Starbucks 'Trenta': How The New Size Compares To Your Stomach
Famous Death Row Last Meals
My grandmother likes to tell a story about how she was hypnotized in a stage show. Under hypnosis, she ate a lemon and thought it was an apple. It's hard to imagine doing that and not noticing the difference. However, with the miracle fruit, we all could be eating slices of lemon for dessert.
Slashfood blogger Emily Matcher wrote yesterday about the New York Times article on the miracle fruit. If you missed it, the miracle of the fruit is not that it cures cancer or creates world peace - it makes sour foods taste sweet.
As described on Wikipedia, "when the fleshy part of the fruit is eaten, this molecule [miraculin] binds to the tongue's taste buds, causing bitter and sour foods (such as lemons and limes) consumed later to taste sweet. This effect lasts between thirty minutes and two hours."
The miracle fruit is by no means a new discovery. It has been eaten for centuries in West Africa. Back in 2005, The Guardian wrote about a cafe in Japan where diners start the meal with a single miracle fruit and then proceed to eat dishes with 100 calories or less and love them!
Why haven't we seen the miracle fruit in diet products everywhere? The facts aren't clear. However, there is a BBC article that describes how an attempt to bring miracle fruit products to the US market was surprisingly and suddenly shut down by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Want to try one? Miracle Connect sells the berries! They cost $24 for six. They recommend two per person for a dinner party.
| Nope, I like my tastebuds just as they are, thank you! | |
|---|---|
| I'm curious, but I'd need to know more. | |
| Sign me up, I'm always game for a little flavor tripping! | |
| Miracle fruit? I tried that last year. |
Jane Seymour's Modest And Modern Style
Broke Stars: 11 Celebrities Who Went Bankrupt
LOOK: Amazing Underwater Photos Of Dogs
Adele Five-Year Break? Singer Plans to Focus on Relationship, Write 'Happy Record'
Social Security Is Failing Even Faster Than We Thought
PHOTOS: How You Can Get The 'Miracle' Dress
Man Says Starbucks Discriminated Against Him Because He Has Half An Arm
Chris Brown, Grammys 2012: Embattled Singer Slams Critics
Janice Dickinson's Outrageous Style
Ford's clever Sports Illustrated Swimsuit ad features phantom model
3 Economic Misconceptions That Need to Die
Photos Of Dead Lacrosse Player's Injured Body Shown To Jury
Trace Adkins Reunites With College Crush, 30 Years Later
Van Gogh's Starry Night modded into beautiful interactive light and sound show (video)
PHOTOS: Model Falls At Dennis Basso Show
'Hooker Teacher' Forced To Resign, Now Can't Find Work
Lauren Scruggs Goes On Ski Vacation
WATCH AND LAUGH: Cops In 2-Hour Standoff With Empty Car
New Clues, Details Emerge In Powell Case
Woman's Dead Fiance Is Behind Her Disappearance: Cops
Stephen Wiltshire Draws Cities From Memory
PHOTOS: Remembering The People's Ballerina
We Meant There WERE Nukes In The Fire
5-29-2008 @12:09PM Jacob Grier said... Joanna Slater of The Wall Street Journal did a good story on the FDA's involvement, too:
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB117522147769754148-lMyQjAxMDE3NzM1MDIzMjAxWj.html
Reply
5-29-2008 @1:56PM charles_boston said... I heard about miracle fruit when doing research on exotic fruits of the world. I was so intrigued that I bought a plant from nursery in Florida as a nice indoor container plant.
It's flowers about twice a year, and I get lots of berries. It really is amazing how sweet they make sour things taste. Citrus fruit, strawberries, blueberries, and such taste amazing after eat a miracle fruit.
Reply
5-29-2008 @10:15PM carol said... As a student at Florida State University in Tallahassee, I along with hundreds (if not thousands) of other FSU students tried miracle fruit back in the late 70s and early 80s under Professor Lloyd Beidler. I was always amazed nothing ever happened with miracle fruit. Dr. Beidler had us try another substance which was called, I believe, gemnimic acid. It had the affect of making sugar totally tasteless. After exposure to this other substance you could put sugar in your mouth and it was as if you were eating sand. Never heard anything more about that either. Any other FSU students out there remember Dr. Beidler's taste tests?
Reply
5-30-2008 @9:11AM adddddicted2sweets said... surely there must be another place to order the berries that doesn't cost an arm & a leg for a months worth!!!! anyone know? and i'm also quite interested in carol's (former FSU)responses.
Reply
5-29-2008 @10:56PM nana said... My husband and I tried this fruit in 1992 in Florida...Thought it was a miracle....especially for diabetics. They could eat a lemon and it tasted like lemonade. Don't know why it never caught on. Have never seen it since in the stores
Reply
5-29-2008 @11:01PM STH said... I remember reading about these years ago in one of my neuropsychology textbooks. It was one of those asides by the book author that are always fun, something to the effect that he had spent an evening eating miracle fruit, then eating all sorts of sour things and being amazed by how good they tasted. The only problem was that he woke up in the morning with his mouth full of sores from eating all that acid!
Reply
5-29-2008 @11:12PM junderwoodz said... The name of the fruit is 'Synsepalum dulcificum'. There is a similar variety, Synsepalum subcordatum, that has been sold as 'giant miracle fruit' but it does not have the same 'sour-cancelling' effect.
Unfortunately 'Synsepalum dulcificum' requires either warm temperatures or a greenhouse. It also requires an acid soil mix (between ~ 4.5 and ~5.8 pH). It can be grown outdoors in Florida and Southern California but should be kept in a container in Southern California as our soil has a high pH (I live in Orange county, CA).
