VC Radio
Voice Coaches Radio #468 – Eat It Up
Voice Coach's Radio. Everything voiceover. And welcome to this week's edition of Voice Coach's Radio. I am Josh Heller. Delighted to have you joining me as I am each and every week here on the program. Coming to you live from Colony, New York at the Mothership, White Lake Music and Post. Hopefully everyone is doing well.
Uh, so today we are going to, uh, gonna talk about, uh, Food, because I'm hungry, and, well, that's nothing new. But, uh, no, I got a question from Nathan, who, uh, emailed Josh at voicecoaches. com, by the way, is the way to do that, and get in touch with me. If you have questions you want us to discuss. And, uh, and Nathan said, uh, uh, that, uh, Could we go over proper diet for voiceover?
Some days it can be a battle of spit bubbles or mucus, etc. Nathan, yes, you are correct, sir. Some days are better than others in that regard. So, we're gonna go over a little bit on foods to eat and also not to eat right things to eat and not to eat. Now, some of these will be things that we've talked about in the past.
Some of them are kind of, you know, pretty obvious others, maybe not so much, maybe not so much. So the first thing, and I cannot emphasize this enough. is eat. Don't not eat. When you go into a, into a session, you might be a little nervous, right? Whether it's your demo, whether whatever it is, you might be a little nervous.
You may not have much of an appetite, but make sure you eat. First of all, you need to make sure you have energy, right? You need to make sure you have energy with no food, no energy, right? Food is fuel. So make sure you are eating, right? And the other thing is that when we get hungry, Oh, I don't know. Things happen.
Like our stomachs growl. Yeah, the microphone picks that up. The microphone absolutely picks that up. So, uh, so definitely make sure that you are eating. Okay. But things we should stay away from. Now, there are ones that are pretty obvious. Dairy foods, right? Milk, yogurt, cheese, those dairy products, right?
What dairy does is it, uh, well, first of all, it can cause some acid reflux, which could be problematic. But the main thing is that it thickens the mucus that's already present, right? It thickens that mucus and makes it more obvious. Uh, so we want to stay away from that. A ton of processed sugars. We don't want to really deal with a ton of processed sugars as well.
Okay, watch out for those. Um, you know, they can kind of hang around in your mouth a little bit, get a little phlegmy at, uh, at times. So watch out for that. Caffeine's another big one, right? That kind of dairy and caffeine are kind of the big ones. It is a diuretic, uh, right? It's a diuretic and, um, it can ultimately dry out your vocal folds a little bit.
So you need to watch out for that because it can mess with, uh, with that and dry you out a little bit. So just be careful with that. Now other things to keep in mind. Chocolate is another one, right? Chocolate, A, naturally contains caffeine, right, which can dry you out. Um, you know, chocolate can cause some acid reflux triggers on people, so just be careful with that.
And it usually contains a ton of sugar, so what I would recommend is, you know, wait until after your session, and then, and then gorge on chocolate. Right, I certainly wouldn't say don't do that, because that's amazing. Um, What else? Fried foods. Be careful with fried foods. That can be another heartburn trigger.
We want to make sure we're staying away from that. Any kind of acid reflux can actually go all the way up into our vocal cords. Uh, and so we want to make sure we're staying away from that. Uh, along with fried food, things like butter, right? That can also thicken the mucus a little bit. Now, here's another one to keep in mind.
Now, obviously, we talk so much about drinking water, and you should. Please do. Drink lots of water. Lots and lots and lots of water. However, room temperature water. Don't drink ice water. I know it's refreshing. It is. Right? But don't drink ice water. Okay, drinks that are too cold can have an adverse effect on your voice, right?
They constrict the muscles in your throat, which can lead to unnecessary stress, uh, and sometimes loss of flexibility. So we want to be careful with that. Soda. That's another one. We talked about caffeine. A, you got the caffeine in there. B, probably have a ton of sugar in there, or sugar substitutes. We want to watch out for that.
And also, and this is fairly simple, it's carbonated. You don't want to. You know, burp on the microphone if you can, if you can help it. It's not the most professional thing in the world. Uh, so we certainly want to be, uh, be careful with that. Uh, other things to stay away from, spicy foods can cause heartburn, right?
We already talked about heartburn being a potential problem. Uh, so you want to watch out for that. Alcohol. Um, I mean, again, don't... You don't want to be drinking, you know, too much before you get into the booth for any number of reasons, the least of which is that, uh, alcohol, like caffeine, it can dry out, it can dry out your throat, um, you know, so just, uh, you want to, you want to stay away from, from those types of things.
