A Miracle Berry is a truly miraculous way to sweeten Vitamix Recipes without adding sweeteners of ANY Kind! Would you like to make a smoothie that tastes like you added sugar, but has NO sugar, NO dates, NO agave, NO artificial sweeteners, NO stevia, NO honey, NOTHING but the addition of an ingredient (think fruit) that is at least partially sour?
Everyone knows that it is good to eliminate or cut way back on sugars, high glycemic foods, and especially artificial sweeteners. Stevia doesn’t affect blood sugar adversely, but many people detect a bitter aftertaste because they use too much, or they are “supertasters“. How many carbs and calories do you think you could eliminate if you never had to use high glycemic fruits, or sweeteners of any kind in your smoothies?
Enter the amazing Miracle Berry – a little known, but soon-to-be-famous alternative to sweeteners of all kinds!
The Miracle Berry is Not Added To Recipes, Or Swallowed Directly. It is rubbed all over your tongue, which changes the way your taste buds react to sour foods – sour suddenly becomes amazingly sweet! When your tongue is “numb” to sour, you can eat a lemon and love it! Strawberries taste so sweet it will blow your mind! Cranberries can be eaten straight out of the bag!
With a Miracle Berry sour foods become your sweetener in recipes! You can take any smoothie recipe, add a sour fruit from the list below, and the sour fruit will be your sugar substitute! The stronger the sour taste, the greater the sweetening effect. So if, for example, you try sweetening your smoothie with blackberries, and it isn’t sweet enough, consider adding lemon juice, or even tart strawberries!
Here is an incomplete list of various foods, and how they change after altering your taste buds with a Miracle Berry:
Lemon – like candy
Cranberries – like sweet tarts!
Lime – like limeade
Orange – like it was picked from the Garden of Eden
Grapefruit – like you added spoons full of sugar
Strawberry – will blow your mind, think “strawberry milkshake”
Sour Apple – won’t give you the puckers
Grapes – Much sweeter!
Pineapple – greatly improves the flavor of pineapples that were picked too green.
Blackberries – can eat them plain and ENJOY it!
Blueberries – raw tastes like you’re eating them out of a muffin
Raspberries – sweeter than usual
Pickles – sour pickles taste like “Gherkins”
Dry Wines – taste like port or dessert wines
Beer – effect depends on how sour the beer is to start with, sour beers turn sweet!
Sour Cream – adds a hint of sweetness
Blue Cheese – “salty, a little sweet, looses the bitter”
Ketchup – MUCH sweeter
Mustard – tastes like honey mustard
Apple Cider Vinegar – tastes like Balsamic Vinegar
BBQ sauce – tastes like a sugary version
Hot Peppers – don’t burn (but I haven’t tried this personally, its just what I’ve read online).
The effect of Miracle Berries lasts anywhere from half an hour to two hours depending on how much you use, and your individual chemistry. Most people get a great result from half of a Miracle Berry tablet (saves you money). I can get 3 uses from one Miracle Berry tablet! You can also buy the actual Miracle Fruit Berries, they supposedly have a stronger effect, but they don’t store as long as the tablets. You can also buy, and grow a Miracle Berry plant at home, but they require acidic soil, no additional fertilizers, and attention to watering. This is what I buy because you save money on each individual tablet when you buy 2.
I have to hide the Miracle Berries at home, because my boys want to use them all of the time! A “Miracle Berry Tasting Party” is always a blast – your friends will remember, and talk about it for years to come!
Here is a recipe that perfectly illustrates how you can create a COMPLETELY SWEETENER-FREE recipe that tastes like you added Sugar!
Green Lemonade
1) Place one peeled lemon in the Vitamix Container.
2) Add greens of your choice – if you aren’t used to adding greens, less is better. If you eliminate the greens, this is a sugar-free lemonade!
3) Add water to the 1 cup line if you like your smoothie a bit thick, if you like it thinner, add water to the 2 cup line.
4) Add about a cup of ice.
5) The little red tablet in the picture is a Miracle Berry (this brand).
The white stuff in the mason jar is Glucomannan Powder. I added a 1/2 of a teaspoon to the recipe. I used Glucomannan Powder in this recipe to keep the greens from separating, and floating to the top. A good smoothie always includes a fruit that is high in soluble fiber such as banana, papaya, peach, pear, or avocado. Glucomannan Powder can be a calorie-free way to replace a high-in-soluble-fiber fruit. Glucomannan is powdered, soluble fiber, and it works as a tasteless emulsifier and thickener. Glucomannan powder has MANY health benefits! I will be doing a product review of Glucomannan Powder soon, but in the meantime, take a look at the product reviews on Amazon.
6) The final product! A healthy and delicious Green Lemonade that tastes like you added sugar, but is made with only water, greens, lemon and ice! Like that stainless steel straw? I got mine here.
Have you tried Miracle Berries? Do you have any questions about them? Please leave a comment below!
