Have you have seen something online promoting the virtues of intermittent fasting for tinnitus? From promises of rapid weight loss to detoxifying powers or even just “resetting” your body’s rhythm, fasting has been gaining popularity for conscientious consumers to take hold of their health.
But major dietary changes can also have unintended consequences beyond their hoped-for benefits. In fact, the jolt to your system may cause spikes in sleeplessness, irritability, and even heightened perception of tinnitus symptoms, including louder ringing in the ears.
Here are a few things to consider if you struggle with tinnitus and are considering jumping into the fasting fad.
The Science of Fasting for Tinnitus
Intermittent fasting means that you don’t eat for a period of time each day or week. Some popular approaches to this include alternate-day fasting, when you eat regularly every other day and fast on alternate days, or fasting for long periods of time during the day, such as only eating from 4:00 – 7:00 pm.
"Treble Health helped me reduce my tinnitus by about 80%, and now I can live my life again!"
"Treble Health helped me reduce my tinnitus by about 80%, and now I can live my life again!"
– Steve D.
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When fasting, the hormone glucagon is stimulated, which increases plasma glucose levels in the body. This is because our body doesn’t maintain its regular level of glucose, so the cells in our bodies try to produce energy by different means.
This triggers a process called gluconeogenesis, which is when the body starts producing its own sugar. The liver converts non-carbohydrate materials like lactate, amino acids, and fats into glucose energy. Because our bodies conserve energy during fasting, our basal metabolic rate (the amount of energy our bodies burn while resting) becomes more efficient, thereby lowering our heart rate and blood pressure.
As the process continues, we reach a stage later in the fasting process called ketosis. This is when the body burns stored fat as its primary power source and is the ideal mode for weight loss and balancing blood sugar levels.
The Benefits of Fasting
All these phases of physiological reaction to fasting put the body under mild stress, making our cells adapt by enhancing their ability to cope. In other words, they become stronger. It’s kind of like what happens when we stress our muscles or cardiovascular system during exercise. Similar to exercise, our body grows stronger during these processes (assuming there’s adequate time to rest and recover).
In aggregate, the process can yield significant short-term benefits, including boosting cognitive performance, protecting the body from obesity and associated chronic diseases, and reducing inflammation. You may also experience some weight loss (though it’s worth keeping in mind that many of the lost pounds are often a result of dehydration, which is common during fasting).
There’s also some evidence that intermittent fasting during chemotherapy jump-starts the immune system and exposes cancer cells. This supports the process of ridding the body of old, toxic cells and replacing them with new, healthy ones, and is currently a modality being explored in clinical trials.
Considerations Before Fasting
Before you try fasting, it is recommended that you consult with a doctor before any major dietary changes such as fasting, even if you don’t have tinnitus. Then, before you start, it’s worthwhile to monitor your symptoms without any dietary changes. This will provide you with a kind of baseline to which you can compare any changes. Make a note of what you eat and when, as well as your consumption of liquids (particularly water), alcoholic beverages, salt, and caffeine. Track these behaviors for a month, logging your tinnitus spikes, as well. Make sure to indicate times and duration of any symptoms.
If you find that your experience of fasting has little influence on your tinnitus and provides other health benefits, then you may be among the individuals for whom fasting is effective. If the symptoms worsen or there are other downsides that outweigh the benefits, then it’s worth seeking out other alternatives to weight loss. Either way, partner with your provider before you engage in fasting or other changes to your health. Your doctor can be a great ally in your health journey to both motivate and monitor your progress.
Takeaways
So, does fasting work for tinnitus? While there is no hard evidence, it is believed by many that fasting can help to cleanse toxins from our bodies and can even activate dormant cells that are not typically stimulated when there is a stable flow of food.
Moreover, there’s simply no meaningful body of evidence exploring the relationship between fasting and tinnitus, but that’s not to say that it doesn’t improve tinnitus for some individuals who try it. We do know that dehydration and other bodily stress can exacerbate symptoms of tinnitus, so it stands to reason that fasting may similarly heighten perception of tinnitus episodes. Without a robust foundation of data, it’s hard to say.
Tinnitus Management With Treble Health
Did you know that tinnitus affects more than 50 million people in the United States alone? Despite being one of the most common conditions around the globe, most people have trouble finding treatment options to help manage their symptoms. Regardless of the cause of your tinnitus, Treble Health can help you to manage your symptoms. Our scientifically backed treatment methods have helped hundreds of tinnitus patients live a full and productive life, and 85% of individuals report significant reductions in their tinnitus after working with us! Our team has decades of experience in helping patients reduce their tinnitus and regain their quality of life, and you can be next.
If you are looking to start tinnitus treatment, we recommend scheduling a complimentary telehealth consultation with an audiologist on our team. This 20-minute Zoom call will give you the chance to explain your situation, ask any questions that you may have, and learn about the treatment options that would best for your personal situation. To schedule your free consultation and start the path to a life without bothersome tinnitus, click here.
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- 75% of patients reduced their tinnitus within three months after following our recommendations.
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