Have you noticed that your voice has changed as you’ve gotten older? While the most obvious differences in teenage boys occur during puberty, our voice also changes as we reach middle age and again as we get older.
It is not only the pitch that changes, but also the strength. This summer, some aging rock stars have been performing live shows and while some, like Bruce Springsteen, reportedly had impressively powerful voices, others like Blondie and Elton John – still brilliant performers, of course – were possibly past their prime vocally.
What is Bruce Springsteen’s secret and how to keep your voice in good condition?
While we’re all too aware of the graying of our hair, growing waistlines, and hearing loss that occur with age, these sometimes subtle changes that occur in our voice over time may not be as obvious to us.
In fact, for women, it’s not just age: when a woman is pregnant — and after she’s given birth — her voice becomes “lower and more monotonous.”
Have you noticed that your voice has changed as you’ve gotten older?
That says Dr. Kasia Pisanski, researcher in the Mammal Vocal Communication and Cognition Research group at Sussex University, based on an analysis of the voices of 20 mothers recorded before and after pregnancy and after birth.
The study was inspired by singer Adele, who revealed a few years ago that her voice “gained a lot deeper” during pregnancy, making it easier for her to sing certain songs, including “Skyfall,” the theme song from ” skyfall”. the James Bond film, which calls for sophisticated low notes.
dr Pisanski surmises that this could be due to hormonal changes affecting the vocal cords, or because women subconsciously deepen their voices after giving birth to sound more authoritative.
She explained: “Research has shown that people with deep voices are typically perceived as more competent, more mature and more dominant. Therefore, faced with the new challenges, women may modulate their own voice to sound more authoritative.’ Parenting.’
My top tip for a slim waist
Is a higher BMI (Body Mass Index) important? Well, a recent US study found that people classified as “overweight” based on their BMI lived the longest.
It’s not clear why, but one of the problems with BMI is that it doesn’t say how much fat makes up by body weight and where that fat is distributed.
My BMI is 24.6 in the healthy range, between 18.5 and 24.9. However, for people from certain Black, Asian, or other ethnic groups, the healthy BMI limit may be 23 because they are more prone to the accumulation of fat around the abdomen, which increases the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
When I gain weight, my stomach and neck become queasy – my pants start to strain, I snore loudly, and my blood sugar and blood pressure spike. Personally, I don’t pay much attention to my BMI, but rather pay attention to my waist (ideally it should be under 37 inches/94 cm for men and under 31.5 inches/80 cm for women).
Wearing a tight belt is my number one health tip because it reminds you when it’s time to go easy on those snacks!
Whatever the explanation, this effect is temporary. The biggest long-term changes in our voice occur in the 50’s and 60’s when, according to the British Voice Association, women’s voices tend to sound lower and men’s voices tend to sound higher. The sound of our voice is created when air is forced through our larynx (or larynx). This causes the vocal cords to vibrate and produce a tone – the more vibration, the higher the pitch. Pitch is affected by the length and tension of the vocal cords – the sound produced then resonates in your throat, nose and mouth to create your voice.
In women, the drop in sex hormone levels after menopause leads to changes in the vocal cords that make the voice deeper, hoarse, and breathier.
However, men are more likely to develop an age-related condition called presbylarynx, in which the vocal cords become thinner and stiffer. This makes the voice sound hoarse, weaker and higher. As far as I can tell, this hasn’t happened to me yet.
Presbylarynx can be treated with voice therapy or even a voice lift, which involves injecting a filler like hyaluronic acid (the same stuff that makes lips look plumper) into the vocal folds.
However, it is best to protect the voice as much as possible from the consequences of old age.
The first thing you could do is start singing in the shower; Singing is a great way to keep your vocal muscles in shape, and the vapor will rehydrate your throat too.
Studies have shown that trained singers can keep their voices younger for longer, and there are other benefits to singing that include improved mood, reduced anxiety, and even relief from chronic pain.
You can also prevent your voice from fading by making sure your vocal cords stay well lubricated by drinking plenty of water (at least try drinking a tall glass of water with every meal). Reading aloud, humming through a straw, or blowing into a straw when it’s dipped in liquid (the sort of thing you did when you started blowing bubbles in milk as a child) are also said to be good for your baby Vocal cords are working muscles that give your voice resonance.
Professional singers take care of their voice by not smoking and avoiding too many loud, boisterous late night parties.
Bruce Springsteen said in a recent interview, ‘When I’m out and about, I’m pretty much a monk.’ I do the show, I go back to the hotel.’
He added, “It seems like people burn out their voices, not on stage but when talking in a nightclub.” stayed up four hours.”
So if you want to sound like the boss in your 70s, don’t smoke and try to keep your “loud yelling at nightclubs” to a minimum.
People who work in noisy environments may want to take their conversations outside.
And work on your posture, as it can have a big impact on how powerfully you project.
Keeping your spine straight, shoulders back, and head up gives your lungs room to expand and your vocal cords to stretch. Both make you sound years younger than you are.
Why I prefer whole milk to the watery versions
When I was a kid almost everyone drank whole milk.
Then, in the 1970s, we were warned that the saturated fat in dairy would clog our arteries and make us fat. So we switched from butter to margarine and from whole milk to watery skim milk.
Partly because of this, we Brits drink a third less cow’s milk than we did 30 years ago, and most of what we consume is skim or semi-skimmed.
However, I’ve reverted to butter, whole milk, and full-fat Greek yogurt — partly because I prefer the taste, but also because there’s mounting evidence that giving up whole dairy isn’t likely to make you any healthier. Take, for example, the results of a large study published earlier this month in the European Heart Journal, which involved 147,000 people.
I’m back to eating butter, whole milk, and full-fat Greek yogurt — partly because I prefer the taste, but also because there’s mounting evidence that skipping full-fat dairy probably isn’t making you healthier [File image]
Eating plenty of fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, fish, and whole milk was found to be best to minimize the risk of heart attack or stroke.
The same research team had previously found that people who ate at least two servings of full-fat dairy products daily had a 24 percent lower risk of developing metabolic syndrome (a combination of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity) than those who did did not. I don’t consume any. Why could that be? It turns out that the saturated fat in whole dairy products isn’t necessarily bad for you.
A 2021 study in the journal PLOS Medicine found that people with higher levels of milk fat markers in their blood had a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
And because it’s higher in fat, which keeps you full, there’s evidence that whole milk can help you stay lean.
A 2019 review based on 28 studies found that children who drank whole milk had a 40 percent lower risk of being overweight or obese than children who drank low-fat milk.