Show HN: Next-gen sweetener that removes willpower from healthy eating
miracle-nutrition.com
miracle-nutrition.com
It is made from miracle fruit. This fruit has been used for centuries by tribes in Western Africa to make their food more delicious. It contains a protein that safely and temporarily binds to your tastebuds to make sour foods taste sweet as well as remove unpleasant bitter and tart flavors. For instance, bite into a lemon and it will taste like lemonade. It allows you to discover flavors previously masked by those unpleasant tastes. A strawberry tastes even more "strawberry" and a plain greek yogurt now tastes much more creamy.
It is the first miracle fruit product that is convenient for daily use. Whereas competing products take 5-10 minutes to dissolve, mine takes 10 seconds to dissolve and contains only NATURAL ingredients. I believe miracle fruit has the potential to take willpower out of the equation of a healthy diet by making nutritious foods taste as indulgent as the junk foods that are otherwise killing us. No one has the patience to wait 5 minutes in the morning while they are rushing to school or work, so I knew this is what needed to be changed in order for miracle berry to go mainstream.
Please check out my website for more information and demos. Use the code "HN" at checkout for 10% off.
Feel free to ask me anything!
Have you heard of this? What are your thoughts? This sounds like willpower would still be an issue, but if you mess up you scar your throat / dissolve your teeth instead of gaining weight.
The main reason it hasn't been commercialized is that the fruit itself is very finicky. It took me a whole year to work out a procedure and formulation. Another company is working on bioengineering the active protein, and raised $6.9M 3 weeks ago so I wouldn't say all hope is lost in miracle fruit.
There is actually a really interesting conspiracy theory of how GD Searle broke into the offices and sabotaged the original company commercializing miracle fruit back in the 70's. You are right, they tried telling the FDA that miracle fruit would make kids drink battery acid, but that was all corporate BS because they were afraid of the competition it would bring - kids were enjoying miracle fruit sweetened popsicles more than regular popsicles.
That's cute that someone pushed it to a further commercialized product, but it doesn't last for an hour, or close to five.
We source our product from the native soil where this berry grows. As you may know with wine, coffee, and tea, the soil and climate matters a lot. Moreover, our farmers take care to not overcrowd the trees to ensure each plant gets plenty of sunlight and nutrients. I've tried every product out there that exists, doesn't come close to our quality. Prove me wrong and I'll refund you.
Does it? My experience tasting it, seemed more like a sour inhibitor. The sweet you tasted was what was left when the sour was removed. Turns out lemons are indeed sweet.
But that was merely my non-scientific, anecdotal impression.
Also, many toxic products contain Bitrex as a safety measure. Brush it off now, but if your product ends up in foods marketed to kids, get ready for a shitstorm.
The product is not for everyone. It definitely has that novelty feel of "oh shit I can't believe how this lemon tastes" but not everyone is going to use it constantly. Everyone has their preferences and while you may like sour, others might gag at the taste of greek yogurt. If this can make people eat healthy foods they otherwise wouldn't eat, I'd be overjoyed.
I see what you mean by the bitter compound Bitrex. It is something for me to think about on how to ensure kids don't abuse it. The upside for parents of picky eaters is huge though. My nephew used to only eat noodles and chicken nuggets but now with my product he eats greek yogurt, tomatoes, broccoli, soup, fish, fruit, etc. It is no longer a chore for my sister to get him to eat his food. All he says is "I'll only have it with Palate Pal" :)
I'd like to try more exotic fruits. Passionfruit is absolutely addictive with Palate Pal. I did a taste test with a friend and she was chowing down on it like popcorn.
It is approved in Europe and Asia. In the US, however, due to dirty sabotage in the 70's by sugar and aspartame companies, the FDA decided to approve it as a food additive and not food. One company is working on that approval now though.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S02786....
What is the GI value of this?
What are the temperature limits for consumption without messing up with flavors and your health?
I've been using Sucralose for years and I'm quite happy with it and it's cheap, sweet and taste great enough for me to consider changing sweetener in my keto diet. Why do you think I should change it to this product?
2) There's hardly any sugar in this product because it is so potent. GI basically 0. Some research shows that it may even improve your insulin response.
