Do you love liquorice?
If you eat the candy in bulk, you risk dangerously high blood pressure values.
You can find out here how much you can eat without hesitation.
In September 2020, news made the rounds that should have amazed many people. American media reported that a 54-year-old collapsed in a fast-food restaurant and died shortly afterwards of cardiac arrest - due to a licorice overdose, according to the attending physicians. As
Spiegel.de
further reported, the construction worker had no heart problems, which initially puzzled doctors. But gradually it became clear what was most likely responsible for his death:
Before the time of his death, the construction worker had eaten at least one bag of liquorice every day for weeks.
This excessive consumption of liquorice caused the potassium level in the blood to drop enormously, according to the treating doctors.
As a result of this deficiency, the man suffered cardiac arrest.
But how much licorice can cause such fatal effects?
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Effect of licorice: An extract of the licorice root can develop these consequences
The special thing about liquorice is the substance that gives it sweetness.
It is an extract from the roots of the liquorice bush, which is responsible for the typical liquorice taste.
According to Bayerischer Rundfunk, liquorice contains around three percent of this substance.
Liquorice not only tastes 50 times sweeter than table sugar, it also contains glycyrrhicine, they say
.
In large quantities, this substance can trigger a number of negative effects in the body and lead to so-called licorice poisoning (technically licorice intoxication).
According to the Ärzteblatt, the following symptoms speak for licorice poisoning:
Dizzy spells
Potassium deficiency
Cardiac arrhythmias
weakness
muscular dystrophy
arterial hypertension
headache
Edema of the ankles or face
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Such complaints can occur when consuming a large amount of liquorice with a high glycyrrhizine content. As the Ärzteblatt quotes from the Federal Institute for Consumer Health Protection and Veterinary Medicine,
health problems must be expected when consuming 50 grams of heavy lard
. Products with a high glycyrrhine content must be labeled in Germany. “If the content is below 0.2 g / 100 g of the finished product, the product is called 'liquorice' (this includes children's liquorice). If the glycyrrhite content is more than 0.2 g / 100 g, the liquorice products must be labeled as 'Starklakritz', ”
br.de
quotes
the Federal Association of the Confectionery
Industry
.
According to Bayerischer Rundfunk, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment and the Scientific Food Committee of the European Commission recommend not eating more than 100 milligrams of glycyrrhicine per day.
That equates to less than 50 grams of strong liquorice or less than 100 grams of children's liquorice per day.
(jg)
