Busy, traveling lifestyles can lend themselves to bad eating habits. Sugar, simple carbohydrates, salt, and caffeine often come with the foods of choice when grabbing a meal at a convenience store or fast-food joint. But as musicians, we try to be intentional about everything we do around our art. Diet is a poorly explored factor in the equation. Luckily, science is here to help. Follow these tips to add punch to your performance.
If you’re a singer, you’ve probably heard that drinking milk before a performance can have a negative effect. Carbonated beverages are also a bad idea – you’re turning yourself into a human soda can, filled with fizz and shaken. This can result in hiccups and burping on the mic, two goofs that are hard to hide.
With apologies to bars that like to compensate bands with free beer, the singer should drink less than the rest of the band. Alcohol specifically targets small muscle groups like the vocal cords, reducing control and accuracy. The drummer sitting behind you may sound perfectly fine after all those on-the-house suds; his task is mostly a large-motor activity and is less affected. Plus, he’s sweating out a lot of the alcohol in real time. But singers should wait until after the show to take advantage of those beer tickets, lest they start to get pitchy up there.
But be sure to drink something – preferably water. Music is thirsty work, even if you’re not singing. The human body’s dehydration alarm system is inefficient. By the time you feel thirsty, you’re already quite low on fluids and losing more very quickly onstage. Take a cue from stand-up comics. They sweat even more than musicians and many of them won’t perform without a row of water bottles lined up and waiting for them.
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These foods promote proper brain function, which are great for musicians (and everyone else!). Three of the most common sources are avocados, walnuts, and olive oil.
Whole grain bread, oatmeal, and brown rice form the basis of a good meal when you’ll be working all day. That makes whole grains a great studio food, preparing you for a full day of focus and activity. Sugary foods should be left out when you’ll be tracking for hours. Sweets are metabolized almost immediately and then leave the body to "crash" after your body burns the sugar away. The complex carbohydrates provided by those whole grains release slowly over several hours. However, the quick pick-me-up of simple sugar could be helpful onstage, where you need a shorter, more intense burst of energy.
It sounds like a marketing slogan from a seafood restaurant, but there is a scientific basis for the idea. Fish oil is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, helpful molecules that actually increase reaction time and decrease mental fatigue. Graduate students in the sciences eat fish before a big exam, and they ought to know. Try some grilled salmon before a show, especially if your band likes to improvise. See if you can feel the difference.
Every body is different. Improving your diet and hydration may not provide a noticeable effect right away. You may not notice the difference between eating salmon and brown rice and stuffing your face with a box of donuts. Until, one day, you do.
The human body is incredibly resilient, especially when it’s a young body. We’re all aware that we eat a lot of junk in this fast-paced society, and we all know that has negative effects. But at a certain age, the body is no longer able to effectively work around bad diet. As we age, we have to exercise more and eat better on purpose, or we start to experience clear consequences. It could be weight gain, fatigue, bad digestion, or insomnia, none of which are helpful for creative artists. Getting on the right track now can set you up for a long, healthy career making music.
Jesse Sterling Harrison is an author, recording artist, and part-time farmer. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife, three daughters, and a herd of ducks.