Singing causes a great deal of vocal stress and exertion, especially when that is someone’s profession. It requires on the part of the singer to take care of his or her precious voice! Following a proper diet chart is the main key to maintain and preserve good vocal health!
While there are diets that are a MUST in your diet chart, there are, however, certain diets which might have a negative effect on your voice! So professional speech therapists at any clinic dealing with voice therapy in Kolkata set certain do’s and don’ts when it comes to having a proper and well-balanced diet – which will be voice-friendly!
What NOT to Eat!
Not all foods are healthy for your vocal cords, especially when you are getting ready for a show! In fact, there are a very few foods which actually help your vocal cords! If you cannot give up eating all of them, at least do not take them within 3 hours before your show. Here is the list of foods recommended by Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) at centres providing services in voice therapy in Kolkata, which are bad for your vocal health –
- Dairy products – Dairy products like milk, cheese, yoghurt and others are an absolute NO NO before your show, because your body goes through a hard time breaking them down. In most of the cases it causes acid reflux which comes up to your esophagus and causes burns in the vocal cords.
- Processed Sugar – Speech therapists at clinics for voice therapy in Kolkata consider overly sugary foods as the enemies of your wonderful and musical voice! These will wear out your vocal cords, thus, taking away their energy to sing beautifully!
- Caffeine – Caffeine is a diuretic – which means that it will make you urinate more often. This in turn will dehydrate you! This will result in your vocal cords getting dried up – thus taking away your ability to sing for long hours at your performances in shows! So stay away from caffeinated teas and coffees!
- Chocolate – Yes we know that it is so irresistible! But if you are a singer, it is better to stay away from those lovely ones! However, if you cannot do without chocolates, you can have it once in a while! But according to certified SLPs at recognised centres for voice therapy in Kolkata, never take chocolates before a show! Chocolates contain caffeine naturally, which will dry out and constrict your vocal cord muscles!
- Fried Foods – Fried foods – especially deep-fried ones, contain oil which is not at all good for your voice! It is because they often are not properly processed. This makes them difficult to digest, which may result in acid reflux – a condition in which acid comes up to your esophagus and causes burns in the vocal cords. So it is not at all recommended by SLPs at clinics for voice therapy in Kolkata.
- Ice water – We know it’s absolutely wonderful to have a glass of chilled water! They constrict the muscles in your throat – which leads to stress and the loss of flexibility in your voice!
- Alcohol – Often singers like to ‘lubricate’ their voice by making them wet with a nice drink! But this is a bad habit, because instead of acting as a ‘lubricant’, alcohol will dry up your throat! So alcohol is a complete NO NO according to SLPs at centres for voice therapy in Kolkata.
- Smoking – Hope you are not a singer who smokes! If you are, then throw that dangerous paper roll now! Smoking is probably the biggest enemy of your voice! The super-heated air caused due to smoking, results in irritation and swelling of your larynx and your vocal cords! Worse still, smoking might even lead to vocal fold cancer! This will cause hoarseness of your voice – thus completely destroying your voice!
- Soda – Soda is associated with two health hazards – primarily, it is too sugary, and secondly, it is carbonated! You don’t want to burp in front of a microphone, do you?!
- Spicy or salty foods – Spicy foods causes powerful reaction in your throat, which will constrict the airway – thus affecting your voice! Salty foods cause dehydration in your body, and cause your throat to dry up. If you are a great lover of spicy foods, then make it a point not to have them before a show!
Following a healthy and voice-friendly diet will never disappoint you at the stage! If you neglect it, your voice will neglect you too! Even if you go for a good voice therapy in Kolkata after a damage, you might not get back your natural voice! So prevention is always better than cure!
Read about What to Eat in our next blog – Visit this link: https://speechplus.in/the-singers-diet-what-to-eat/