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By Cari Cole

Summer is easy breezy for most singers, unless you’re hitting terrain with lots of pollen and allergies, or you’re struggling to stay hydrated from the sun and heat.

Here are my top 10 tricks to keep my voice uber hydrated and healthy and avoid allergies too!

1.   Water

Summer with the sun, heat and humidity can be easier to get dehydrated. Nothing is more evident in vocal health than hydration. 8 – 8 oz glasses a day keep the doctor away. But don’t drink just any ol’ water or you could be doing your body harm. Tap water has all kinds of chemicals that you don’t want in your body. Filtered water or some bottled water (in glass) is best. If you can’t afford a Kangen, get something like an Aqua-Ionizer Deluxe or buy Acqua Panna in glass bottles (plastic leaks chemicals into your water). Once you truly hydrate, you’ll never want to sing without doing so again. Love them high notes!

2.   Coconut Water

Coconut water can make up some of those glasses above. It’s incredibly hydrating and refreshing. My favorite coconut water (and eco-friendly company) is JAX (plus their chocolate coconut water made with carob and no sugar, is to die for!) Great for extra hydration the days prior to and of your show!

3.   Watermelon

Watermelon has long been known as an “instant hydrator.” Great for post partying it will hydrate you faster than chugging water. There was a study done years ago at NYU to keep singers hydrated on tour. They found that melon has larger molecules than water and will keep the throat hydrated longer (sticks to your throat longer). Enjoy daily slices or put cubes in your water for that extra hydration effect (and go organic when you can although with the thick skin, you are somewhat protected from the extra chemicals).

4.   Morning Daily Lemon Water

Singers on tour need energy. It’s a ton of work, plus, traveling can be hard on your body. Grab some organic lemons and squeeze a half a lemon in a 16 oz glass of room temperature water (whenever possible) to start off your day. Doing so will clean your liver and give you a instant gentle detox that will provide more energy later in the day when you need it.  Other benefits include constipation relief, stop UTI’s, battle bad breath, helps with weight loss and reduces phlegm.

5.   Master Cleanse

Additionally, I sip the SUJA “master cleanse” concoction of water, lemon, cayenne pepper and maple syrup (all organic) throughout the day to help with additional cleansing. Often I mix it with half Suja, half water to make it last longer and to have less sugar (maple syrup.) Our bodies are overwhelmed every day with more chemicals than have ever existed in our air, water, soil and food. Getting those toxins out of your body assists your body in feeling energized and healthy.

6.   Daily Organic Salad

If you want to feel healthier, get less infections and respiratory illnesses including allergies and reflux, eat more raw, real food that help to develop enzymes to digest your food better and be healthier.

Reprinted from Dr. Mercola’s article on enzyme deficiency:

“Insufficient enzyme production is at the root of much “tummy trouble” in our country. Digestive problems cost Americans $50 billion each year in both direct costs and absence from work. It is a sad fact that 90 percent of the food Americans buy is processed food.  Diets heavy in cooked, processed, and sugary foods, combined with overuse of pharmaceutical drugs such as antibiotics, deplete your body’s ability to make enzymes. Enzymes may be relatively large, but their protein structures are fragile. The amino acids in the molecular chain link together to form certain patterns and shapes, which give enzymes their unique characteristics and functions. When something disrupts the chain’s structure, the enzyme becomes “denatured”—it changes shape and loses its ability to perform. Heating your food above 116 degrees F renders most enzymes inactive. This is one of the reasons it’s so important to eat more raw food. Raw foods are enzyme-rich, and consuming them decreases your body’s burden to produce its own enzymes. The more food that you can eat raw, the better. Ideally, you should get 60-75 percent of your digestive enzymes from your food. Enzyme deficiency results in poor digestion and poor nutrient absorption. This creates a variety of gastrointestinal symptoms, including: Constipation, Bloating, Cramping, Flatulence and belching, Heartburn and acid reflux, as well as allergies and overall inflammation.” Start by adding one fresh organic vegetable salad a day to your menu.

7.   Daily Organic Veggie Juice

Additionally, add one fresh squeezed (whenever possible) vegetable juice to your daily diet for more enzymes, nutrients, vitamins and to energize and detoxify your system, resulting in more energy and less inflammation. I add sunflower sprouts and pea shoots to mine alongside cucumber, celery, ginger and cilantro.

Warning: do not drink non-organic juices (from Jamba Juice and other such non-organic juice bars). It’s like drinking concentrated pesticides which are harmful to your body.

8.   Eliminate Dairy

“There is no mammal on the planet that drinks mother’s milk more than a few years beyond birth, let alone for its entire life. Every mammal is weaned at some point. Every mammal except human beings, that is. We alone persist in drinking milk into adulthood, and the milk of another species to boot. This unnatural diet takes its toll on our health. The consumption of milk and products made of milk has been linked to heart disease, stroke, bone disease, cancer, diabetes, bowel irritation, precocious puberty and even acne. This is not some kooky theory. The problems associated with milk consumption are now being recognized in the mainstream media. If you want to know more about why milk is bad for you and the problems it causes, please click on the following links:

●    http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/07/got-milk-you-dont-need-it/
●    http://www.pcrm.org/health/diets/vegdiets/health-concerns-about-dairy-products
●    http://drmcdougall.com/misc/2007nl/mar/dairy.htm

Reprinted from article on Treeline Cheese: http://www.treelinecheese.com/why-dairy-free.html

For those of you who suffer with allergies and reflux, try cutting all dairy for a week or two and notice the difference in the diminishing of sniffles and phlegm. It doesn’t take long to feel a difference. My students often notice it in a day or two. Dairy adds unwanted phlegm and makes it harder for your system to detoxify. You’ll get just as much calcium from a plant based diet and leafy greens. More kale please! For more information read the article links above.

9.   Vitamin B12 

The Framingham Offspring study found that 39 percent of the general population may be in the low normal and deficient B12 blood level range, and it was not just vegetarians or older people. This study showed no difference in the B12 blood levels of younger and older adults.  Most interestingly there was no difference between those ate meat, poultry, or fish and those who did not eat those foods. The people with the highest B12 blood levels were those who were taking B12 supplements and eating B12 fortified cereals. – See more at: http://baltimorepostexaminer.com/carnivores-need-vitamin-b12-supplements/2013/10/30#sthash.bDKMwXEs.dpuf

Everyone should take a B12 supplement. This is the one I take every day:

10.    D-Hist Supplement (Immediate relief from allergy symptoms)

For immediate (but temporary) relief from allergies try this natural product to clear your sinuses instantly without harmful chemicals or side effects. Bam.

 

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