Now, as far as what you can look at, right, because again, you do want to make sure that you are eating, but you want some fruits. Yes, they are going to have sugar in them. Okay. Um, I wouldn't necessarily say like fruit juices, but fresh fruit. Absolutely. Right. Can get you those nutrients. We've talked a lot about those, uh, eating those apples.
Right those granny smith apples so that you know because certainly that can help as well having those with you in the booth is Absolutely something we recommend Again, you know when it comes to eating you want to eat, you know, eat healthy eat clean chicken fish things like that But other things to keep in mind vitamin a foods that are high in vitamin a they help keep your mucous membranes nice and healthy, right?
So that's in yellow veggies, sweet potatoes and squash, or, uh, mangoes, melons, and peaches. It's also in dark leafy greens like spinach and kale. Okay, so you certainly wanna make sure you're getting some vitamin A. Nuts are another good thing to grab, right? Lightly salted or unsalted if you can, right? And then, uh, then wash it down with some, with some room temperature water, as we talked about, right, room temperature water.
Um, honey. Honey is phenomenal, right? Uh, when my throat is really getting bad, what I'll do oftentimes is have, uh, I'll mix some honey with some, uh, apple cider vinegar, stir it all around with a spoon and then drink it. It's not, you know, it doesn't taste good, it doesn't feel good, but it helps. It, uh, it helps.
Uh, and the other thing that I, that I do really think is, is good when we talk about tea, right, decaffeinated tea, clearly decaffeinated tea, but if you can get specific, right, if you can find a caffeinated tea that contains licorice root, right, licorice root is where you want to go. Um, I have some tea that I use that does have licorice root in it, uh, slippery elm and licorice root, things like that.
Now, licorice root is what's called a demulcent, uh, demulcant, demulcent, I don't know how it's pronounced. Um, but essentially. It forms a, a, a soothing film over the mucous membrane, right? Can relieve minor pain and inflammation. And you know, it doesn't have the longest shelf life in the world to, uh, to, you know, you need to do that fairly consistently because they only lasts about 30 minutes or so, but if you have something like that, that you can, you can sip on, right, it can, it can, it can form that protective layer over the tissues in your throat, preventing some of that irritation in the mucous membranes.
Right. So it does, uh, now don't drink it too, too hot. Right, super hot beverages, just like super cold beverages, not the best thing for you. But if you, you know, cool it down a little bit, so it's a nice, you know, warm, tepid, tepid, if you want to use that. Uh, you know, type of, uh, tepid tea, throw some honey in there as well, but licorice root, uh, as well.
By the way, demulcent, if you're curious, is from the Latin, uh, demulcere, which means Caress. So there you go. There you go. Um, but uh, so that's definitely something that I use as well. So again, you certainly do want to eat. You do not want to not eat. Right? That is not the answer. Uh, but you want to make sure you're eating smart.
Right. You want to make sure you're eating smart when you're going into that so that you're not setting yourself up for potential pitfalls. So be smart about what you're eat. Definitely make sure that you are getting something to eat, but something healthy, right? Get those proteins in there. Get that vitamin A in there.
All right. Um, you know, get that tea in there, especially with that, uh, with that licorice root and stay away from, you know, some of the obvious ones like we always talk about, right? Caffeine and the dairy, but you know, some other things as well to kind of steer clear of. if you can, you know, as you're approaching, just so you have your best performance when you're in there.
All that other stuff, whether it's the chocolate, whether it's the alcohol, whether it's whatever spicy foods, all that other fun stuff to eat, you can do that afterward. You can have a celebratory meal that is nothing but dairy and chocolate and caffeinated beverages and alcohol and spicy foods and go to town, go to town.
But before the, you know, before your session, try to stay away from that. All right, so hopefully that answers Nathan's question a little bit. As far as proper diet for voiceover, uh, again, biggest thing we can always say, A, make sure you're eating. B, make sure you're drinking lots and lots and lots and lots of water.
Room temperature water would be best. But hydrating is, is so, so, so crucial. So crucial. So make sure that you are doing that as well. So Nathan, hopefully that helped for you. And uh, and obviously if anyone else has any questions that they want answered here on the podcast, that's why we're here. That's why we're here, to answer those questions.
Uh, and so, uh, send them on over to JoshAtVoiceCoaches. com. It's the quickest and easiest way to get to me. JoshAtVoiceCoaches. com. You can find me here. Happy to, uh, to take those questions for you. Answer them as best I can. So if you have a topic we want to discuss or a question you want answered, JoshAtVoiceCoaches.
com is where you'll find me. Because remember, it's not just my show, it's yours too. Alright, so thanks again for tuning in this week to Voice Coaches Radio. Everyone stay happy, stay healthy, stay, uh, you know, stay, uh, chasing the dream, guys. Alright, and, uh, until next time. So long, everyone. Visit voicecoaches.
com for more voiceover news and information.
