If you notice a correlation between a specific food and stomach upset, the lining of your stomach could be irritated and causing gastric reflux(heartburn). These reflux travel up to the throat which causes irritation when you sing. Even when your throat doesn’t burn, silent gastric reflux can irritate the tissues in your throat and larynx. This causes swelling and mucous there, which makes singing more difficult.

Foods that cause acid reflux and damage the singing voice

1) chocolate and other dairy products
Chocolate contains cocoa which when combined with the stomach acids causes reflux. Some vocalists find dairy products such as milk or yogurt cause thickened mucous on the voice. Thickened mucous affects how your vocal folds vibrate together, usually making singing more difficult.

2) soda and other carbonated drinks
The bubbles of carbonation expand inside the stomach and the increased pressure contributes to reflux. These drinks cause our throats and our voices to contract and stiffen and this is not good for singing because we need our vocal chords and throats to be warmed up and flexible in order to be able to hit the various pitches that we sing.

3) Fried, salty and spicy foods
We should try to avoid fried and salty foods because these draw water out from our body and cause dryness to the voice. Heavily peppered or spicy foods should also be avoided because these cause irritation to our throat as well as our vocal chords and may cause us to clear our throats more often, creating more discomfort in our voice.

4) Alcohol
Beer, liquor and wine are believed to contribute to reflux. Many alcoholic beverages are not vert acidic. However, alcohol is believed to relax the valve at the bottom of the oesophagus leading to reflux. Overall alcohol also causes constriction in the blood vessels in the vocal tissue, causing a reduction in vocal control.

5) High fat meats
Acid reflux is caused by high fat cuts of meat- beef, pork and lamb- which stay longer in the stomach and increase the chance of Acid reflux. Try cutting back to lean cut of meat and eat it only once a week.

6) Caffeine
If you drink caffeinated beverages, compensate with additional water. Caffeine causes constriction of blood vessels throughout your body, a real problem while singing high notes. You may find your voice feel tighter if you sing right after having caffeine. It may create excess mucous due to properties of the coffee bean.

~~Jolene Dias