Berlin
Whether in stick or snail form: liquorice lovers swear by the black candy. Now a study from Denmark makes you sit up and take notice.
At licorice the spirits separate. While some can’t get enough of “bear dirt” (as liquorice is called in southern Germany), others can’t get enough of the product from the Asian licorice bush.
In Germany, liquorice is not particularly popular compared to other countries. just about 200 grams the German eats on average per year. In the liquorice stronghold of the Netherlands, on the other hand, it is two kilograms. The candy is also extremely popular in Iceland and the Scandinavian countries.
An acid contained in liquorice worries scientists
Perhaps it is therefore no wonder that a current study on the mode of action of the substances contained in liquorice glycyrrhizinic acid comes from Denmark. This is a sweet-tasting glycoside, a chemical compound of alcohol and sugar found in the root of the licorice plant. In a study published in January in the journal Food Control, scientists from the Danish Food Safety Authority and the Food Institute at the Technical University of Denmark conclude that too much glycyrrhizic acid can be harmful to health.
“We were surprised that with many products you don’t have to eat more than four to five grams of liquorice to get enough glycyrrhizic acid to exceed the EU limit of 100 milligrams per day,” says Nicolai Zederkopff Ballin, chemist at the Danish Food Authority.
American died from eating too much liquorice
But what exactly happens when you eat too much liquorice? For people with a tendency to high blood pressure, the consumption of liquorice can be fatal in exceptional cases, as the example of a 54-year-old man from the US state of Massachusetts shows. According to the AP news agency, he ate one and a half bags of liquorice every day for several weeks. Due to the potassium deficiency caused by the liquorice, the man developed cardiac arrhythmia, from which he finally died in September 2020.
However, the case of the American is extreme. However, according to the Danish study, the fact is that too much liquorice increases blood pressure and can also lead to hypokalemia, i.e. severe potassium deficiency. The Danish scientists warn that patients with high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes should therefore be careful when consuming liquorice. Liquorice is also only suitable for pregnant women in small quantities. The researchers also complain that the EU limit of 100 milligrams is too high. They claim that it should be reduced to 10 to 15 milligrams.
Liquorice lovers who enjoy their candy in moderation need not worry too much, though. In China, medicine has been made from the root for thousands of years. The ancient Egyptians also used the root juice as a remedy for coughs, hoarseness and asthma, among other things. The liquorice ingredient glycyrrhizin also has a slight antibacterial and antiviral effect.
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