Uh, so today we are going to, uh, gonna talk about, uh, Food, because I'm hungry, and, well, that's nothing new. But, uh, no, I got a question from Nathan, who, uh, emailed Josh at voicecoaches. com, by the way, is the way to do that, and get in touch with me. If you have questions you want us to discuss. And, uh, and Nathan said, uh, uh, that, uh, Could we go over proper diet for voiceover?
Some days it can be a battle of spit bubbles or mucus, etc. Nathan, yes, you are correct, sir. Some days are better than others in that regard. So, we're gonna go over a little bit on foods to eat and also not to eat right things to eat and not to eat. Now, some of these will be things that we've talked about in the past.
Some of them are kind of, you know, pretty obvious others, maybe not so much, maybe not so much. So the first thing, and I cannot emphasize this enough. is eat. Don't not eat. When you go into a, into a session, you might be a little nervous, right? Whether it's your demo, whether whatever it is, you might be a little nervous.
You may not have much of an appetite, but make sure you eat. First of all, you need to make sure you have energy, right? You need to make sure you have energy with no food, no energy, right? Food is fuel. So make sure you are eating, right? And the other thing is that when we get hungry, Oh, I don't know. Things happen.
Like our stomachs growl. Yeah, the microphone picks that up. The microphone absolutely picks that up. So, uh, so definitely make sure that you are eating. Okay. But things we should stay away from. Now, there are ones that are pretty obvious. Dairy foods, right? Milk, yogurt, cheese, those dairy products, right?
What dairy does is it, uh, well, first of all, it can cause some acid reflux, which could be problematic. But the main thing is that it thickens the mucus that's already present, right? It thickens that mucus and makes it more obvious. Uh, so we want to stay away from that. A ton of processed sugars. We don't want to really deal with a ton of processed sugars as well.
Okay, watch out for those. Um, you know, they can kind of hang around in your mouth a little bit, get a little phlegmy at, uh, at times. So watch out for that. Caffeine's another big one, right? That kind of dairy and caffeine are kind of the big ones. It is a diuretic, uh, right? It's a diuretic and, um, it can ultimately dry out your vocal folds a little bit.
So you need to watch out for that because it can mess with, uh, with that and dry you out a little bit. So just be careful with that. Now other things to keep in mind. Chocolate is another one, right? Chocolate, A, naturally contains caffeine, right, which can dry you out. Um, you know, chocolate can cause some acid reflux triggers on people, so just be careful with that.
And it usually contains a ton of sugar, so what I would recommend is, you know, wait until after your session, and then, and then gorge on chocolate. Right, I certainly wouldn't say don't do that, because that's amazing. Um, What else? Fried foods. Be careful with fried foods. That can be another heartburn trigger.
We want to make sure we're staying away from that. Any kind of acid reflux can actually go all the way up into our vocal cords. Uh, and so we want to make sure we're staying away from that. Uh, along with fried food, things like butter, right? That can also thicken the mucus a little bit. Now, here's another one to keep in mind.
Now, obviously, we talk so much about drinking water, and you should. Please do. Drink lots of water. Lots and lots and lots of water. However, room temperature water. Don't drink ice water. I know it's refreshing. It is. Right? But don't drink ice water. Okay, drinks that are too cold can have an adverse effect on your voice, right?
They constrict the muscles in your throat, which can lead to unnecessary stress, uh, and sometimes loss of flexibility. So we want to be careful with that. Soda. That's another one. We talked about caffeine. A, you got the caffeine in there. B, probably have a ton of sugar in there, or sugar substitutes. We want to watch out for that.
And also, and this is fairly simple, it's carbonated. You don't want to. You know, burp on the microphone if you can, if you can help it. It's not the most professional thing in the world. Uh, so we certainly want to be, uh, be careful with that. Uh, other things to stay away from, spicy foods can cause heartburn, right?
We already talked about heartburn being a potential problem. Uh, so you want to watch out for that. Alcohol. Um, I mean, again, don't... You don't want to be drinking, you know, too much before you get into the booth for any number of reasons, the least of which is that, uh, alcohol, like caffeine, it can dry out, it can dry out your throat, um, you know, so just, uh, you want to, you want to stay away from, from those types of things.
Now, as far as what you can look at, right, because again, you do want to make sure that you are eating, but you want some fruits. Yes, they are going to have sugar in them. Okay. Um, I wouldn't necessarily say like fruit juices, but fresh fruit. Absolutely. Right. Can get you those nutrients. We've talked a lot about those, uh, eating those apples.
