Drinks for singers?
brendan
Enrolled Posts: 6
I know water is best, but i drink a lot of various teas like from different herbs and i've also heard lemon water is good. Just wondering what Ken or other singers prefer while singing or about to sing. And also the effects, if any, from drinking teas?
Best Answers
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kamikaze
2.0 PRO Posts: 193
Well I like to stick with water, but what I used to do a lot(not so much anymore:p) is to get either water or tea, put some honey and lemon juice in there, and heat it up a bit. Im not sure how well this works, I had just heard a year or two back to try it out. Now Id say water is still the best, but just some tea, maybe chammomilr or lemon? With a pinch of honey, I hear is good for clearing up the throat. But always remember, water rocks:)
Hope this helps:D -
Ken Tamplin
Administrator, Moderator Posts: 446
Room temperauture water is by far the best. Avoid anything with caffeine and carbonation. Alcohal is not not smart as it will dry you out (and make you thyink you are singing better than you really are ha ha)
Answers
you could open up an account (like many of us here have -- it's FREE).. at:
http://www.soundcloud.com
Good points above about caffeine! It's found in most sports drinks because it helps the carbs become more easily absorbed. (Great for athletes, but not for a singers.) It is for this very reason - absorption - that pharmaceutical companies also use caffeine in many common over-the-counter pain relievers. So beware, read your drug labels. Ken discusses much of this in his video on staying healthy.
Yes and No. : ^ )
From the purist perspective, ALL caffeinated soft drinks are diuretics and it would be better to avoid that. If you are having any vocal issues at all, a cola is a bad idea. That said, I am guilty as charged for occasionally imbibing in a diet coke at a gig. I always have a couple of two-liter room-temperature water bottles on my drum riser, and I guzzle between songs liberally.
Worse by far would be a beer. Talk about something that almost instantly robs your body of water... plus the alcohol can make you think you sound better than you do. A shot of whiskey or Tequila just whisks everything off your vocal cords, leaving them dry as a brittle bone. It also can greatly compromise your mental acuity. You may think you're sounding great when maybe you're not so hot.
One drink, be it alcoholic or non-alcoholic, won't necessarily ruin your voice, but why even go there? We know better. We spend time and money to make our voices the best they can be. So why do anything other than hydrate ourselves like we know we're supposed to do?
Yeah, talking about the "evils" of Diet Coke does seem a little strict... but nothing beats room temperature water. And as most of you probably know, when you drink the water, none of it goes directly to the vocal cords. It takes at least 20 or more minutes for the water to get into your bloodstream via your digestive system. It WILL, however do a great job of refreshing your dry mouth and upper throat.
Bob
I have friends that swear by them, but they really don't help me. I have acid reflux and allergies, so I tend to produce a lot of mucus.
For me personally: lots of water, saline flushing, and inhaling steam are the best ways to keep hydrated.
Ken discourages the use of Throat Coat, for the reason of its name: It coats the throat. Then you start trying to clear it off your cords. A coating on your cords is not something that will help you sing. There are not many products Ken recommends for the throat.
We're talking about drinks here, so we haven't gone into some of the treatment items like inhaling steam with tea tree oil, or drops of colloidial silver.
Green Tea is something that a lot of singers drink, including Ken.
Bob
Nevertheless, from a general health perspective, it may be worthwhile for me to give up diet coke and see if there is any improvement in voice and general health. I don't drink coffee but I do like the caffeine buzz of the diet soda, which water and juice beverages does not replicate.
Does Ken pretty much abstain from caffeinated drinks altogether (like morning cup of coffee) ?
Or is it just to be avoided close to performance times?
I know about a year ago he kicked the coffee habit and switched to green tea.
I went cold turkey on coffee a few months back. I eventually backslid and now allow myself about half the coffee I used to drink. I still pump lots of water on gig days.
Bob
You know, Gatorade tastes good when you're dehydrated to help you feel better, but I think it's got sugar and salt, not to mention sodium citrate, monopotassium phosphate, gum arabic, glycerol ester of rosin, and yellow dye #5. Yum!!
Uh, make mine water...