I’ve heard this my whole life-- if you’ve got a cold with a lot of chest congestion, you should avoid milk to reduce your, um, lung butter output. But now that I think about it, it kinda sounds like an old wives’ tale. Is it?
No, but it does feel like you have more phlegm.
I know Broadway people, who have to sing live 8 shows a week, do eat dairy.
If anyone would avoid phlegm, it’s people who sing live 8 times a week.
Not just an old wive’s tale, but disinformation spread by the anti-milk forces.
Debunking:
I can’t speak for Broadway, but in my humble experience (15 years of symphony chorus, opera and operetta), singers tend to avoid doing things things that might cause phlegm buildup a couple of hours before a performance begins. If you’ve got a concert at 2:00 pm, having milk with your 9:00 breakfast or brushing your teeth with certain kinds of toothpaste might cause a temporary coating of phlegm to form at the back of the throat, but it should wear off by lunchtime. If not, that’s when the hot tea comes in handy. Phlegm-producing agents, however, should really be avoided at lunch if one wishes to be in good voice at 2:00.
(On review) I really don’t give a rat’s ass if some scientific study claims to have debunked milk as a phlegm producing agent. It happens to me frequently enough that I accept it as a given.
It doesn’t produce more phlegm, but it may make the phlegm you already have feel more uncomfortable. To some people the difference doesn’t matter as it’s the feeling they don’t like.
I go to Broadway on Broadway every year, and usually get backstage. This is a free event on a September Sunday, where the performers sing one song from each show. They then have to go and do a matinee and evening performance.
There’s always food after the event–usually sandwiches with meat & cheese and coffee with the usually stuff to put in it, including milk. And I’ve seen performers chow down on them right before performing.