Is Honey Good For My Singing Voice?

“Is Honey good for my singing voice?” – This is one question i see in a lot of forums and get asked a lot of times.

And i bet you also want to get the answer to this question.

This is because as singers you need to make sure that you take care of your most important “tool”.

And that is your voice.

How you treat it today will determine how it affects your singing.

If you ask me, then I am all for making sure that my voice gets the best care and attention it deserves.

But does honey really work?

Is it a good practice to use honey as a form of treatment or care package for your voice?

In this article we will be taking an in depth look at honey, the components, what experts say and some simple home made honey recipes to get you started.

What is the composition of honey?

According to this wikipedia article, honey is a sweet food that is made by bees foraging nectar from plants.

As the bees are collecting nectar from the plants, they convert it into honey by a process of regurgitation and evaporation.

Chemically honey is composed of different ingredients. Let’s look at some of them below.

Carbohydrates. It contains some high level sugars such as monosaccharides, fructose and glucose.
Proteins and amino acids
Vitamins, minerals and anti oxidants
Other compounds. These includes things like acetic, butanoic, formic and citric acids.

Source: chm.bris.ac.uk

What are the Benefits of Honey?

Being a food that is produced naturally and those not have any artificial additives, there are numerous benefits to taking honey especially for us singers.

1. It is a natural energy booster

Due to its high composition of carbohydrates, honey can be used as a natural energy booster.

This makes it very effective for athletes and sportsmen who require energy during or after their workouts.

It is also very good for your kids for helping them cope with their school activities and also for helping them sleep better at night.

2. It helps to build your immunity system

Honey is also a powerful immune systems builder.

This is because of the presence of anti oxidants and anti bacteria in its composition.

These helps in fighting diseases in your body and also in making sure that your immune system is healthy always.

3. It helps in improving your brain performance

Research and studies have shown that honey contains some properties that helps in improving your brain functions and performance.

4. Home remedies and functions

Honey is also a very useful product for treating some common home problems such as sore throats, cuts and burns, hangovers and sleeplessness.

What does this all mean for us singers?

While we know the benefits of taking honey, how does it affect us as singers?

As singers that spend hours either recording vocals or giving a live performance, you definitely know that you need some energy booster after every session. This is where your honey diet comes in. What better way to get some some much needed energy than to use honey which is very effective and free of any additives.
As an immunity system booster you definitely need it. Now we all know what happens when you catch an infection. The result is your inability to do anything including singing. So as something that helps you fight off diseases and infections, it is very useful
Finally when used to cure sore throats, it is simply amazing. As a singer you know how frustrating it can be when you have a cold or flu infection. Honey helps to soothe your throat and cure sore throats.

What do the experts say?

According to Sharon Zarabi, a registered Dietician and Nutritionist, she explains that although honey is made up of a lot of useful ingredients that help your voice and vocal cords, it is best to use it in moderation.

She also talks about some of the myths out there stating the benefits of using lemon and honey mixed together to increase your vocal prowess.

When it comes to honey (especially with lemon) being the cure for a sore throat, she explained that there is really no scientific evidence to back this up.

She advised that singers should get to the root cause of a cold, which is usually resting if you have a cold and learning a better singing technique.

Finally she advised that mixing hot water, honey and lemon is a better choice for hydrating your throat than going with caffeine based drinks.

Our verdict

While there is no scientific evidence to back up the fact that honey is good for your voice, here is what I think.

Honey is a natural product that contains no artificial sweeteners or flavorings.

It is an energy booster because of the carbohydrates that are in it composition.

It also contains very important antioxidants and anti bacteria that are very useful in fighting diseases and keeping your body safe.

In this regard, i honestly think that there is no harm in taking honey and using it as a sweetener when taking your drinks.

The antibacterial and antioxidants properties will definitely go a long way in keeping your body free from diseases and allow you to continue singing for a very long time.

Easy homemade honey beverages for you

We decided to leave you with some simple honey beverages that you can use to make your first honey beverage.

The first one is called Honey Simple Syrup.

Ingredients

Honey
Water (preferably hot or warm)

Directions

Measure 4 tablespoons of honey and heat it with one cup of water.
Boil until it reaches a simmer and then allow to cool.
While it is boiling you can add some flavourings or spices to give it that nice aroma. Spices such as grapefruit peel, rosemary or pomegranate seeds can be used.
Store at room temperature or chill as desired.

Beverage 2: Orange Blossom Honey

Ingredients

Orange blossom honey
Hot water