Miracle Fruit - Does It Live Up to the Hype?

By Christine D Patterson

If you've ever found yourself craving something sweet late at night, you're not alone! Unfortunately many weight loss plans severely restrict the intake of sugar or eliminate it from your diet altogether.  This leaves you with the choice of either breaking from your diet or opting for a healthier (and blander) snack.  Wouldn't it be great to have the best of both worlds -- something sweet and healthy?  Now you can! Thanks to Miracle Fruit, a remarkable little berry, you can turn unappealing foods into sweet, delicious treats.

Discovered almost 300 years ago by the explorer Chevalier des Marchais, Miracle Berry Fruit is a coffee bean sized berry with big potential.  That's because it has the amazing ability to turn everything sour, sweet! It can achieve this remarkable feat thanks to the presence of a substance called miraculin.  When exposed to miraculin, the receptors in your taste buds that would normally only react to sweet foods, are tricked into becoming responsive to acidic foods instead.  Suddenly, lip puckering lemons, rhubarb and other sour or bitter foods, become sweet, healthy snacks!

Now, you're probably wondering what the catch is, right? While the effects of consuming Miracle Fruit are truly amazing, the results are only temporary.  Typically the effect will last up to 2 hours in most individuals.  Also, the fruit only masks the taste of acidic or bitter foods, it doesn't eliminate them.  So keep that in mind before you snack on a bushel of lemons -- your stomach probably won't appreciate all that citrus even if your taste buds do! 

The ability to turn acidic or bitter foods into palette pleasing sweets goes far beyond helping dieters stay on track, however.  Diabetics also benefit from the ability to improve their quality of life by sprucing up their diets with sweet tasting treats without risking their health.  For that reason, Miracle Fruit is becoming increasingly popular with diabetics, especially in Japan where it is widely used.  A recent medical study conducted in Taiwan also suggests an additional benefit for diabetics: Miracle Fruit has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity in patients with insulin resistance, thus helping them better manage their condition.

With benefits like these, it's no surprise that this humble berry is more popular than ever.  If you're struggling to stay on your bland diet, or you're a diabetic looking to safely add a little excitement to your menu, you should consider the amazing little Miracle Fruit that lives up to its name.