Vocal Health and Nutrition: Fuel for Your Voice

Vocal health and nutrition

Whether you’re considering nutrition to lose weight, because you have a limiting diet, or because you simply want to ensure your health for the future, nutrition is a hot topic across the board these days; and that’s not a bad thing. In not-so-distant years past, it seemed as though America specifically let their health decline at a growing rate, putting emphasis on overindulgence rather than the longevity of life. It’s easy to let that mindset spiral out of control, but to see things turning around for the better gives hope to us all.

We only have one body to nourish, and what we put in our bodies gives you an idea of what it’s going to give back. If you’re filling your body with toxic chemicals, unhealthy foods, and ignoring its basic needs, you can bet it isn’t going to perform the way you’d like it to. As performers, that’s where nutrition comes into play. If you want your voice and your body to give an optimal performance, you better believe you have to give it the nutritional tools to do so. We will expand on this topic in future posts, but here are three basic elements to ensure your body is able to exert a killer performance:

1.) Hydration. Especially for your vocal chords, hydration is a must. In order to enable your vocal chords to operate the way they should, they must be adequately hydrated. It’s recommended that the average person drink at least eight glasses of water per day, but for a vocalist, this isn’t enough. Keep a water bottle on you at all times. Water only does the body good, so you can never have too much. In addition to hydration, to keep the vocal chords happy, avoid yelling or straining your voice. A restful schedule is going to keep your vocal chords very happy. Isn’t vocal hygiene fun?

2.) Feed your body correctly. As with anyone else watching their nutrition such as an athlete getting ready to perform, a vocalist should keep away from high density, fatty and fried foods, especially before a performance. Pay attention to not only what you’re eating, but when. You don’t want to feel stuffed during a performance, but you need an adequate amount of fuel – so an hour or two before a performance is best. It’s best to choose foods with a low density as the body can easily break them down. Overall, a diet that emphasizes vegetables, fruits and whole grains is optimal.

3.) Foods to defriend. Omitting certain foods from your diet is going to play a huge role in keeping your vocal nutrition at its peak level. Vocalists, more than anyone else, need to pay attention to the health of the mucus glands as they can really cloud the true sound of your voice and hinder a performance. Omitting all dairy products before a performance is going to do wonders for you. We are all familiar with that uncomfortable sticky, “gunky” feeling in our throats; let’s avoid that, especially during performance. Something else to be weary of is the use of alcohol. Alcohol is a foe as it causes the constriction of the blood vessels in vocal tissue, essentially causing dehydration (hangovers, too).

Here are just a few essential parts of maintaining your vocal nutrition and ultimately preparing your voice for a killer performance with optimal strength and health. Happy and healthy singing, everyone!