I bought two small plants recently on ebay and am growing them in containers in the shade of a fruit tree. They can be grown from seed but the seed is viable for a very short time and the low pH germinating mix must be strictly followed (The seeds I tried germinating a couple years ago did not survive.).
Mature plants in the U.S. probably will not exceed about six - seven feet height.
Jz
Reply
5-30-2008 @12:27AM albert said... I am a chimistry biology physics triple major. and the reality is it doesnt matter if what you eat. it matter what you burn. no diet will ever make you lose weight. all the drugs are just speed so they will give you side effects. the reality is you have to exercise. Get up and raise your heart rate above 80 beats minute for at least 30 minutes a day. stop eating sweets and stop drinking sweets. enjopy everything in moderation. moderation is taking something once a month not once a day. every drink you intake has tons of sugar. every food you intake has ons of carbs and fat. so drink water eat protien(you need this to build cellular structure) ignore all the diet adds. it wont help. WORK OUT. if you cant run you no matter what you diet you will never lose wieght. when was the last time you ran or danced for over 30 minutes? I dont mean walk or slow dance i mean move burn it. i am 200 lbs in perfect shape I dont have to work out becuase i have muscle. I jsut work, women on the other hand dont have muscle so they dont burn calories. men who sit at a desk dont gain muscle sothey dont burn the calories. the reality is diets dont work. WORKING only works
Reply
5-30-2008 @1:17AM carol said... I have started the flat belly diet and have lost 7 lbs in 10 days. It is rich in MUFA'a...sunflower seeds, almonds, avocado, walnuts lowfat dairy, 4oz. portions of meat, poultry and fish, lots of veggies and even dark chocolate. Because I have Lupus, I can't run or do heavy exercise but I still lost the weight. Also, lots of water. Good Luck
Reply
5-30-2008 @1:18AM Laura said... I would first like to say that I've never heard of this before, but it sounds very interesting and I'd like to try it. I just find it hard to believe that it's so expensive. There's got to be somewhere else to purchase it than the site mentioned.
Second, I'd like to respond to Albert's comment...
Albert, for such an 'educated' man, your grammar is HORRIBLE. And while some of what you said made sense, some of it was also complete bull. I'd like to know where you learned, or who told you, that women don't have muscles and don't burn calories? That's so wrong it's almost funny. Also, regardless of how much muscle someone has, they do have to work out every once in awhile...otherwise, they lose their muscle mass.
Reply
5-30-2008 @1:22AM dewcros said... that guy was on FOXNEWS yesterday (Thursday) and the guy and the girl anchors tried it on a lemon slice, a strawberry, tried it on Guinness (was supposed to taste like a chocolate malt) DIDN'T WORK!! The guy anchor took another berry and it STILL didn't work!! For $6.00 a pop,, hardly worth trying to turn a good bottle of Guinness into a choc malt... although I like them both!!! I'll save the $6 bucks.
Reply
5-30-2008 @1:37PM undrgrndgirl said... if the fda wouldn't let this little fruit in, it must be good for you !! lol
Reply
5-30-2008 @1:45AM undrgrndgirl said... if the fda wouldn't let this little fruit in, it must be good for you !! lol
Reply
5-30-2008 @2:23AM S. Shuman said... I knew where one bush was growing in S. Fl. . I tried this years ago and it works ! I had one berry and could eat a lemon with no sour taste at all . I'm sure there are some of these shrubs at the Rare Fruit Council .
Reply
5-30-2008 @2:59AM Jennifer said... Good going Laura, I was thinking the same thing. I wonder what he would say about my situation. For whatever reason I can't lose weight right now. I gained significant weight in the past two years due to working 16 hour days at the computer. I am now walking 40 miles a week and following a moderate eating plan that always worked for me before (weight watchers) and not a single pound will budge. I have plenty of muscle. I don't know why anybody would use this fruit as a "diet" trick. Why not just use Stevia as a sweetener, 0 calories, all natural herb, inexpensive and can be found in grocery stores across the US.
Reply
5-30-2008 @6:17AM Angbii said... There is a fruit and spice park in the Redlands, south of Miami that has hundreds of unusual trees. Perhaps it might be found there. They sell seeds for many of the plants in the gift shop.
Reply
6-10-2008 @5:45PM Mr. Nestor Mercado said... We have one of this in my backyard already bearing fruits. It is true. At first I don't believe in what may son is telling me, but when I try one fruit and eat lemon and green mango, it taste like it was sweetened. The seeds of this does'nt just germinate and grow except it was swallowed or came from the birds stomach. So it hard to repoduce.
Reply
5-30-2008 @8:50PM Erica said... Carol, I too was a biology major at FSU from 1977-1981, and remember a taste test where kids in class were given a lollipop to lick to coat the taste buds. When we sucked on a lemon shortly afterwards, it tasted like lemonade; it was amazing (kind of shocking to bite into a lemon and not pucker from the sourness), very pleasant, no aftertaste like you might experience with sweeteners, if memory serves right.
Reply
5-30-2008 @9:51AM cheryl said... does this miracle fruit have a name?
Reply
5-30-2008 @10:29AM Jason said... Dear Mr. "chimistry biology physics major" Congratulations, you just wrote the most retarded blog I have ever read, I have never responded to a blog, but I started after reading your response..first of all for a triple major you have the worst spelling and grammar I have ever read, so I don't believe you, I think you are a high school drop out, secondly, women have muscles, just not as much as men, and it's not so much the muscles, its the PERCENTAGE of muscles per your body weight that help you burn calories. Lastly, some diets do work, but without staying on them long term you will always return to your normal body weight. My God, your spelling makes you look like an idiot. Good luck with that triple major, it reminds me why our educational system sucks the way it does when people like you with three majors are out there and sound like idiots. Women don't have muscles??? huh???? Hello!!!!!!!!! Unbelievable.
Reply