightly more complicated: generally, it is advisable to reduce the amount of salt and other spices, as these tend to affect the nervous system and thus the tinnitus as well. This may be relatively easy to control if one does the cooking by oneself, but in case of restaurant- or instant food this is not always possible. So it is not uncommon that people complain about an increase of their tinnitus after being out for a meal. A frequent culprit here is for instance the flavour enhancer Monosodium Glutamate (an amino acid) which is frequently used in Asian cooking, Pizzas and other snack foods, Instant Soups and Sauces etc. For packaged food it should be designated there, usually as 'Flavour Enhancer', 'Monosodium Glutamate' or with the code 'E621'. In restaurants however it may well not be mentioned on the menu, so you might have to ask beforehand in order to find out.
Anyway, even if one happens to consume something that aggravates the tinnitus, the effect should only last for a couple of days at best. Just try to figure out what could have been responsible and eliminate this particular food for a while. It may take a while, but with a little bit of experimenting in this sense, one can thus minimize any adverse effect of nutrition.
Thomas
With drinks it is thus rather straightforward: avoid caffeine and alcohol, but on the other hand drink enough fluid to prevent any dehydration (which would aggravate the condition as well).
With food the situation is slightly more complicated: generally, it is advisable to reduce the amount of salt and other spices, as these tend to affect the nervous system and thus the tinnitus as well. This may be relatively easy to control if one does the cooking by oneself, but in case of restaurant- or instant food this is not always possible. So it is not uncommon that people complain about an increase of their tinnitus after being out for a meal. A frequent culprit here is for instance the flavour enhancer Monosodium Glutamate (an amino acid) which is frequently used in Asian cooking, Pizzas and other snack foods, Instant Soups and Sauces etc. For packaged food it should be designated there, usually as 'Flavour Enhancer', 'Monosodium Glutamate' or with the code 'E621'. In restaurants however it may well not be mentioned on the menu, so you might have to ask beforehand in order to find out.
Anyway, even if one happens to consume something that aggravates the tinnitus, the effect should only last for a couple of days at best. Just try to figure out what could have been responsible and eliminate this particular food for a while. It may take a while, but with a little bit of experimenting in this sense, one can thus minimize any adverse effect of nutrition.
Thomas
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