Right those granny smith apples so that you know because certainly that can help as well having those with you in the booth is Absolutely something we recommend Again, you know when it comes to eating you want to eat, you know, eat healthy eat clean chicken fish things like that But other things to keep in mind vitamin a foods that are high in vitamin a they help keep your mucous membranes nice and healthy, right?
So that's in yellow veggies, sweet potatoes and squash, or, uh, mangoes, melons, and peaches. It's also in dark leafy greens like spinach and kale. Okay, so you certainly wanna make sure you're getting some vitamin A. Nuts are another good thing to grab, right? Lightly salted or unsalted if you can, right? And then, uh, then wash it down with some, with some room temperature water, as we talked about, right, room temperature water.
Um, honey. Honey is phenomenal, right? Uh, when my throat is really getting bad, what I'll do oftentimes is have, uh, I'll mix some honey with some, uh, apple cider vinegar, stir it all around with a spoon and then drink it. It's not, you know, it doesn't taste good, it doesn't feel good, but it helps. It, uh, it helps.
Uh, and the other thing that I, that I do really think is, is good when we talk about tea, right, decaffeinated tea, clearly decaffeinated tea, but if you can get specific, right, if you can find a caffeinated tea that contains licorice root, right, licorice root is where you want to go. Um, I have some tea that I use that does have licorice root in it, uh, slippery elm and licorice root, things like that.
Now, licorice root is what's called a demulcent, uh, demulcant, demulcent, I don't know how it's pronounced. Um, but essentially. It forms a, a, a soothing film over the mucous membrane, right? Can relieve minor pain and inflammation. And you know, it doesn't have the longest shelf life in the world to, uh, to, you know, you need to do that fairly consistently because they only lasts about 30 minutes or so, but if you have something like that, that you can, you can sip on, right, it can, it can, it can form that protective layer over the tissues in your throat, preventing some of that irritation in the mucous membranes.
Right. So it does, uh, now don't drink it too, too hot. Right, super hot beverages, just like super cold beverages, not the best thing for you. But if you, you know, cool it down a little bit, so it's a nice, you know, warm, tepid, tepid, if you want to use that. Uh, you know, type of, uh, tepid tea, throw some honey in there as well, but licorice root, uh, as well.
By the way, demulcent, if you're curious, is from the Latin, uh, demulcere, which means Caress. So there you go. There you go. Um, but uh, so that's definitely something that I use as well. So again, you certainly do want to eat. You do not want to not eat. Right? That is not the answer. Uh, but you want to make sure you're eating smart.
Right. You want to make sure you're eating smart when you're going into that so that you're not setting yourself up for potential pitfalls. So be smart about what you're eat. Definitely make sure that you are getting something to eat, but something healthy, right? Get those proteins in there. Get that vitamin A in there.
All right. Um, you know, get that tea in there, especially with that, uh, with that licorice root and stay away from, you know, some of the obvious ones like we always talk about, right? Caffeine and the dairy, but you know, some other things as well to kind of steer clear of. if you can, you know, as you're approaching, just so you have your best performance when you're in there.
All that other stuff, whether it's the chocolate, whether it's the alcohol, whether it's whatever spicy foods, all that other fun stuff to eat, you can do that afterward. You can have a celebratory meal that is nothing but dairy and chocolate and caffeinated beverages and alcohol and spicy foods and go to town, go to town.
But before the, you know, before your session, try to stay away from that. All right, so hopefully that answers Nathan's question a little bit. As far as proper diet for voiceover, uh, again, biggest thing we can always say, A, make sure you're eating. B, make sure you're drinking lots and lots and lots and lots of water.
Room temperature water would be best. But hydrating is, is so, so, so crucial. So crucial. So make sure that you are doing that as well. So Nathan, hopefully that helped for you. And uh, and obviously if anyone else has any questions that they want answered here on the podcast, that's why we're here. That's why we're here, to answer those questions.
Uh, and so, uh, send them on over to JoshAtVoiceCoaches. com. It's the quickest and easiest way to get to me. JoshAtVoiceCoaches. com. You can find me here. Happy to, uh, to take those questions for you. Answer them as best I can. So if you have a topic we want to discuss or a question you want answered, JoshAtVoiceCoaches.
com is where you'll find me. Because remember, it's not just my show, it's yours too. Alright, so thanks again for tuning in this week to Voice Coaches Radio. Everyone stay happy, stay healthy, stay, uh, you know, stay, uh, chasing the dream, guys. Alright, and, uh, until next time. So long, everyone. Visit voicecoaches.
com for more voiceover news and information.
This week, we answer a question from a listener about what to eat, and what not to eat, when preparing for a voice over gig. We go over some of the usual suspects to steer clear of, but also some less known foods to avoid, and what you should be eating and drinking instead.
