Magnesium Protects Your Hearing and Your Heart

If you have ever walked out of a loud concert with your ears ringing and sounds being muffled? If so, you’ve experienced temporary hearing damage — and believe it or not, magnesium may help protect you from that. My father and paternal grandmother had hearing loss as they got older. It’s super common and has been linked to an increased risk of dementia, aka Alzheimer’s disease. 

I have been very conscientious about protecting my hearing through the years. For example, I always wear noise-cancelling Apple earbuds when I go to a concert, and for decades I eat a diet loaded with magnesium and take a magnesium supplement every night at bedtime. 

Magnesium plays a critical role in keeping the tiny, delicate hair cells inside the inner ear healthy. These cells are what convert sound waves into electrical signals that your brain interprets as hearing. Once those hair cells are damaged — from loud noise, poor circulation, or oxidative stress — they don’t grow back.

That’s where magnesium comes in. Studies have shown that magnesium improves blood flow to the inner ear and helps reduce inflammation and oxidative stress, both of which contribute to noise-related and age-related hearing loss. In fact, an interesting study done in soldiers exposed to artillery noise found that those with higher magnesium levels had significantly less permanent hearing damage.

So what can you do?

Thankfully, getting enough magnesium is easy:

• Leafy greens (spinach, kale, spring greens, arugula, etc.)

• Nuts and seeds (pumpkin seeds, almonds, cashews)

• Beans and other legumes

• And a high-quality magnesium supplement; my favorite is magnesium glycinate with magnesium taurate, which is remarkably safe as a sleeping aid, and is non-habit-forming.

Most people — especially adults over age 50 — don’t get enough magnesium from food alone. And your inner ear is one of the first places to suffer when levels get low.

Bottom line:

Keeping your magnesium levels up is good not just for your heart, bones, muscles, sleep, brain and blood pressure, it’s great for protecting your hearing too. It’s a simple daily habit that may help protect one of your most precious senses for the long run. I find that most of my patients feel better when I can get them to increase their daily magnesium intake. And magnesium glycinate + magnesium taurate is in my opinion the safest and most effective sleep aid—I personally take it every night at bedtime. 

My Magnesium Checklist

• Best food sources: spinach, pumpkin seeds, almonds, avocado, black beans, dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa)

• Best supplement forms: magnesium glycinate and magnesium taurate — gentle on the stomach and well absorbed, great for sleep.

• Ideal daily intake: at least 300–400 mg per day from food + supplements combined

• Take it in the evening — it can calm the nervous system and improve sleep

• Bonus: also helps lower blood pressure, support heart rhythm and bone health, reduce muscle cramps, and ease anxiety