3 Foods to Eat Before Your Next Performance
Did you know there are certain foods you can eat prior to a singing performance that have the ability to help you perform better? Now don’t get me wrong, these foods will not give you perfect pitch or correct your vocals like Auto-Tune but they will provide your body with a healthy environment for you to give your best performance.
Food #1 - Eggs
Believe it or not - consuming eggs can help regulate your mood through a nutrient called choline, commonly found in eggs. This nutrient has been shown to reduce anxiety and thus leaving you with a clearer mindset going into a performance. How you eat them is less important - you can bring some hard boiled eggs with you as a snack or cook them up your favorite way prior to leaving for a performance - just be sure not to add in too many extras to throw off their nutritional value and only add a light amount of salt.
Food #2 - Peanut Butter
Besides being delicious - peanut butter contains lots of healthy fats, oils and protein that provide the body with energy. Break out the celery sticks or a light piece of toast and snack away. Make sure the peanut butter does not contain added salts and if possible look for all natural or organic peanut butter to make sure you’re getting more of what you need and less of what you don’t. Peanut butter or even unsalted peanuts are a great way to keep your energy levels high during a performance and prevent you from losing steam early on.
Food #3 - Fresh Fruits & Vegetables
It’s no surprise that fruits and vegetables are healthy and nutritious but what exactly can they do for you going into a performance? Let’s start with fruits: Fresh fruits provide long lasting energy as they take longer to break down but they also contain several vitamins that assist in breaking down mucus membranes in the throat which allows your voice to come through with clarity and without struggle. Vegetables - especially yellow vegetables - contain Vitamin A. Vitamin A is an essential ingredient for a strong immune system. Several studies show that stress commonly reduces a person’s immunity system and in turn causes sickness. The lowering of the immunity system affects everyone differently (ie: increased allergy response, headaches, sore throat) so keeping a strong immunity system prior to a performance prevents other distractors before hitting the stage.
With any of these options make sure to add them into your diet early on or even a day or two in advance as they will need time to develop in your system. These are not miracle foods that will save you the day of the performance but rather a guide to remaining healthy before any upcoming show.