How Soundbites Helps Preserve Hearing
Sound energy increases exponentially. So does the risk of hearing damage.
Every 3dB increase in sound level doubles the amount of inner metabolic energy needed to convert the sound into signals for the brain to understand as hearing. The increased demand triggers a vast increase in free radical production, quickly increasing oxidative stress and the risk of hearing damage. Click the sound samples to see what happens and what Soundbites has been proven to do. Data in the visualizations is estimated but directionally accurate.
About the guinea pig and Soundbites real-world evidence research
We owe a debt of gratitude to the lab study guinea pigs that demonstrated ACEMg, the Soundbites formula reduced oxidative stress, protecting cochlear cells from noise damage by up to 30dB, or 10 doublings of sound energy, reducing noise-induced hearing loss by 75%. Read the 2007 peer-reviewed report of lab findings.
It is not possible to confirm the lab findings using traditional random control clinical trial design because it is unethical to intentionally expose research subjects to harm from damagingly high levels of noise and only treat half. Researchers solved that thorny problem by designing real-world evidence studies to collect real-world data. The 2-year clinical study collected statistically significant objective clinical data demonstrating that hearing was preserved or improved for 75% of those who took ACEMg as Soundbites softgel capsules daily for six months. Read the 2026 peer-reviewed report of clinical real-world evidence findings.
Now, anyone can use Soundware tests and surveys, based on validated clinical frameworks, to assess hearing and monitor changes over time. Learn more.
How hearing works
Sound becomes hearing in the cochlea
The human auditory system evolved over more than 250 million years. Sound waves entering the air‐filled ear canal are transferred by the eardrum into the tiny, snail‐shaped, fluid‐filled cochlea. Nerve cells within the cochlea in the organ of Corti, called outer hair cells, amplify and separate sound waves into electrical signals in a process called mechano-electrical transduction. The signals are transferred to the brain by inner hair cells and the auditory nerve in milliseconds. The auditory system functions normally when sound levels are below about 80 decibels (dB).
How Auditory System Dysfunction Starts
Inner ear mitochondrial overload creates oxidative stress and neuroinflammation
Auditory transduction is a complex biochemical process requiring metabolic energy produced within the mitochondria of outer hair cells. Auditory system dysfunction starts when sound rises above normal levels, typically between 70 and 80 dB. Mitochondria respond to the demand for extra energy by producing vast quantities of oxidative molecules that start cell metabolism, called reactive oxygen species (ROS). The exponential nature of sound triggers vast ROS overproduction, quickly overwhelming the capacity of outer hair cell antioxidant systems to neutralize ROS toxicity. The result is oxidative stress in the cochlea, which disrupts normal cochlear metabolism, damaging mitochondrial DNA and leading to SNHL.
How Soundbites Works
Soundbites is designed to block the root causes of inner ear hearing loss
Soundbites, the ACEMg formula, eliminates excess inner ear free radicals by supplementing the precise antioxidant micronutrients inner ear cells need to continue functioning normally when they would be otherwise stressed.
Do you suffer from tinnitus or hyperacusis?
Tinnitus and hyperacusis may start from the same inner ear process that drives hearing loss, causing synaptopathy, damage to the microscopic connections between your inner ear and your brain that researchers are only beginning to map. Learn how the ACEMg formula in Soundbites may help, and how Soundware lets you track whether it's working for you.
Want to dive deep into inner ear biochemistry and hearing loss pathophysiology?
This video from the Keep Hearing Initiative explains how hearing loss happens at the cellular level, and how the ACEMg formula works to block the root cause of sensorineural hearing loss. Part of a 5-session video series covering everything from ear anatomy to clinical evidence.