The Miracle Berry

Ever heard the term Synsepalum dulcificum? I am going to venture a guess that most of you have not.In simpler terms this is a “plant known for its berry.” Others may refer to it as a miracle berry.

How far back can we track this term? The plant was first discovered in the early 1970’s and “native to West Africa.” Tribes in West Africa picked the berries then ate them before meals. During that time period, a company by the name of Miralin wanted to “develop miraculin as a simple way of getting a sugar rush”, minus the intake of unhealthy foods. The US Food and Drug Administration did not accept their attempt due to the concept of additives. Here is a quick description of additives.

Today the berry is present in a few restaurants but known mainly for its use by Chef Homara Cantu, who recently passed away. When given to customers, the berry is presented as a tablet. His restaurant, Moto, is located in Chicago, Illinois. Amber Gibson of NewCity Resto concluded that Chef Cantu was able to “make cheesecake without sugar, fat or cheese. Instead, all he needs is a spoonful of non-fat sour cream, a lemon wedge and a miracle berry tablet.” Basically he presented a platter with ingredients that imitated the dessert. Customers were also able to use the tablet with their wine as well. This caused the wine into a dessert wine half way through their meals. 

Writer for the New York Times Carries Dashow, “dropped a large dollop of lemon sorbet into a glass of Guinness, stirred, drank and proclaimed that it tasted like a chocolate shake.” Since the New York Times published multiple stories on this berry, flavor tripping has become quite the trend. Partygoers are each given a tablet upon entrance. They are then instructed to let the berry tablet dissolve on their tongues. Afterward these individuals do exactly the same as customers of Chef Cantu’s restaurant.

From further research I discovered something interesting. In 2005 a women called the Chef in hopes he could help her friend. Paulas friend had been “undergoing chemo and radiation therapy.” A metallic taste is produced on the taste buds, of patients, from these types of therapy treatments. Chet Cantu did multiple trials an errors. “We chewed on car tire rubber and foil for months trying to mimic the flavor you get from radiation and chemotherapy.” says Cantu. Him and his crew were able to create “a cocktail that counteracted the metallic taste. “The patient simply did not chew the tablet prior to every treatment, but dissolved the powder in their drink. The idea to use the berry table in medical facilities has caught on.

Exactly how does this tablet work? The miracle berry is close to a magic trick. As we now know, its duty is to make our sour foods sweet to the taste buds. Each berry contains a “glycoprotein called miraculin.” This protein will cling to the taste buds once the fruit is consumed. “Miraculin acts as a sweetness inducer when it comes in contact with acids.” This will cause the bitter and sour foods to become sweet. The new taste will can between 30 minutes and two hours. 

What are the benefits? From the Chef Cantu’s use, people are able to majorly reduce their intake of fats and sugars by using these tablets. He even wrote The Miracle Berry Diet Cookbook. A smaller benefit is initially to experience such an item. The tablets can cost about $15 and up to $90 for your own plant. So the experience is not cheap!

What are the side effects? There is currently not enough studies done with these tablets to conclude potential side effects. If you are pregnant or breast-feeding, it would be a smart idea to avoid the tablet. That is mainly due to the fact that women, in these stages, are more susceptible to any bad effects of items uncommon to their digestive track. One aspect that may cause a side effect is the amount and items of food a person intakes. Although the goal is to make this a healthier way to eat, some individuals may use too many acids like items and cause themselves to be very sick later. One of my professors tried this at home and was eating items such as mustard and fish oil. So even though these are not statistically proven side effects, they can happen.

How could we conduct a study? It is hard to say. The tablet is very distinctive, so to make one group use it and another use a different supplement might be too tricky. Studies we went over in class mostly dealt with health concerns. Since the controlled groups systems would not be effected by absence of the tablet, we could only do a study based on one group. This group has to be of an age where their taste buds are still active and they need to have been testing the tablet our in a period of different test runs. In connection to the side effects – if a single person overuses the tablets, then there may be a fluke result.

Overall, I suggest people try this at least once in their life. I have heard many great stories!

mberry

Image Citation

More Citations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/us/11cncberry.html?_r=0

http://www.miraclefruitusa.com

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/09/26/how-the-miracle-fruit-changes-sour-into-sweet/#.VhxJ37S4n-Y