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Add hearing loss to the long list of things you can prevent with a little bit of fish.
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\nA new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found a strong connection between eating two or more servings of fish per week and an decreased risk of hearing loss.<\/p>\n
Researchers analyzed almost two decades\u2019 worth of data from 65,215 women enrolled in the Nurses\u2019 Health Study II. In the study, women self-reported on their diet, as well as about hearing loss, among many other things. No matter what kind of fish the women said they ate\u2014like salmon, canned tuna, halibut\u2014higher consumption of any type was linked to less hearing loss.<\/p>\n
Lead study author Dr. Sharon Curhan of Brigham and Women\u2019s Hospital at Harvard Medical School suspects that\u2019s because fish consumption and higher intake of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) might contribute to better cochlear blood flow. \u201cBlood flow to the inner ear needs to be very well regulated in order to meet its high energy demands,\u201d she tells TIME in an e-mail. There\u2019s also other research that suggests that DHA, one of the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, is a major factor during auditory neurodevelopment. Curhan says the team doesn\u2019t yet know whether the results would apply to men.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s already well established that fish consumption and long-chain PUFA intake can help lower risk of heart disease, and Curhan thinks the mechanisms by which fish affects hearing loss might be similar. Maintaining blood flow seem to be key to both.<\/p>\n