Liquorice can kill!

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-54269144

A few months on a bag of liquorice a day and he died.

A construction worker in the US state of Massachusetts was killed by his liquorice habit, doctors say.

The man, who has not been named but was 54 years old, ate about one-and-a-half bags of black liquorice every day.

He had suffered no symptoms before suddenly going into cardiac arrest in a fast food restaurant.

Describing the man's case in the New England Journal of Medicine, his doctors said the glycyrrhizic acid in liquorice was to blame.

"We are told that this patient has a poor diet and eats a lot of candy. Could his illness be related to candy consumption?" Dr Elazer R Edelman said.

He said studies had shown glycyrrhizic acid - the active ingredient in liquorice - could cause "hypertension, hypokalemia, metabolic alkalosis, fatal arrhythmias, and renal failure" - all of which were seen in this patient.

Hypokalemia is when a person's potassium levels in their blood become dangerously low.
*

Another thing to worry about!

[Anordinarymum]

But isn't this true about anything taken in excess ? I mean I love liquorice. It's my favourite sweet , but I only eat it as a treat. If I ate it every day like that it would be a bit nuts :(

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Yes, even water can kill in excess. You can probably kill yourself by breathing too hard, for all I know.

[BewareTheBeardedDragon]

Let's be fair - that is a very unusual liquorice habit to say the least. The WHO have listed processed meats as a class 1 carcinogen. This is probably more worrying and relevant to most normal people.
But thanks for sharing - I now know I am right to eschew liquorice for life, and not only because I find it revolting

[TheSpottedZebra]

And that is why foods containing liquorice have to contain a liquorice warning.

[Kinneddar]

So pretty misleading thread title there 🙄

[pinkbalconyrailing]

I love licorice. proper scandinavian salmiak stuff.
there is a warning on the pack as it's not suitable for people with high blood pressure, pregant women and people on certain medicines.

[sqirrelfriends]

@pinkbalconyrailing

I love licorice. proper scandinavian salmiak stuff.
there is a warning on the pack as it's not suitable for people with high blood pressure, pregant women and people on certain medicines.

Oh it's lush! The saltier the better.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

What's misleading about it, @Kinneddar? This guy appears to have died from eating a ludicrously large amount of liquorice every day. Pinkbalconyrailing confirms there's a health warning on her preferred killer drug Scandi candy.

[Witchend]

Could his illness be related to candy consumption?" Dr Elazer R Edelman said.

Notice the "could" not "it is". Very different.

[DifficultPifcultLemonDifficult]

It should be banned, there is no need for a world with liquorice in it at all, but I thought that before this poor chap died too.

I had no idea it was dangerous though.

[lazylinguist]

Another thing to worry about!

Not unless you have a ridiculously excessive liquorice habit. How many people do you think actually need to worry about this?! Liquorice is revolting anyway.

[Anordinarymum]

@DifficultPifcultLemonDifficult

It should be banned, there is no need for a world with liquorice in it at all, but I thought that before this poor chap died too.

I had no idea it was dangerous though.

How very dare you.

guards The Liqourice

[TW2013]

You can probably kill yourself by breathing too hard

Well oxygen is a carcinogen hence the hype around antioxidants. Harder to avoid than liquorice.

[YetAnotherSpartacus]

I need to review my licorice habit. I thought it was the wine that would get me.

[rorosemary]

I'm dutch and eat licorice every day. It's well known to cause high blood pressure, if anything that's an extra reason for me to eat it (I have low blood pressure). A few sweets is fine. He ate a ridiculous amount.

[KrakowDawn]

It's widely known that liquorice raises the blood pressure. I'm pretty sure boxes of liquorice tea have a warning not to exceed a certain number of cups a day.

[growinggreyer]

Now you have reminded me that I have a longing for a liquorice pipe. I don't know that they make them any more (just in case children might take up pipe smoking, I suppose.) I'm off to Amazon to have a look-see.

[Bert2e]

Ooo Scandi salt liquorice - not had it for years but love it!

[Buttons4491]

"Another thing to worry about!" rolles eyes you're one of them! Dramatizes everything...

[AriettyHomily]

He must have been on the toilet the whole time he wasn't eating it.

[slipperywhensparticus]

Sadly yes I had to stop eating it when I was getting arrhythmia (from graves disease not licorice)

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

I knew I should have put 'light-hearted' in the title or the OP.

[sweetheartyparty]

I once ate a whole bag and had the runs and made me feel very faint. I haven't touched the stuff since. Its horrible stuff anyway and I wasn't really enjoying it anyway when it almost struck me down

[Bloodybridget]

I love liquorice, not the hard kind or the salty kind, just the nice old-fashioned stuff. Anyone else remember when sweet shops used to have a big selection, pipes, Catherine wheels, bootlaces . . ? Pontefract cakes are delish too, I could od on them.

[CherryPavlova]

@BewareTheBeardedDragon

Let's be fair - that is a very unusual liquorice habit to say the least. The WHO have listed processed meats as a class 1 carcinogen. This is probably more worrying and relevant to most normal people.
But thanks for sharing - I now know I am right to eschew liquorice for life, and not only because I find it revolting

Apart from not liking liquorice, (which is created by Norse Gods) it is spot on. People fretting about the odd sweet whilst consuming sausages and burgers and guzzling wine is a more worrying. Processed meats are a real health issue that rarely gets a mention.