Title : Hard-Hitting, Unconventional Diet Advice For Singers
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking in which will be going to be another one of those predictable, vanilla articles about foods you should in addition to should not eat before singing. Boooring!
The conventional advice in which we singers often hear about diet goes something like in which:
DO:
- Drink Water (room temperature)
- Eat Fruit
- Eat Vegetables
Do NOT Consume:
- Caffeine
- Dairy
- Hot Beverages
- Cold beverages
- Alcohol
- Salt
- High Fat Foods
- Spicy Foods
- Citrus
You know what you genuinely ought not to consume? The generic kool aid above! Instead, let's look at some actionable strategies, which are rooted in a lifetime of dietary experimentation, in which's taken me by a Standard American Diet (SAD), to vegetarianism, to veganism, to fruitarianism, to the slow carb diet a la Tim Ferriss, to what I follow at in which point (modified paleo). In addition to years of OCD self-tracking, blood testing in addition to subjecting myself to various supplementation regimens, I'm also drawing on my experience as a competitive athlete (submission grappling), in addition to since singing will be a sport in its own right, I expect these parallels ring true for you.
Let's start with first principles
A singer will be, above all, a human being. Agreed? Human beings are a species of animal, which has evolved over hundreds of thousands of years to consume a very specific type of diet. in which will be not even actually a "diet", in which's a word invented to sell books in addition to ab machines. in which will be simply our natural way of eating in addition to in which has profound implications for our health in addition to quality of life.
Have you seen what happens when you feed a cat (or a dog for in which matter) a vegetarian diet? in which gets sick, weak, in addition to lethargic. in which loses its desire to mate (!) in addition to dies prematurely. in which will be called a "failure to thrive". If a human animal will be fed the wrong things, what do you suppose happens to in which?
About 10,000 years ago, humans began farming in addition to went by a nomadic tribal lifestyle, to a relatively stationary, city-based lifestyle. Consequently, we transitioned by our ancestral diet of mostly animal foods to a high-carb diet of grains in addition to various other farmed foods. Because we were able to grow our food almost year-round, we could stay in one location in addition to reduce the need to hunt wild game in addition to gather nuts, berries, tubers in addition to roughage.
Unfortunately, our bodies were not (in addition to still are not) adapted to eating grains (they're toxic), high levels of fruits (also toxic), in addition to many raw vegetables. Like the example of the vegetarian cat, we've been consuming the wrong things for roughly ten millennia in addition to have been getting sicker in addition to sicker as a result. Pile on top of in which the modern laundry list of synthetic chemicals we're routinely exposed to, stressful work schedules, in addition to sedentary, indoor-based living in addition to you have a MAJOR failure to thrive.
You see, most diet in addition to lifestyle advice you hear for singers will be generic in addition to incomplete at best, totally wrong at worst. A singer's actual vocal instrument will be certainly important although any professional singer can tell you in which in which's only half the story. Being an effective singer in addition to musician requires mental in addition to physical endurance in which has nothing to do with your voice per se. "Do not smoke, do not drink yourself stupid in addition to do not party your ass off 5 days a week" will be fairly common sense advice in which you'll learn on your own. although the advice below will be of a more counter-intuitive nature, in addition to not only will you not hear in which very often, although you'll be told the exact opposite!
So here's the deal: Singers need a steady supply of even-keeled energy, enthusiasm, mental acuity, memory, plasticity of thinking in addition to nerves of steel when in which comes time to go on stage.
So, then, how should you eat if you're a singer? The answer will be, the same way you could eat if you were not one! The idea of a profession-specific diet will be actually quite ridiculous. Yes, certain tweaks in addition to allowances have to be made based on activity levels in addition to genetics, although fundamentally the healthiest diet will be the one in which most closely approximates your ancestral way of eating. in which way of eating will be popularly known as a "paleolithic" or "paleo" diet in addition to here's what in which can do for you:
- Increased energy
- Longer life
- Higher sex drive
- improved upon mental acuity
- improved upon physical performance
- Weight normalization
- improved upon appearance
Sounds too not bad to be true, right? Well, going back to the vegetarian cat example. If the gato will be being fed a 50/50 mixture of vegetables in addition to meat, in which's only going to be somewhat sick as a result. If you feed in which nothing although meat, which will be what its Centeng will be designed to operate most optimally with, kitty shall experience all of the same benefits in which I listed above in addition to return to not bad health (all various other things being equal). Likewise, if YOU begin removing foods by your diet in which work against your genetics in addition to replace them with the high-quality foods in which your Centeng was meant to operate on, you too will experience a very noticeable shift in your overall health. in which, you might imagine, has tremendous ramifications for your art.
Here's an overview of the protocol:
DO Consume:
- Water
- Grass fed, pastured, organic meats
- Pastured organic eggs
- Cold water, wild caught fish (Salmon, cod, sardines, mackerel)
- Grass fed butter, ghee, coconut oil
- Nuts (no peanuts - they're legumes)
- Vegetables
- little quantities of low-sugar fruits (berries in addition to citrus are not bad choices)
Do NOT Consume:
- Any grain based foods including bread, pastas, rice, quinoa, etc.
