English language article: So can I eat cheese, then? What about coffee, can I drink that?

Allan Wright. 30 March 2014.

I'm frequently asked in workshops 'What should I eat / drink for my voice?' or, even more frequently 'what foods and drinks should I be avoiding to get better vocals?'.

Opinions are the subject are multiple...

'You should totally avoid coffee! Never eat cheese! Drink hot tea with lemon if your throat hurts!'

...and often contradictory (sometimes coming from the same person)...

'if your throat is sore, drink hot green tea with local honey!' (then, three seconds later) 'what are you doing with that iced water?! You should only drink things at room temperature - extremes of temperature are terrible for the voice!' (errr?)

Advice is often based on the personal experience of the giver...

'you know, the minute I stopped eating dairy, I gained a fifth in my upper range'

...or even sometimes just on something the advice giver may have read and found interesting...

'I heard that Céline Dion always drinks a chicken broth before going on stage - but she takes all the meat out.'

...and, frequently, on fairly ropey anatomical 'facts'...

'never drink iced drinks because when they touch the vocal cords, they can seize up!'

Personal experience is a valid learning tool and the experience that gave birth to the advice being offered was certainly real for the giver (whether this is down to allergy or simply placebo effect, the fact remains that the experience was real for them), but of course 'real to me' and 'applicable to everyone' is not at all the same thing.

For the 'I heard such and such' brigade, seriously guys - we don't give a damn what the stars eat and drink - you won't suddenly riff like a goddess because you buy the same hot chocolate as Beyoncé. This type of advice is difficult to get rid of because we are more and more obsessed with the cult of celebrity.

The anatomy and physiology are much easier to manage and so I propose that we have a quick look at those to help us make our decision (and because Jessie J hasn't yet published her recipe for spotted dick).

It's as simple as this: nothing you eat or drink touches your vocal folds. They are the door to your lungs, not the door to your stomach. The only way you can touch them directly is to inhale the substance in question into your lungs - this is why steam inhalations are amazing for your voice and smoking is a big pile of arse. I think we can agree that your lungs are not the place for coffee or cheese (nudist shoplifters may disagree).

So what about the two biggies that keep coming up as regards food and the voice: coffee and dairy products? Everyone knows that milk causes excessive mucus and coffee dehydrates you, right?

Well, it appears that these too might be simple received ideas with no real scientific basis. A study carried out in 1990 showed no significant link between milk and excessive mucus production, whilst a recent study (2013) showed no significant link between moderate coffee consumption and dehydration (refs below).

So if the physiological answer is so simple, why are there so many myths? Simply because human beings love ritual and mystery, I think. Singers particularly so (if Joan Sutherland does X, maybe that's the reason for her virtuosity and if I copy her, the magic will work for me!')

I also truly believe that modern society loves to do things backwards, starting with the easiest work (which gives the littlest benefit) rather than with the hard slog (that pays off massively). An excellent example of this happened to me recently, a singer I was working with said to me 'you know, you shouldn't drink that brand of water - the amount of mineral deposit in it is too high. I stopped and switched to such and such a brand, which I only drink at room temperature' - the amazing thing about this is that the singer in question had just smoked a cigarette in front of me. The culture is now 'eat Goji berries to lose weight' instead of 'stop eating crap and go for a run' because the first one is easy and the second one is hard. I'm not disputing the health benefits of Goji berries - largely because I'm not the least bit interested in them- but also because that's not the point. Whether they are good for our health or not is beside the point if we are using them to replace basic health gestures rather than to compliment them. Would you turn the heating up in a room if it was cold, or would you close the doors and windows first?

I believe that our own insecurities about our voices and our technique lead us to grab onto whatever mystical formula was on Oprah last week if there's even a tiny chance it could help us. Sadly for us singers, there is no short cut. The only thing that will help you avoid fatigue is better technique. The only thing that will increase your virtuosity is better technique. The only thing that will fix a broken voice is better technique (even if surgery is required, better technique will reduce the chances of it going wrong again). Let us concern ourselves with the latest miracle teas once we have worked on the larger, more important question of good basic vocal technique.

What's our conclusion, then?
Unless you know you're allergic to something in particular, eat and drink whatever you normally eat and drink - there won't be a significant effect on your voice. If you want to sing better - work on your technique (and then have a KitKat).

References for the studies mentioned above.

1. Pinnock CB, et al : Relationship between milk intake and mucus production in adult volunteers challenged with rhinovirus-2

2. Killer SC, et al : No Evidence of Dehydration with Moderate Daily Coffee Intake: A Counterbalanced Cross-Over Study in a Free-Living Population.