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 f
you recall, a while back we reported on a study that showed
licorice
lowered testosterone levels. Well, here's another bit of
bad news for licorice lovers.
In a study
by researchers in Iceland, it was found that eating even small
amounts of licorice each day causes a noticeable increase in
blood pressure.
The study
was triggered by three women who turned up at a doctor's with
very high blood pressure. "It turned out they were all eating
massive amounts of licorice," said Dr. Helga Sigurjonsdottir,
a doctor and researcher at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in
Gothenburg Sweden.
When the
women stopped eating licorice, their blood pressure dropped.
Licorice contains a chemical, glycyrrhetinic acid, that affects
the hormones which help regulate blood pressure. It has been
known that eating large amounts of licorice leads to a significant
increase in blood pressure. What was not known was whether eating
small amounts of this sweet treat had any effect.
A study
was done of 64 people who volunteered to eat specific amounts
of licorice each day for two to four weeks. The volunteers were
divided into three groups, each of which were given different
amounts of licorice to eat, ranging from 50g a day (about the
size of a few jellybeans) to 200g.
At the end
of two weeks, it was found people in all three groups had higher
blood pressure. Those who ate 50g of licorice a day had an average
increase of 3.5mmHg, while those who ate 200g per day had an
average increase of 14 mmHg.
According
to this study, licorice has a more profound effect on increasing
blood pressure than ephedrine.
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