This Is How Potato Chips Can Help Clear Your Throat

OK, you can judge me for being a dork, but I was in school choirs for most of my life, singing my heart out like a Gleek.

Throughout my singing career, I looked for different ways to keep my throat healthy and clear before performances, and probably one of the most peculiar methods, was eating a bag of Ruffles, or classic Lay’s potato chips.

About 10 years ago, my older sister told me that she saw an interview with actor Antonio Banderas (I know, throwback) and he said when he was on Broadway, singing for the Tony-award winning musical “Nine,” he’d eat whole bags of Ruffles to clear his throat.

I initially thought it was a load of crap, but I started doing it myself, and swore it worked.

I did a quick Google search this afternoon, to see if this was actually a “thing,” and not some placebo method that I foolishly fell for thanks to Banderas’ hypnotizing good looks. Lo and behold, there’s a book called, “The Art of Voice Acting” where author James Alburger mentions this potato chip method, as the grease on the chips actually help clear out phlegm.

Sure this is great for people whose professions involve a lot of voice work, but if you’re feeling a little under the weather and want to get rid of that phlegm, now you know some potato chips might just do the job.