You’ve most likely already recognized that your hearing is failing. In most cases, we don’t even realize that our choices are negatively impacting our hearing.

With a few simple lifestyle changes, many types of hearing loss can be prevented. Let’s look at six surprising secrets that will help you maintain your hearing.

1. Regulate Your Blood Pressure

It’s not okay if your blood pressure stays high. A study determined that people who have higher than-average blood pressure are 52% more likely to have hearing loss, not to mention other health problems.

Take actions to reduce your blood pressure and avoid hearing damage. Don’t dismiss high blood pressure or wait to consult a doctor. Following your doctor’s guidance, eating a healthy diet, managing stress, and exercising regularly are all parts of blood pressure management.

2. Stop Smoking

Here’s one more reason to quit: Hearing loss is 15% more likely to affect smokers. What’s even more surprising is that there’s a 28% higher chance of someone experiencing hearing issues if they are regularly subjected to second-hand smoke. The harmful consequences of second-hand smoke are not only harmful, they also hang in the air for long periods.

If you smoke, protect your hearing and consider quitting. If you spend time with a smoker, take measures to reduce your exposure to second-hand smoke.

3. Manage Your Diabetes

One in four adults is either pre-diabetic or diabetic. Unless they make some significant lifestyle changes, someone who is pre-diabetic will probably develop diabetes within 5 years.

Blood vessels that are damaged by high blood sugar don’t effectively transport nutrients. Compared to someone who doesn’t have diabetes, a diabetic person has more than twice the chance of developing hearing loss.

If you have diabetes, safeguard your hearing by taking the proper steps to manage it. Protect your hearing by making lifestyle changes if you are at risk of type 2 diabetes.

4. Lose Some Weight

This isn’t about body image or feeling great about yourself. It’s about your health. Hearing loss and other health problems increase as your Body Mass Index (BMI) rises. The chance of getting hearing loss increases by 17% for a mildly obese woman with a BMI of 30 to 34. A moderately obese person has a 25% risk of hearing loss if they have a BMI of 40.

Take steps to lose that extra weight. Something as basic as walking for 30 minutes every day can reduce your risk of hearing loss and prolong your life.

5. Don’t Overuse OTC Drugs

Certain over-the-counter (OTC) drugs can lead to hearing loss. The more often these medications are taken over a long period of time, the greater the risk.

Drugs including acetaminophen, naproxen, ibuprofen, and aspirin are known to lead to hearing loss. Use these medications in moderation and only with your doctor’s guidance if you need to take them more regularly.

If you’re taking the recommended dose for the periodic headache, studies indicate you’ll most likely be okay. Taking them daily, however, raises the chance of hearing loss by up to 40% for men.

Always follow your doctor’s advice. Your doctor might be able to suggest some lifestyle changes that will reduce your dependence on these medications if you are using them every day.

6. Eat More Broccoli

Broccoli is loaded with iron in addition to important nutrients like vitamins C and K. Iron is essential to blood circulation and a healthy heart. Nutrients and oxygen are carried to your cells which helps keep them nourished and healthy and iron is a significant part of this process.

If you’re a vegetarian or don’t eat much meat, it’s important that you consume enough plant-based iron. The iron found in plants is not as bioavailable as the iron in meat so people in this group are more likely to be deficient in iron.

More than 300,000 individuals were examined by Pennsylvania State University. Individuals who have anemia (extreme iron deficiency) are twice as likely, according to this research, to experience sensorineural hearing loss than people who have normal iron concentrations. Sensorineural hearing loss is the scientific name for irreversible hearing loss related to aging.

Sound is picked up and transmitted to the brain by tiny little hairs in the inner ear which resonate with the volume and frequency of that sound. If these hair cells die as a result of poor circulation or other complications arising from iron deficiency, they won’t grow back.

Don’t wait to get a hearing test because you’re never too young. Prevent hearing loss by implementing these simple secrets in your day-to-day life.