For singers, teachers, and broadcasters, maintaining vocal health is essential. There are various foods and beverages that can help prevent and treat throat-related ailments while also preserving vocal quality, such as white langsat, pineapple, and figs…
White Langsat
The white langsat (Canarium album Raeusch) has a greenish skin. The black langsat (Canarium nigrum Engl), also known as the bùi tree, produces dark purple fruits with a rich flavor. The white langsat has a sweet and slightly sour taste, is fatty, and possesses warming properties (some texts describe it as slightly cold). It affects the lungs and stomach meridians (some texts refer to the lungs and kidneys) and is known to generate bodily fluids, quench thirst, soothe the voice, detoxify fish, and alleviate hangovers. According to Western medicine, langsat flesh contains proteins, fats, sugars, vitamin C, and minerals like calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, iron, and zinc.
The white langsat can be prepared in various culinary styles depending on local customs. Here are a few examples:
Dry throat, insomnia: Use 20-30 white langsat fruits (remove the seeds), crush them, and boil them in water to drink. You can add ginger, sugar, or honey for flavor.
Throat inflammation (acute, chronic) tonsillitis, dry throat, loss of voice: Use salted langsat like salted lemon to suck on or mix in water to drink. You can also use fresh langsat, crush the fruit to extract juice for drinking or steep it to prepare a drink.
Hoarseness: Take 4 fresh langsat fruits (remove seeds) and crush them with 10g of prepared Chinese herb (Huang Qi). Place in a clay pot, cover with water, and boil to drink.
Treating heat inflammation: Use 5-6 fresh green langsat fruits and 1 kg of radish (amount varies based on the number of people). Boil until soft over several hours, then drink the liquid and eat the remains.
Fig
Figs have a sweet taste and a neutral property; their benefits include boosting qi energy, strengthening the stomach, moistening the lungs, soothing the throat, and aiding digestion. They are primarily used to treat qi deficiency, shortness of breath, poor appetite, fatigue, lung heat, swollen and sore throats, and dryness. Research has also indicated that figs may help prevent cancer, inhibit cancer cell growth, combat arteriosclerosis, and treat high blood pressure. Some applications of figs include:
- Sliced figs boiled with water and rock sugar for drinking, to be slowly swallowed.
- Salted figs mixed with sugar, to be sucked on or diluted in water for drinking.
- Figs soaked in honey, using the fig juice for sucking.
- Cooking porridge with figs for a beneficial breakfast.
- Bean sprouts made from mung beans, black beans, and soybeans.
- Wash thoroughly, chew raw, and swallow the juice immediately, or include in meals as fresh bean sprouts or quickly blanched bean sprouts… Bean sprouts help alleviate hoarseness, resulting in a clearer and stronger voice.
Pineapple Juice
Take 2 slices of pineapple, 3 carrots, and a handful of dandelion leaves, wash thoroughly, and extract the juice for drinking. “This is most effective for treating sore throat.”
