I know everyone's got their own unique weaknesses when it comes to weight loss, but mine has always been sugary beverages and the need for something sweet in the evenings. It ended up adding upwards of 500 calories to my diet. For me it was about something tasty to look forward to throughout the day while I worked. And so of course I had my noonish cup of coffee with cream and sugar + something sweet before bed.
After noticing the scale tick up though I figured I'd better find a strategic way to deal with this weakness of mine. I tried to replace these items with scented carbonated water and it helped a little, but not much. So I tried Drift drinks (carbonated water plus citric acid and a little fruit puree) and though they had a few calories (4-10) it didn't really satisfy the cravings either.
That's when I remember as a kid my dad used to grow these shrubs from the African Sahel that produced a small fruit that temporarily modified your taste buds to perceive sour and tart flavors as sweet instead. I'd use it as a party trick back in Highschool and college by giving the berry to friends then have them bite into a raw lemon (it would be deliciously sweet like lemonade.) The downside was back then the only place that I could get the berry was from my dad's 4 foot tall shrub, and it only produced a few hundred berries a year. I was so enamored with them that I did my undergraduate chemistry thesis on them.
Anyway, 20 years later a few places in Miami are producing the berry and freeze drying it for sale. I tried a few of them with Drifts, and I was gobsmacked by how effective the combination was. So for instance, one berry + a mango/orange drift of 8 calories tasted like Mango Lase. One Berry + raspberry limeade of 4 calories tasted like super sweet raspberry limeade. It was like drinking a soda minus the calories and sugar crash.
Now in the afternoon and evening I just sub out my calorically heavy treat for a 4 calorie or 8 calorie drink, and my craving for sweets is satisfied.
The only downside (or upside?) is that within 30-60 minutes or coating your taste buds with the berry it makes EVERYTHING with a tart or sour taste sweet. So for instance, ketchup, sour cream, plain yogurt, pickles, etc.
The other downside is that the berries are somewhat expensive. A drift + 1 berry will end up coming out to about $2, and if you are burning through 4 a day, it gets expensive (worth the weight loss for me, though.)
Anyway, if you want to try it out, they are for sale a few places. Just go to Amazon and Google Miracle Berries or Miracle Fruit (what I called them as a kid). The freeze dried ones work best.
And remember, the active protein needs to coat your taste buds to work, so you can't just swallow them (instead you swish them around in your mouth so they coat your whole mouth for about 30 seconds).
Anyway, just thought I'd share this interesting factoid. It's helped me with weight loss a lot and allowed me to cutout most of the added sugar in my diet.
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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/TDxVHn9
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