By Lea Ann Savage – Copyright 2015
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Did you add the Miracle Berry to the green lemonade or just prep with it before drinking your lemonade? i really want to know if someone has added them to food rather than taking them prior eating. Thank you.
Haven’t tried adding it to food yet!! Just chew/ lick it before enjoying the beverage!
Thank you Lea Ann. Can’t wait to try. I’ve been on the fence but after reading your blog I’m now going to try.
Wow, these Miracle berries sound great. I’ll have to check them out on Amazon UK.
Thank you for your inspiration. I am starting to use my Vitamix a bit more.
This is great! I am going to get some Miracle Berries! How neat is this to eliminate sweeteners!
I am going to order some miracle berry. Lea Ann could you explain the benefits of using Glucomannan Powder. Or where could I find more info on it? Please.
Thank you for all you do for us.
Jackie
Hello Jacqueline, soon I will be doing a blog post with more details! I used Glucomannan Powder in this recipe to keep the greens from separating, and floating to the top. A good smoothie always includes a fruit that is high in soluble fiber such as banana, papaya, peach, pear, or avocado. Glucomannan Powder can be a calorie-free way to replace a high-in-soluble-fiber fruit. Glucomannan is powdered, soluble fiber, and it works as a tasteless emulsifier and thickener. You can find out quite a bit about it from the reviews on Amazon.
Glucomannan is good for diabetics. Lowers blood sugars. Take before each meal. Used in several weight loss pills.
YES it IS Kay! That is how I found out about Glucomannan Powder (from a diet supplement). The supplements were so expensive that I began searching for the primary ingredient (glucomannan powder) in bulk, and low and behold – I found it! I am so glad that I don’t have to resort to high glycemic fruits like bananas to make my smoothies the texture that I like. Glucomannan is perfect for preventing the greens from separating, and adding a creamy texture without adding any calories!
If I want to grow these at home, how can I tell if my soil is acidic or not?
A Soil PH Tester will let you know! Also, you can talk to the person selling the plant how to best increase or decrease acidity based on the results of your test.
Sounds yummy. About how many servings does it make? An for it not to be sour, you have to use the Miracle Berry on your tongue, and anyone else who drinks it, correct?
Hello Mary, the miracle berry melts in your mouth (and you try to get as much of it all over your tongue as you can. The effects last anywhere from half an hour to two hours (depending on how much you use, and your individual body chemistry). I always use 1/2 of a tablet, and the effect lasts for about an hour for me. Yes, the recipe will taste sour to anyone who does not first coat their tongue with the miracle berry tablet.
Can you use the glucomannan powder as a cornstarch replacement in cooking and baking or is intended to be used in raw food?
Great question Misti! Glucomannan Powder can be used as a thickener for gravies, sauces and glazes, soups, stews and casseroles. It also thickens pies, puddings and cake. In cakes, cookies and pastries, glucomannan powder can be mixed with flour to produce more tender baked goods.
I have seen comment that the berries are quite expensive, can you give kind of and idea what that is?
Thanks for this question Misty! If you click on any of the links in my article (or click here) you will be taken to Amazon where you can check prices. I always order this 2 pack because the price per tablet is lower that way. Also, it only takes 1/2 of a tablet to work each time you use them so you get twice as many uses per package as there are tablets in the box! A package with 10 tablets gives you 20 taste-bending experiences! The price is completely worth it to me to have a completely sugar-free, low glycemic SWEET smoothie or snack!
These Berries sound amazing and I will be ordering some. Am I able to order thru you, Lea?
If you click on any of the links in my article they are “Amazon Associate” links. I earn a SMALL referral reward (and your price does not increase). ANYTHING you buy from Amazon during that shopping trip, I get a small “referral reward” on. THANKS for asking! 🙂
Reading up on miracle berries and thinking about trying. Will follow comments
I bought some of these based on your review. Are you adding them to your smoothies or using them before enjoying the smoothie?
I am so glad you asked this question! If you put them in your smoothies nothing will happen! They work by rubbing them on your tongue. As soon as you’ve rubbed it all over your tongue, the tablet is melted, and nothing is left, your taste buds will be altered, and sour foods will taste SWEET! Most people can use only 1/2 of a tablet. The effect lasts anywhere from 1/2 an hour to 2 hours. PLEASE write back here after you have tried one and let us know what you think! If you numb your taste buds with a Miracle Berry then eat a lemon you will NOT pucker, and it will taste like a lemon candy! 🙂
Thanks for the info i will look into it and research more. Interested to find out exactly what it is made from,side effects and will it effect high blood and diabetes.
It has two ingredients: miracle fruit powder, and corn starch. There are no symptoms except that your taste buds are altered from 1/2 an hour to 2 hours. It will help diabetes if you use it to eliminate sugar (the whole point of using it), and it can have no effect on blood pressure – it only temporarily numbs the ability to taste sour.
Tried the Miracle Berries…..they’re a MIRACLE!!!! No more sugar, syrup or honey in my smoothies.