Miracle Berry and Low Carb Diets
Eating the Miracle Berry before eating your meals is one way to succeed on a low carb diet. For me, I found that part of the problem with low carb diets in general is that you have to eat a lot of vegetables and salads. Many people enjoy eating that kind of food but for those who have a sweet tooth like me, it’s difficult to eat foods that are generally pretty bland and tasteless. So the Miracle Berry is here to help you get a taste for healthy foods like broccoli and lettuce.
For people who’ve never heard of the miracle berry before, it’s a fruit with the scientific name of Synsepalum dulcificum. It’s found in West Africa and once you chew on it and let it sit on your tongue for a few seconds, it will trick your taste buds so that what you eat will taste sweet and sweet things will taste even sweeter. A French explorer discovered it in the late 18th century but it didn’t come to the U.S. until the 1960′s by a botanist who saw commercial potential in this fruit. Scientists isolated the protein in this berry and called it Miraculin. It works by binding to the taste receptors in your mouth and rewiring them to signal “sweet” to your brain instead of sour whenever you eat.
I first heard about it on the Dr. Oz show where members of the audience chewed on the berry and swished it around their mouth until it covered their taste buds. Then they sampled foods like lemons and vinegar to see how they would taste. They reported that everything tasted sweeter, including the white vinegar!
It’s possible to buy Miracle Berry online but these berries have a very short shelf life of about 2 days so unless you can find them locally, it may cost a little extra in shipping to get it to you in time. It’s important to make sure you are getting the real thing since there are many imitators out there. Check your ingredients and look for the scientific name, Synsepalum dulcificum. The berry, effects lasts for about an hour in your mouth. And you only have to eat one to experience the results you are looking for.
The Miracle Berry sounds like it would be a perfect sugar substitute, right? Unfortunately, the FDA ruled in the 1970′s that it could not be used commerciallyto sweeten foods. Instead, foodies and bartenders have built a cult following for the Miracle Berry because they use it as an ingredient in cocktails and entrees. There are even “flavor-tripping” events in larger cities where people eat the berries and sample different foods to experience their taste under the influence of the berry.