A 54-year-old man who died in the United States from eating too much licorice. Every day he ate a bag and a half of black licorice and this habit of his was fatal. The case was described on New England Journal of Medicine by doctors at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School in Boston. According to the researchers, the man was killed by an excess of acido glycerrizico contained in the root of licorice.
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Glycyrrhizic acid and the consequences of overdoing it
Numerous studies have shown that glycyrrhizic acid can cause hypertension, hypokalaemia (when potassium levels become dangerously low), metabolic alkalosis, fatal arrhythmias and kidney failure. All these symptoms were recorded in the patient’s medical record and added together they caused his death
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The clinical case
The man, a construction worker, felt ill in a fast food restaurant where he started shaking and then lost consciousness. Despite immediate hospitalization (undergoing artificial ventilation) and targeted therapy to raise potassium levels, he did not make it and died 32 hours after admission. When doctors listened to his family members, they found that the man had a rather poor diet and ate a packet or two of soft candy and little else every day. In recent weeks the man had gone from eating fruit candy to black licorice candy.
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Why consuming too much licorice is bad (especially for hypertensive people)
Consuming too much licorice root or licorice root flavored candies can be dangerous because glycyrrhizin lowers the body’s potassium levels. This, in turn, can lead to hypertension and alter the heart rhythm. Death from too much licorice is definitely an extreme case but you need to be careful. Moderate consumption of licorice is considered safe, however taking large quantities for over four weeks can be dangerous to health and lead to side effects such as high blood pressure, low potassium levels, headaches, weakness, sodium retention and in rare cases brain damage. Those suffering from low blood pressure can benefit from licorice as it increases blood pressure: therefore ideal especially in summer with great heat. For the same reason it should be consumed sparingly, and not suitable for people suffering from hypertension.
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September 26, 2020 (change September 26, 2020 | 12:38)
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