Lisette on Reflux, Vocal Health, and Life on the Road

In a candid 28-minute Instagram Live from New York City, Lisette opened up about the realities of managing acid reflux as a touring opera singer, sharing personal tips on vocal health, stress management, and the lifestyle adjustments that come with a demanding international career.

Speaking from her apartment ahead of singing La Traviata at the Metropolitan Opera, Lisette described how reflux has been one of the most persistent challenges of her career — and how she’s finally getting it under control.

Watch the full Instagram Live here!

Taking Reflux Seriously

“I have been taking my acid reflux so seriously,” she shared. “It has really, really helped me to really get that figured out because it was really giving me a run for my money vocally and personally and making me so stressed out.”

Lisette explained that she now takes a proton pump inhibitor (omeprazole, 20mg) every single day without exception, after learning the hard way that stopping the medication leads to a return of symptoms within weeks. “I’m not going to play that game because you might get off of it, feel fine, and then two weeks later, it’ll all start up again.”

The Singer’s Dilemma: When to Eat

One of the biggest challenges, she explained, is timing meals around performances. “Before you lay down to go to sleep, you’ve been done eating and no more food in your stomach for at least five hours,” she advised. After performances, she opts for something minimal: “After I sing now, I come home and I’ll have like a banana. And that’s it. And then I go to bed hungry. I’ll be real.”

She also recommended Metagenics Ultra Sustain, a powdered meal-replacement drink she sips during performances for easy-to-digest nutrition without the heaviness of a full meal.

Goodbye, Hot Tea and Champagne

Among the more surprising triggers she’s had to eliminate: hot beverages and alcohol. “I was drinking hot tea before bed like it was going out of style,” she laughed, before learning from a doctor and a fellow singer with reflux that hot drinks are a major trigger.

Alcohol has been the most painful sacrifice. “Do you know that when I have champagne, the next day I sound like someone ran over my throat with a truck?” she said. “I have had to cut alcohol completely if I want to sing. And it pains me to say.”

Stress, Sleep, and Silence

Beyond diet, Lisette emphasized how much stress affects reflux and vocal health. Her tips include putting her phone on the other side of the room at night to avoid late-night scrolling, and reading physical books before bed. She shared her love of horror and suspense literature, naming Joyce Carol Oates as a particular favorite: “I love, love Joyce Carol Oates. She’s an opera fan — you go on her Twitter and every now and then you will see an opera reference.”

Her most powerful vocal health practice? Twelve hours of consecutive silence. “From 8 p.m. till 8 a.m., I don’t utter a peep. Nothing, no humming, no whispering, no talking, nothing,” she said. “No medicine, no nothing has helped me more than silence.”

The Porch Club: Voice, Vulnerability, and Becoming

Lisette also announced a new interview on The Porch Club podcast, titled “Voice, Vulnerability, and Becoming: The Inner Life Behind the Stage,” in which she discusses fear, courage, success, failure, and insecurities. “I really got quite personal,” she said of the conversation.