Being a human is complicated. There’s a lot about it to try and understand, especially when it comes to all the interrelated aspects of the human body.
Here’s an interesting fact you may never have heard before: the state of your heart can affect the state of your hearing. We understand how that can sound a little fishy, but there have been 60-plus years of research into the heart/hearing connection.
Let’s start explaining that connection in the inner ear, where the vibrations made by soundwaves are translated into bits of electrical data that the brain recognizes as individual sounds.
The mechanisms of your inner ear need healthy blood flow to function; if the tiny vessels that feed those mechanisms can’t pump enough blood, your hearing can suffer.
Those Tiny Blood Vessels Are A Big Deal
That blood flow is so important that hearing professionals recommend a hearing test after a heart attack in order to be sure that hearing loss hasn’t resulted from an interrupted bloodstream.
Many also consider it important to keep each patient’s heart-health history on file for reference. Knowing about as history of hypertension, heart attacks, heart disease or surgery such as a heart bypass can be very helpful to hearing care providers.
The purpose of this blog is to help you be more heart-healthy, so the last thing we want to do is tell you what NOT to do or enjoy in life. What we’ve put together is a short list of positive, proactive ways to get on the road to a healthier heart.
Stand Up For Your Heart
Many of us spend a lot of time sitting during the course of a day, and research is beginning to find that parking in a chair behind a desk for eight hours a day isn’t great for a person’s health.
In fact, being in that chair all day has been directly linked to heart disease. You need to get up every once in a while to get your blood moving—once every hour has been recommended as a good target.
You don’t have to get up and jog around the block; taking a walk in order to speak with a colleague at his or her desk, rather than texting or phoning, is a great way to give your blood flow a helping hand.
Get Colorful About Your Diet
Fruits and vegetables look great, taste great, and most are low-calorie, low-fat and low sodium, Plus, many of them are loaded with either vitamin C or beta-carotene, which are helpful for reducing the build-up of plaque in your arteries.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada recommends 7 to 10 servings of vegetables and fruit daily as one if the keys to a healthy heart. don’t get intimidated by that recommended number of servings, by the way; take a look at foundation’s serving-size guide to understand just how much fruit and veg they’re recommending.
Go Low-Fat, But Not TOO Low
Eliminating all fats from your diet is a bad idea. Your body can’t function well without a certain amount of the right kind of fats.
You should definitely cut down and completely stay away from artificial trans fats, tropical oils, and hydrogenated oils. In practical terms, that means it’s a good idea to get fish and avocado into your diet and to snack on some nuts during the day. You should also look into using oils that don’t have a lot of saturated fat: sesame oil, olive oil, and grapeseed oil are excellent options.
Show a loved one you care and schedule a no-charge, no-obligation hearing assessment for the both of you! Contact us today to find a location nearest you.
