Associations of Dietary Factors, Body Mass Index, and Physical Activity with Tinnitus: A Scoping Review

: Emerging evidence suggests that metabolic, nutritional, and lifestyle-related factors may be associated with tinnitus occurrence and symptom burden. Nutritional status, obesity, and sedentary behavior have been hypothesized to be linked with auditory function, neural excitability, and tinnitus-related outcomes....

Current evidence is insufficient to recommend specific dietary or lifestyle interventions for tinnitus management; however, the review supports discussing general metabolic health and physical activity as part of holistic patient counseling.

Identifying modifiable lifestyle risk factors for tinnitus could open new avenues for prevention and adjunct management, reducing reliance on symptom-only interventions in an otherwise treatment-limited condition.

1. 01Scoping review examining links between diet, BMI, physical activity, and tinnitus prevalence and severity.
2. 02Some dietary patterns (e.g., high-fat, high-sugar diets) and elevated BMI were associated with higher tinnitus risk in reviewed studies.
3. 03Regular physical activity was associated with lower tinnitus burden in some studies.
4. 04Evidence base is heterogeneous; most studies are observational with limited ability to establish causation.
5. 05Lifestyle-focused approaches may complement standard tinnitus management but require stronger trial evidence.

PMID

42279134

DOI

10.3390/jcm15114274.

Journal

Journal of Clinical Medicine

Publication type

review

Evidence level

2a

Population

Adults with tinnitus or at risk of tinnitus across observational studies

Intervention

Dietary factors, BMI, and physical activity as exposures

Comparator

Varying comparators across included studies