Have you ever noticed that sometimes you wake up in the morning with your throat feeling dry and your nose all clogged? Or have you ever tried to sing and found that after a very short time your voice gets husky, yet you are not sick and you don't have a sorethroat? Chances are you are suffering from dehydration.

Dehydration can be caused by many things, most obviously by not drinking enough fluids. But it can also be caused by Summer heat, air conditioners, dry heat in Winter inside buildings, not eating enough fruits and vegetables in their raw, whole states, not drinking enough fruit and vegetable juices, spending too much time in smoke filled rooms or just from living in the kind of environment that we New Yorkers call home. Drinking too much caffeine or alcohol, taking any kind of antihistamines and any blockage in your intestinal tract can result in dehydration as well.

The larynx needs to be lubricated in order to function properly. It can be damaged quite easily. The delicate balance of mucous membranes and fuild which naturally covers the larynx, the inside passages of your nose and the pharynx must be maintained if you are to keep your voice from drying up. Since most, if not all, rock singers perform in either smoke-filled rooms or dusty concert halls, it becomes mandatory to keep your voice well lubricated.

There are a mutitude of options available to you to prevent damage to your voice from dehydration. The first thing you can do is increase the amount of water you drink. While spring water or distilled water is best, even regular tap water will do the job. Fill a jug of water and leave it in the window. The sun's rays will restore chloropohyl to the water and enhance its value to your body. You can even make sun tea. Take any herbal tea (Comfrey is best for dehydration) and put it in your jug of water. If left in the sunshine for a few hours, you will have a delicious tea rich in vitamins and minerals. If you find this too time consuming, many glasses of plain water will do just fine.

Carrot, celery, apple, beet, cucumber, grape and pear juices all help to keep a proper balance of fluids in your body. If you don't have a juicer, you can purchase one for about $30 - $40. If you don't have the money to buy one at the moment, hint around near your birthday or Christmas! Every singer should have a juicer. It is an invaluable piece of equipment because juices are such powerful preventatives of illness and such wonderful promoters of good health.

If you don't have a juicer but do have a blender you still have a great resource for drinks that are good for your voice, your health, your tastebuds and for dehydration. Have you ever had a fruit smoothie? One of my favorite combinations is apple juice, bananas and strawberries. Simply pour the juice into a blender, add a banana or two (the more bananas the thicker it will be) and then add the strawberries. Blend the mixture for a few minutes and you will soon be drinking what tastes like a fruit-flavored milk shake. Blending Magic by Bernard Jensen and Fresh Vegetables and Fruit Juices by N.W. Walker, D. Sc. are two very useful books for both recipes and nutritional information.

Breathing steam is another simple yet valuable step for relieving dehydration. If you have access to a steam room, so much the better. Sitting in a steam room helps the skin to eliminate toxins through the pores and gets healthy, wet heat into your lungs. Steam breathing is wonderful for your mucous membranes, especially for people living in polluted cities where the air is so bad to begin with.

Even if you don't have a steam room, you do have a bathroom. Close the bathroom door and let the hot water run until the room fills with steam. Or you can simply boil water on the stove and breathe it in through your mouth with a towel over your head. Room humidifiers and steam vaporizers are also good to use when you are really dry.

After you shower or bathe, always moisturize your skin. Any moisturizer will do but I prefer ones purchased at health food stores because they have the least amount of additives. We suffer a great percentage of water loss in our skin as we age. A newborn infant is almost all water, as you grow to adulthood it drops to 77% and as you get even older 50%. This is what causes wrinkles, dry skin and any number of other health problems. If you are surrounded by smoke often, this will quicken the water-loss process as well as robbing the cells of vitamins. Remember, if you are breathing the smoke you are affected by it even if you're not doing the smoking.

When you really get dehydrated you may even find that you have developed digestive problems or are suffering from constipation. Take a small amount of olive oil in a big glass of water before you go to sleep and you will lubricate your voice and your intestinal tract, aiding the proper elimination of waste products from your body.

Kelp (a sea vegetable high in vitamins and minerals) is very good for your body. Fruit is a necessity. It helps your circulation, stimulates your glandular processes, regulates your body temperature and even soothes your nerves. Other foods which help to protect the tissues when the body is suffering from water loss include, tomatoes, peaches, raisins, cherries, watercress, wheat germ, turnips, spinach and all melons.

So, if you are feeling dry in the morning or husky after only a little singing, try some of these remedies and see what happens. Drink lots of fluids in any case. It's guaranteed to help you sing better.

See you next month!