# Does drinking milk really make you produce more phlegm? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 16, 2009, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-drinking-milk-really-make-you-produce-more-phlegm/493272 "2009-04-16T07:52:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Seventh\_Deadly\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6bbea6/32.png) [@The\_Seventh\_Deadly\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Seventh_Deadly_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2009, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-drinking-milk-really-make-you-produce-more-phlegm/493272/1 "2009-04-16T07:52:03Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2009, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-drinking-milk-really-make-you-produce-more-phlegm/493272/2 "2009-04-16T08:45:32Z")
No, but it does feel like you have more phlegm. > **[OhioHealth | A Not-for-Profit Healthcare System in Central Ohio](https://www.ohiohealth.com/?xyzpdqabc=0&id=6&action=detail&ref=3082)** > > OhioHealth is a family of not-for-profit hospitals and healthcare facilities that has been serving central Ohio since 1891. Discover the difference WE can make. > [@](#): > > Phlegm is the thick, sticky mucus that drips down the back of your throat when you have a cold. Although drinking milk may make phlegm thicker and more irritating to your throat than it would normally be, milk doesn’t cause your body to make more phlegm. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2009, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-drinking-milk-really-make-you-produce-more-phlegm/493272/3 "2009-04-16T12:30:53Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-drinking-milk-really-make-you-produce-more-phlegm/493272/4 "2009-04-16T15:32:21Z")
Not just an old wive’s tale, but disinformation spread by the anti-milk forces. Debunking: > **[Udder Confusion](http://planetlactose.blogspot.com/2006/07/udder-confusion.html)** > > The respected UC Berkeley Wellness Letter is a good place to find down-the-middle information on both sides of medical "controversies," even... > **[Milk: No Mucus, No Asthma](http://planetlactose.blogspot.com/2007/11/milk-no-mucus-no-asthma.html)** > > Today I found not one but two separate and independent articles debunking some of the myths that are associated with milk (and sometimes del... ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2009, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-drinking-milk-really-make-you-produce-more-phlegm/493272/5 "2009-04-16T18:23:44Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-drinking-milk-really-make-you-produce-more-phlegm/493272/6 "2009-04-17T06:44:26Z")
> [@Kizarvexius](#): > > (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. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-drinking-milk-really-make-you-produce-more-phlegm/493272/7 "2009-04-17T12:17:48Z")
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.