Did you know licorice can be this dangerous?
An hour of driving and a bag of Sneeker Zoethoudertjes has (unnoticed) disappeared, while an evening binge-watching series leaves the cone-shaped bag of salmiak empty. Are you a licorice lover too? This British doctor warns about the dangers of eating a lot of licorice—and take note: according to him, ten pieces of licorice are already too many.
The doctor has no problem with the occasional piece of licorice. But if you give in heavily to your licorice addiction for a while, as happened to us with the insanely delicious coffee licorice from Klepper & Klepper, that is less of a good idea.
Too much licorice: unhealthy!
If you eat a lot of licorice every day for fourteen days, it can be dangerous, says Dr. Daniel Atkinson of Treated.com, a British health website. ‘Suppose you eat at least 50 grams of licorice every day for two weeks, then you can damage your health,’ he warns.
Dangerous: licorice root in the candy
The danger lies in glycyrrhizin, a substance from licorice root extract that is used in many licorice candies. As a result, the potassium level in your blood drops, while the sodium level rises. You have to eat quite a lot of licorice before you notice that effect, but it can have serious consequences. ‘Potassium plays an important role in our body,’ says the doctor. ‘It ensures that nerve impulses are conducted properly and that muscles contract. It also plays a role in the body’s fluid balance. Severely low potassium is called hypokalemia, and the consequences include palpitations, an irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure and impaired muscle function.’
Eight to ten pieces of licorice
Brrr, scary stuff. According to Dr. Daniel, you can only experience these problems if you eat far too much licorice for a while. So what is too much, according to the doctor? ‘Fifty grams may sound like a lot of candy, but it really isn’t. Especially if you’re a licorice lover, you’ll reach that amount in no time. Eight to ten small pieces of licorice already weigh forty to fifty grams.’ If you eat more than that amount and keep it up for a while, it becomes dangerous. This was demonstrated by the story of the American man who ate a bag of licorice sticks every day and suddenly died—because of the licorice.
Eat a banana
What can you do? In theory, you could raise that low potassium level by eating foods that contain a lot of potassium, such as bananas, coconut water, orange juice or a sports drink with extra potassium. But it’s better simply to take it easy on the licorice and eat some other candy from time to time.
Also read:
- 8 of the most unhealthy chip flavors in the world
- Are wooden spatulas bad for you?
- Chefs share the dumbest kitchen mistakes, number 2
Source: Eat This, Not That
