10 Healthy Coffee Alternatives To Help Ease Your Tinnitus

By Doug Morris

Many tinnitus sufferers have found that caffeine increases or triggers the ringing in their ears.

If you’re looking for a coffee substitute while you try this out for your tinnitus symptoms, below are 10 healthy alternatives to make the switch easier on you.

With coffee and caffeinated drinks being so popular in American culture, it can be hard to figure out what you can drink instead if you’re working on cutting it out of your diet.

Researchers have found that excessive caffeine irritates tinnitus and may sometimes cause tinnitus.

Not only can coffee irritate your tinnitus, it can also be what’s raising your blood pressure, affecting the quality of your sleep and be increasing your stress levels.

All disasters for tinnitus sufferers.

Some patients who have completely cut-out, or at least drastically reduced the amount of coffee and caffeine they consume, have been able to completely eliminate their tinnitus.

This doesn’t mean that everyone with tinnitus shouldn’t have any caffeine.

But going on a 2-week trial to see if this method would help you is worth a shot.

If you’re a big fan of coffee but want to see if this could be what’s triggering or increasing your tinnitus, keep reading to find the top 10 healthy substitutes you can try today for that boost of energy you’re used to.

1. Matcha Tea

Matcha tea

As one of the trendiest superfoods, you might have read about Match tea on social media or in fitness articles, thanks to its wide range of benefits.

It is made from green tea leaves from the Camellia Sinensis tea plant.

Matcha does have caffeine, but about 50% less than coffee.

And unlike coffee, it contains the amino acid L-theanine.

This helps your body absorb the caffeine much more slowly and helps create a state of calm alertness.

Studies also show that those who drank matcha had significantly lower stress and anxiety, thanks to that powerful amino acid.

As you’re switching off coffee and reducing caffeine intake, matcha could be the perfect transition drink, thanks to its health benefits.

2. Yerba Mate

Yerba mate

Yerba mate is a South American drink that is made from the dried leaves of the llex paraguariensis tree.

It contains less caffeine than coffee and enhances alertness like coffee without the side effects of it.

Boosting its power, it also contains two compounds known as theobromine and theophylline that act as stimulants.

They improve your memory, concentration and alertness.

A lot of athletes use yerba mate to increase their sports performance and reduce fatigue.

3. Chicory Coffee

Chicory coffee

This drink tastes very similar to coffee, but with no caffeine.

It’s made using the roots of the chicory plant.

Chicory coffee contains inulin fiber, a prebiotic that promotes the growth of beneficial bacteria in your gut and can drop your blood sugar levels.

In fact, studies show that chicory root is beneficial to those struggling with type 2 diabetes.

The great thing about chicory root coffee is that it gives you the same energy as coffee but without caffeine side effects.

4. Golden Milk

Golden milk

“Golden Milk” is a delicious caffeine-free drink that incorporates spices like Curcuma, ginger, turmeric, and black pepper in combination with milk.

To get the maximum health benefits, it’s best to choose a milk alternative such as coconut milk or almond milk.

Golden milk has been used in Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic medicine for years but it has just started to gain popularity in the Western world.

Golden milk is a powerful source of antioxidants, which help to boost your immune system and fight cell damage.

It has anti-inflammatory properties due to curcumin, a compound that you find in turmeric and helps to control inflammation, relieve pain, and reduces fatigue.

At the same time, it can boost your brain function and improve memory.

5. Coconut Water

Coconut water

Coconut water is perfect for those hot days when you need intense hydration, or when you’re tired of the taste of plain, old water.

But did you know it could also give you an energy boost?

Coconut water is the liquid from the center of a young, green coconut.

It contains about 94% of water and very little fat.

It has high antioxidant properties that protect you from chronic diseases, heart diseases, and cell damage.

It has a wide range of electrolytes such as magnesium, potassium, sodium, and calcium to restore hydration after exercise and give you a boost of energy.

A perfect healthy alternative if you love iced coffee.

6. Black Tea

Black tea

Traditional black tea gets its dark color because of an oxidation process that turns the green leaves into black ones.

If you’re looking to gradually quit coffee, this could be a great transition drink since it has about half the amount of caffeine that coffee does.

As a bonus, not only do you get a bit of a caffeine energy boost, black tea has a compound called theophylline that also increases your alertness.

