Am Ignoring This Advice. Food & Drink.

[Matt01]

Ok, so one thing have had enough of reading is supposed food and drink to avoid. For me, this is a problem in itself, as you are letting the condition dictate your life and things you enjoy. I am now taking the view I can eat and drink, within reason, what I want and enjoy.

I have read so far of these supposed things to avoid. It's a wonder the advice just isn't to eat lettuce and water;

Salt and high salt content foods
Chocolate
Alcohol
Milk and dairy
Caffeine and coffee
Tea
High sugar and fat foods
Fruit juice

I doubt any of the above recommendations have strong scientific evidence behind them linking them to tinnitus.

 

[DebS]

I tried abstaining from a lot of the foods you mentioned and it didn't affect my T one bit. I did lose 10 pounds tho!

 

[AlecP]

The BTA (British Tinnitus Association) did some studies on this subject, particularly with coffee for example. They found that not only was the majority of people's T unaffected by a reduced intake of coffee, in some cases abstaining from drinking it made T worse.

That being said however, tinnitus is different person to person so some people find and are insistent that coffee or alcohol is not good for their T, whereas others find that it makes no real difference.

I personally stopped drinking coffee and alcohol for the first month or so, but I slowly realised that it made no real difference and began enjoying them again.

 

[Yohann]

The only things I avoid are glutamate and too salty food which increase my T.

 

[Amelia]

At my T onset I cut out all caffeine - although truth be told I had an addiction to coca-cola and giving up was a good thing anyway for me. I also don't drink alcohol anymore, and again, truthfully I hate the taste anyway so not a big deal.

Soy sauced does upset my T tho ... But it doesn't stop me from having it

 

[Telis]

I avoid nothing now with T. I spent my entire life being careful about my diet and everything else....and this is where I sit-catastrophic T, life ruined. Anything is up for grabs now, nothing effects my T so I go to the extreem. Eat, drink as much of anything I choose. Being careful in the past, planning for my future got me no where, I learned my lesson.

 

[erik]

Everything in moderation....same rule as before you had T still applies. Don't worry about your diet even if it spikes you sometimes. Living in fear of what might or might not happen is far worse than that Indian food you passed on--which is quite tasty by the way!

So far today, I have a had 2 cups of coffee with cream, 1 square of 100% Cacao and some fruit juice--about half your avoid list and I am good!!

 

[geg1992]

I've been eating rubbish ever since I got T. KFC, Indian takeaway, Chinese etc but I didn't experience spikes. I've been eating healthy for the past week and my T has been horrible. But this could be because of other causes, who knows...

 

[I who love music]

I wish I could indulge, but I can't. One cola or coffee is all I can hack, two turns my T into the sound of an air hose. My H gets thumping whenever I eat something sugary. I don't have diabetes. But I get a gut ache from anything really sugary, always have. My brothers and son do too, in our family we call it "Sugar gut." hehe
I wouldn't tell anyone to knock off the caffiene and sugar in hopes of lowering T. But the darn stuff does make a difference in my world. It has for a few decades. No biggie, I don't think spooning sugar on anything is too healthy anyway.

 

[Kathi]

When I first got tinnitus I gave up sugar, sugar substitutes, salt, MSG and caffeine. I found out that not all of them effected my T but I slept a lot better being off caffeine--I never realized how jumped up caffeine made me--so, better sleep, lower T-- because sleep deprivation is one of the things that aggravates tinnitus. I haven't had caffeine in coffee/tea form for over a year but I do indulge in a cup of cocoa or a great dark chocolate bar every now and then and it has never bothered me. Cakes, cookies and ice cream don't bother me. The only thins I actively avoid are aspartame and MSG. Aspartame it is everywhere --diet sodas, low calorie foods, etc. It is a neurotoxin--causes one's neurons to keep firing until they die. All those artificial sweeteners are bad--some are pure chemicals--not one thing natural about them. MSG is a flavor enhancer disguised under many names. It bothered me even before the onset of my T--it made me feel bloated and headachy. Now it spikes my T. It's hard to avoid in anything processed so we eat mostly whole foods, fresh and cooked at home. Sometime I'll get a spike after eating out--but spikes don't scare me--I've learned that it will go back to normal and I'll be okay.

You'll be okay too. Just relax a bit. I know that is hard advice to take but I wish I had not put myself through what I did at onset. Habituation will come--it just takes time--I'm in my 16th month and am now habituating. Look into CBT or some other treatment to manage tinnitus.