In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript. Liquorice-lovers beware: the active ingredient in granny's favourite gums may raise your blood pressure. Even a few chews a day can increase blood-pressure levels, research from Iceland now shows.
It has been known for some time that liquorice raises blood pressure. But researchers believed that "liquorice consumption has to be almost heroic to have an effect", according to Helga Sigurjonsdottir and her colleagues of Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Goteborg, Sweden.
Not so: just a handful of sweets a day can bring about a change, the group has shown. Munching a mere 50g of liquorice daily for 2 to 4 weeks - approximately a small tube of liquorice sweets - caused a significant rise 1. Complex genetic and lifestyle factors play a part too, so weight loss, increased exercise, good diet and reduced salt are key steps to cutting risk. Though on the list, liquorice's role is not always looked into. Besides sweets, liquorice is added in varying quantities to chewing tobacco, gum, teas, infusions and oils.
As any greedy school kid knows, "as soon as you eat too much, it's not good for you," says Daniel Henke of UK liquorice confectionery manufacturer Haribo. A long-standing staple of Chinese medicine, raw liquorice is extracted from the plant Glycyrrhiza glabra. Find out how much is too much. Learn more about vaccine availability. Advertising Policy. You have successfully subscribed to our newsletter.
Related Articles. Get Fit After 5 Tips for Men. Trending Topics. She says people's different sensitivities to liquorice make it hard to come up with safe ingestion levels that would apply across the board.
The impact that liquorice has on blood pressure levels normally lasts for weeks. Thursday's papers: Climate strike, avalanche risk and liquorice pipes THL: Expectant mothers should avoid liquorice, salmiakki Advertising watchdog: "Panther" liquorice ad not racist 7. Without this enzyme present to break down cortisol, cortisol successfully signals to the kidneys to get rid of potassium. Because cortisol is outside of the normal potassium feedback loop, the cortisol continues to tell the kidneys to get rid of potassium even after body potassium levels have dropped dangerously low.
Eating licorice therefore leads to lowered potassium levels. Potassium is an element that becomes a strongly positively-charged ion when in a dry salt or dissolved in water. The human body takes advantage of this property by using potassium to regulate fluid balance and to pass electrical signals along neurons. Low potassium levels therefore lead to fluid inbalance and interruption of nerve transmission.
The end results of licorice overdose are high blood pressure, muscle cramping, muscle pain, muscle weakness, heart arrhythmias, constipation, impaired breathing, and even paralysis and heart failure. If caught in time, taking potassium supplements and avoiding licorice can quickly return the body to healthy functioning. The licorice discussed here is true, unmodified licorice from the licorice plant, which contains glycyrrhizinic acid.
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