Miracle Fruit
and Chemotherapy
From September 1994 to January 1995 I have
undergone extensive chemotherapy to destroy a fast growing
lympphoblastic lymphoma. I am thrilled to report that the treatment has
been very successfull and I am expected to make a full and complete
recovery.
After each chemotherapy treatment, for a period of
about two weeks, my taste buds were way off when trying to eat
food.
Foods that were a treat to eat just days before the chemo tasted bland,
with a foreign, disagreeable flavor. My favorite, pizza, for example,
tasted terrible and rubbery.
During my initial three-week
hospital stay, I commented on how awful the hospital food was, but now
in hindsight, it was the six chemotherapy chemicals inside me causing
the taste problem. Enter ''Miracle Fruit" (llove that name) - Synsepalum dulcificum.
Most rare fruit collectors are familiar with this small red fruit.
Taste one for about a minute, and sour fruits, such as lime, will then
taste sweet! This super sweetener has great potential as a sugar
substitute, but I am writing this article to personally report to all
readers of TFNews that this fruit could have therapeutic value for some
or possible all chemotherapy patients in restoring partial taste bud
awareness, while also giving the mouth a much more pleasant flavor for
several hours.
Instead of a metallic, chemical mouth taste
which, for me, lingered for the entire two week period after my
chemotherapy, 1 could chew a miracle fruit about every three hours, and
enjoy a much improved taste. Before tasting a miracle fruit,
regular Pepsi tasted like a worst diet cola I'd ever had. After a
miracle fruit, all the sweetness and some of the flavor had been
restored. Home cooking tasted good, once again. Not exactly
the
same, but a different, pleasant change. One fruit could go a long way.
One
of the contributors of my miracle fruit, dentist Mark Karaver, said a
small piece of the miracle fruit would have the same effect as a whole
fruit! I tried this and it was correct. A little piece lasted as long
as eating the entire fruit. A patient could get three or four
"eating's"out of one fruit.
In a refrigerator, miracle fruit
only stay eatable for several days, so a fresh supply from growers is
very desirable; or a patient should try to obtain a fruiting tree so
that a family member could harvest the fruit as needed, for maximum
freshness. Surely we all could think of a family member, friend,
neighbor or acquaintance who has cancer of some sort and is undergoing
chemotherapy. Giving them some miracle fruit to try, after advising
their doctors, could give them some needed relief at a very difficult
time.
Certainly, further scientific tests are needed to
confirm the effects that I am reporting to you. There are many
different kinds and doses of chemotherapy, which of course could change
the results of eating a piece of miracle fruit -- check with patient's
doctor to see if fruits or sweeteners are being cut back or restricted.
I
am simply reporting that miracle fruit worked for me. Perhaps there are
a few or maybe countless others that could get some aid by trying this
remarkable fruit.
A recent article in the newsletter of the Palm
Beach Rare Fruit Council reportedly said the taking of miracle fruit
could relieve nausea in cancer patients. I only had nausea twice during
my hospital stay and I cannot confirm or deny that claim. I started
taking miracle fruit only after I arrived hove from the hospital. So
there you have it. A new potential use for the sugar sweetener/taste
twister.
I would like to thank some of the miracle fruit
contributors, namely Bill Whitman, Vivian and Bob Murray, and Mark
Kraver from Florida, and David Silber from faraway California.
Countless others offered fruit and I extend my sincere thanks to all.
Thank you, guys: they really helped! I would love to hear any comments
or feedback on this article. Please write the Tropical Fruit News
editors so we all my be educated with the response. Thanks!
As Ed says, please let us know if you have had experience with Synsepalum dulcifium
and relief of adverse effects from medications. We, and the research
community, need to know if miracle fruit can help patients who suffer
taste or nausea problems. (Yes, powerful anti-nausea drugs are
frequently given but they have their own side effects. In patients
where chemotherapy and the resultant effects has caused nutritional
problems could miracle fruit be of significant benefit?) If any reader
is undergoing medical therapy that has caused unpleasant taste changes
or nausea, speak with your doctor before trying miracle fruit. It is
time for the research establishment to conduct the necessary tests and
trails on S. dulcifium,
the
University of Miami Medical School Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami
would be a good starting place as would several others.
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