Miracle fruit may help cancer patients overcome chemo side effect

A small, red “miracle fruit” is gaining attention for its ability to make lemons taste like lemonade — and for helping some cancer patients cope with an unpleasant side effect of treatment.For many chemotherapy patients, “chemo mouth” can make food taste metallic, bland, or spoiled — leading to weight loss, poor nutrition, and reduced motivation to eat.But a small red berry scientifically known as Synsepalum dulcificum — commonly called “miracle fruit” — is drawing attention for helping patients better tolerate food and, in turn, reclaim a sense of normalcy.“A lot of side effects from cancer treatments are underreported,” Dr.Mike Cusnir, a board-certified medical oncologist and co-director of gastrointestinal malignancies at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Florida, told Fox News Digital.He noted that taste changes can become more than a minor inconvenience over time.“The alteration in taste will end up giving the patient the sensation that everything is absolutely bland,” Cusnir said. “And we may think that that’s negligible, that it’s not that important — but with time it becomes bothersome to the point where the patient doesn’t eat, then there’s weight loss.”The experience varies widely from person to person, but the impact can be significant.

In some cases, poor nutrition and weight loss may complicate ongoing treatment, he added.In his research, he found that common workarounds such as using plastic utensils, adjusting food temperature, or adding spices offered little relief for chemo mouth.Cusnir remembers the first time he encountered miracle fruit — a West African berry that looks like a cranberry and contains miraculin, which temporarily alters taste perception.A patient brought it to his office and told him to try it with a lemon.“I’m like, ‘That’s going to be tangy,'” Cusnir recalled.“He’s like, ‘OK, try it.’ So I tried it.

It was tangy.Then he said, ‘Now, try the fruit a...