3)The protein is fairly heat stable. I'd say that whatever food you put in your mouth without scorching it is safe enough for the protein so you should be safe enough. I ran an experiment at 60°C for an hour and a half and it still worked.
4)Sooooo many reasons. This is a next-generation sweetener. It is summarized on my benefits page but to put it here:
• 1 serving lasts your 30-60 minutes regardless of how much food you eat. It actually saves me time in the morning because isntead of putting and stirring honey into my tea and yogurt, I just consume Palate Pal and in 10 seconds I'm good to go
•This doesn't just sweeten, it enhances flavor. You literally pick up on flavors that you before couldn't notice. The cream and vanilla in yogurt, intense flavor in an otherwise bland "dud" strawberry, the floral notes of an IPA.
•There is a lot of concerning research on artificial sweeteners like sucralose. You've heard the BS on cancer but the really scary thing is that it changes the bacteria in your gut to upregulate pathways that promote obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
•And yeah, maybe you don't mind the taste but lots of people seem to. If I haven't convinced you to give it a try by now, then sorry :(
As far as I can tell, Xylitol is just about perfect -- no aftertaste, and actually good for your teeth! (Erythritol is even less caloric and pretty good too.) Unfortunately, there aren't that many sodas, etc., that use it. Monk Fruit and Stevia are "natural" and super-sweet, but have a strong after-taste.
Touched on my point in the last sentence - lots of sweeters don't taste quite right. The point you make on xylitol is interesting, but still there are other benefits to the product that are unique 1)the flavor enhancing 2)the time saved by not stirring and the fact that it works on your taste buds rather than the food.
Everyone has their preferences, but your taste is malleable. A lot of people are used to eating lots of sugar so what you may find sweet is not enough for them. This is a healthy way to make those foods appealing to them. There's a really crazy statistic: while 63% of Americans say they try to eat healthy most or all of the time, 85% admit they give in to over half of their cravings for indulgent foods. Imagine what could happen to obesity if people could feed their temptations with healthy food by using miracle fruit.
> healthy way to make those foods appealing to them
I still don't get it though -- what are examples of "those foods" that are unappealing that you will make palatable?
I thought there was usually a big color and texture component to that stage as well though.
The tastebuds of children, turns out, are different than those of an adult. They have not only more sweet buds, they are larger too.
You are absolutely right on the last point. I talked to a taste therapist that works with picky eaters and those are very big factors.
When it comes down to it, is it a dependency or brand loyalty? Think of all the brands we are "dependent" on and how it is normalized to buy an iphone every few years or a pint of ice cream every week, for instance.
As a matter of fact, my competitor which is making GMO miraculin just raised $6.9M from Kraft 3 weeks ago. Me thinks there be potential here....
shoot me an email daniel.getman@miracle-nutrition.com
There are several studies showing that miracle fruit can actually improve blood glucose levels. Thus it could be more beneficial to diabetics than using any other sweetener that, as you said, may strain their condition even worse.
If you thought I was correct you should have written: "You are correct, tricking the mind often tricks insulin response also."
I wish you well with this endeavor; it will be a win-win for all involved if it tastes good and is healthy from a metabolic standpoint. But in my view it remains to be seen.
I have been making lemonade every day, but none of the artificial sweeteners taste good, so I have been using sugar. I'm curious how well this miracle berry would work if it was used to sweeten lemonade?
I'm also curious about the health risks?
Lemon juice is literally the ideal example. Check out all my demos starting at #2. You can eat the lemons straight up and they taste like the best lemonade you've ever had.
No health risks besides maybe consuming too much acid in one sitting (but seems like that is doctor's orders for you). Coca Cola ran a study in November 2019 and showed no long term side effects neither to your taste buds nor to your body.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S02786....
This seems like an ideal use case I never knew about.
FYI I'm doing a domain transfer so the website is currently down. I can email you when it is back up in the case you have not purchased yet.
Don't feel weird about asking that, not the first time I've read about it so I want to lean on yes????
Give it a try and email me your results! I'll Venmo you back if you're disappointed. Deal?
daniel.getman@miracle-nutrition.com
The Wordpress site with a fairly mediocre design and then the shop having the text "This is where you can add new products to your store." doesn't help either.