And like matcha, it contains a wide range of antioxidants and L-theanine, a compound that improves your focus.

7. Kombucha

Kombucha

Kombucha is a fermented tea made with black or green tea combined with sugar, yeast and bacteria.

It has the same benefits as black tea but with an important health boost: it has lots of probiotics.

In fact, studies show that kombucha can help with both preventing health issues and recovering from many health problems.

Kombucha has four main properties where it acts as an

  • Antioxidant
  • Detoxification agent
  • Energizer
  • Immune-system booster

Probiotics are helpful bacteria that can provide health benefits like improving digestive function, relieving symptoms of constipation, boosting metabolism, and promoting the immune system.

It can help you fight infections and kill some harmful microorganisms.

You can prepare kombucha at home but we strongly suggest that you should buy it from a qualified brand because contaminated or over-fermented kombucha can lead to health complications.

8. Apples

Apples

A coffee substitute doesn’t necessarily have to be a drink.

You can start your day full of energy just by eating an apple.

They are packed with nutrients like vitamin C, antioxidants and fiber which are more than enough to give a boost of energy to your body.

While adjusting to the new routine, you might not feel the same instant boost that you did with coffee but in the long run, the energy will last longer.

And it doesn’t come with any side effects.

9. Bananas

Bananas

No need to drink an expensive sports drink. You can simply eat a banana.

Bananas contain an amino acid known as tyrosine, which helps to produce a neurotransmitter that increases memory, motivation, alertness, and the ability to focus.

It also contains vitamin B6 that helps your body produce hemoglobin, a protein from the blood which is responsible for carrying oxygen to all the cells of your body.

Getting proper oxygen to your inner ears is vital to keeping your tinnitus at bay.

These are some of the vitamins that you could be lacking that may be triggering the ringing in your ears.

10. Papaya

Papaya

Papaya is another fruit full of vitamins to boost your energy.

It has very high concentrations in vitamins C, A and B as well as important electrolytes like potassium and fiber.

Like bananas, eating papaya is a great way to help you build up vitamins you might be lacking that could be affecting your tinnitus.

Conclusion

Trying any of the above healthy alternatives to coffee to help ease your tinnitus will no doubt give you welcome side benefits.

From reducing stress, to getting antioxidants, probiotics, and topping up on common vitamin deficiencies, to even helping type 2 diabetes.

Try cutting down your coffee to see how your tinnitus responds.

If you aren’t getting the results you hoped for, we have a guide of 18 things that could be making your tinnitus worse.

Another benefit to cutting down caffeine intake is getting a better night’s sleep – something that is much needed when dealing with that buzzing in your ears.

If you’re having trouble with sleeping, we have some sleep tips specifically for tinnitus sufferers like you.

References

Unno, K., Furushima, D., Hamamoto, S., Iguchi, K., Yamada, H., Morita, A., Horie, H., & Nakamura, Y. (2018). Stress-Reducing Function of Matcha Green Tea in Animal Experiments and Clinical Trials. Nutrients, 10(10), 1468. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10101468

Shoaib, M., Shehzad, A., Omar, M., Rakha, A., Raza, H., Sharif, H. R., Shakeel, A., Ansari, A., & Niazi, S. (2016). Inulin: Properties, health benefits and food applications. Carbohydrate polymers, 147, 444–454. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2016.04.020

Ning, C., Wang, X., Gao, S., Mu, J., Wang, Y., Liu, S., Zhu, J., & Meng, X. (2017). Chicory inulin ameliorates type 2 diabetes mellitus and suppresses JNK and MAPK pathways in vivo and in vitro. Molecular nutrition & food research, 61(8), 10.1002/mnfr.201600673. https://doi.org/10.1002/mnfr.201600673

Vīna, I., Semjonovs, P., Linde, R., & Deniņa, I. (2014). Current evidence on physiological activity and expected health effects of kombucha fermented beverage. Journal of medicinal food, 17(2), 179–188. https://doi.org/10.1089/jmf.2013.0031

About the author 

Doug Morris

Doug is a health researcher who has spent over 30 years as a publisher and consultant in the natural health industry. During his retirement, he spends upwards of 10 hours a day sifting through health journals and reading about new and exciting health breakthroughs - especially those regarding potential tinnitus cures. In his free time, Doug enjoys trying new restaurants and hiking with his Golden Retriever.

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