A study from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) found that women who consume higher amounts of caffeine have a lower risk of developing tinnitus.
In this 18-year study of nearly 65,000 women—most of whom got their caffeine intake from coffee—those who consumed the equivalent of 1.5 cups of coffee per day were 15% more likely to develop tinnitus compared to women who drank about 4–6 cups of coffee daily.
The research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, has not yet identified the exact reason why higher caffeine intake might reduce the risk of tinnitus. However, lead author Gary Curhan, Professor of Epidemiology at HSPH and a researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, noted:
“We know that caffeine stimulates the central nervous system, and previous studies have shown that caffeine has a direct effect on the inner ear.”