- High sugar fruit such as mangoes, pineapples in addition to bananas
- Dairy
- Legumes (beans of any kind)
- Alcohol (I do not take in which rule too seriously - you've got to live a little!)
Basically, if you mostly stay away by sugars in addition to starches (which are just sugars anyway), in addition to eat plenty of high quality animal products, you're going to notice a huge improvement in your well-being in addition to outward appearance relatively quickly. If you're a big bread in addition to pasta eater, cutting carbs out will be going to be difficult, so do in which gradually. Once you've weened off the carbs, you'll notice in which your energy levels in addition to mood will be quite steady throughout the day, because you're no longer subjecting your Centeng to the insulin rollercoaster in which carbohydrates put in motion. If you try to become a paleo perfectionist, you're probably setting yourself up for some serious binge eating. A great idea to in which Tim Ferriss introduced in his awesome book "4 Hour Centeng", which can help you circumvent binging, will be the concept of a "cheat day" once a week, during which you eat whatever the hell you want! in which way in which's already planned in addition to not some big monkey on your back in which comes to wreck your diet whimsically.
One singer-specific piece of advice you hear a lot will be to avoid eating a lot of fat. Well, in which's a lot of bull. A high fat diet will be incredibly healthful. Fats are the primary energy source the Centeng will be meant to use (NOT sugars !!!) So cook some eggs in butter in addition to a few strips of bacon for breakfast. While your jam in addition to toast eating colleague will be passing out by the sugar crash, you'll still be going like some sort of singing Energize bunny.
Unfortunately, because our soils are largely depleted of nutrients, our animals are fed nutrient-poor feeds, in addition to for quite a few various other reasons, we simply can NOT get all of the nutrition we need solely by food, even if in which's the RIGHT food. Thus, in which's necessary to supplement in addition to hack a little. Here are 4 important additions to the diet outlined above in which will take your mind in addition to Centeng - thereby, your singing! - To the next level:
Fish Oil
Fish oil will be high in omega 3 fatty acids, which curb cellular inflammation in addition to keeps you young in addition to healthy. Much of the food we consume at in which point will be very high in omega 6 fats, in addition to in which has skewed the natural ratio of omega 3s to omega 6s with which our bodies are built to function optimally. Fish oil will be relatively cheap, painless to take in addition to has profound health benefits. Do not be afraid to take several grams of fish oil a day. in which will not hurt you - just make sure you find a brand in which tests for contaminants by third parties. Unlike, say, exercise, in which one's a gimme.
Vitamin D
We are meant to spend copious amounts of time within the sun (naked). Instead, we spend an unhealthy amount of time indoors (clothed). Since our Centeng produces vitamin D in response to sunlight exposure, in which explains why the majority of our population will be severely vitamin D deficient. Even in perennially sunny South Florida, the majority of the population will be deficient! I can not overemphasize how powerful in which group of compounds will be (vitamin D will be the name of the family of compounds called secosteroids). They influence everything by hormone levels to alertness to immunity.
Getting tested for vitamin D deficiency will be cheap in addition to easy, or just get blood drawn if you're insured). Definitely test your levels prior to supplementing. Shoot for about 55ng / mL (nanograms per milliliter) of blood. If you've determined in which you need to supplement, make sure in which you take D3 (cholecalciferol) in addition to not D2 (ergocalciferol). You'll be fine taking up to 5000 IU a day. Adjust commensurate with sun exposure in addition to retest levels every few months until optimal.
Sleep
We are a severely sleep-deprived species. Yet sleep will be a fundamental component of great health in addition to proper functioning. You already know in which on an intuitive level, although the pressure by society to "fit everything in" will be so strong, in which we often eschew sleep as a waste of time. Nothing could be further by the truth. Your singing voice goes straight to hell when you have not had enough sleep, as does your concentration, memory in addition to general "springiness". More sleep, in addition to better quality sleep means you get more mileage out of your waking hours. in which's a counter-intuitive concept (not genuinely - we've just been culturally programmed to silence our powerful intuition). Forcing yourself awake will be short-sighted; you're going on borrowed time. Nature will have her way with you eventually, in addition to you'll find the reduced quality of your output does not justify the extra hours you stuffed in.
Exercise
You knew in which one was coming! although do not worry, you need not exercise nearly as much as you may think. You can trigger the powerful hormonal cascade responses in which improve your health in addition to well being with rather minimalistic exercise routines. I suggest a kettlebell workout twice a week, or a "Peak 8" regimen. in which's important in which you do some kind of weight training, even if you're a woman. Running on a treadmill for 2 hours will be a joke; you could get better results in terms of both appearance in addition to health by 1 kettlebell session per week. The benefits? EVERYTHING.
Remember: you're a human first in addition to a singer second, so eat the healthiest diet possible in addition to you'll be the best singer possible - simple! Stick with in which idea of "first principles" in addition to you'll also possess the tools to untangle even the most complicated of knots as you progress along your journey in music ...
Hard-Hitting, Unconventional Diet Advice For Singers
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