Anyone know about licorice?

[beccainnyc]

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/315...

[johntPM]

Licorice is a CYP3A4 inhibitor. Inhibiting this enzyme has the effect of slowing the metabolism of levodopa, which means that you get more out of each dose. That is good. BUT in the same way it gets more out of other drugs as well. This can lead to overdoses of other medication (e.g.statins) in your regimen. Discuss this with your doctor.

[chartist]

beccainnyc,

One possible drawback to licorice is that in some people it can bring on or exacerbate hypertension with longer term use and in some cases with short term use.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/286...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/294...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/263...

In some cases it may be possible to work around this obstacle with your doctor, but in some people, licorice should be avoided. In any case, licorice has clearly shown benefit in many health issues, but the hypertension issue has to be considered also in the bigger picture.

Art

[park_bear in reply to chartist]

I discussed safe levels in my "Very Promising" comment below.

[beccainnyc in reply to park_bear]

..so what's the dosage, 5mg in the study, 100 recommended, 400 can cause issues... is there a capsule you cab recommended?

[park_bear in reply to beccainnyc]

The dosage is not 5 mg. The dosage in the study was 5 mL of syrup containing 136 mg of licorice extract, which in turn contained 12.14 mg of glycyrrhizic acid (GZA). This was taken twice daily.

The safe daily limit of GZA is 100 mg. The available licorice extract from Bulk Supplements is 22% GZA. So if you were to take 136 mg of this licorice extract twice daily you would be getting about 60 mg GZA daily. I would regard this as the maximum dosage. To be conservative you would want to take half that amount.

There is no capsule I would recommend. If you are going to try this you will have to get a sensitive scale that reads milligrams and a blood pressure cuff to make sure this is not raising your blood pressure..

If you find the foregoing is too complicated please consult your doctor on this matter. Also, I am not a doctor and this should not be regarded as medical advice - try this at your own risk.

[docjleonard55 in reply to park_bear]

I take DGL (licorice with the glycyrrhizin removed). Not only is it an MAOb inhibitor, it helped me get off Omeprazole which I was taking for GERD, as it coats the stomach. DGL should have less than 2% glycyrrhizin, and will not affect the BP.

[park_bear in reply to docjleonard55]

Indeed DGL avoids this potential toxicity problem. The study that showed improvement used extract with the glycyrrhizin included, so it is unclear whether or not this was responsible for the demonstrated improvement.

[beccainnyc in reply to docjleonard55]

Which one do you take, can you give ne the link .please

[docjleonard55 in reply to beccainnyc]

Here is the link

amazon.com/Natures-Plus-Act...

[beccainnyc in reply to docjleonard55]

Link doesn't work

[docjleonard55 in reply to beccainnyc]

Just google Natures Plus Actives Licorice (DGL) or search for it on Amazon.

[park_bear]

Very Promising

From the fulltext, which is behind a pay wall:

"Drug and placebo preparation The patients received oral licorice or placebo syrups with a dose of 5 cc, twice a day for 6 months...Each 5cc of syrup contained 136 mg of polyphenol-rich extract of licorice with 12.14 mg of glycyrrhizic acid...

Results

The total UPDRS score was significantly different in the licorice and the placebo groups at the end of the trial (p≤0.001, statistical power=0.9). The total UPDRS score was improved in the licorice group, on the contrary with the placebo group. [after 18 weeks, 16 for the test group versus 27 for the placebo group] The motor test scores were significantly lower in the licorice group in comparison with the placebo group in the 3rd [18 weeks], and 4th visit sessions (p < 0.05). ...

3.2.2. Efficacy of licorice syrup on tremor ... comparison of the scores between the licorice and placebo groups demonstrated that the tremor scores were lower in the treatment group compared to the placebo group at the 2nd [12weeks], 3rd, and 4th visits sessions (p < 0.05).... the score for rigidity in the licorice group was significantly lower at the 4th [6 months] visit session in comparison with the placebo group (p < 0.05). ..., but at least 4 months of intake is required in order to observe a significant effect, and also the licorice has to be taken constantly. ----

3.2.5. Tolerability, health status, quality of life and other observed effects Three participants [ of 20] of the licorice group left the trial because of the adverse effects of nausea, diarrhea or urticaria... No electrolyte abnormality was reported for this study participants. In addition, orthostatic hypotension was reported in no patients of two groups. No significant changes were observed in blood pressure or blood glucose levels of the patients during this study."

Safety

nccih.nih.gov/health/licori...

"Excessive consumption of liquorice (more than 2 mg/kg/day of pure glycyrrhizinic acid, a liquorice component) may result in adverse effects,[6] such as hypokalemia, increased blood pressure, and muscle weakness.[7]"

Note that this amounts to about 100 mg per day glycyrrhizinic acid, which four times the level used in the study.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquo...

"It is difficult to determine a safe level, due to many varying factors from person to person. In the most sensitive individuals, daily intake of about 100 mg GZA [glycyrrhizinic acid] can cause problems.[39] ... However, in most people, they can consume up to 400 mg before experiencing symptoms "

Also 100 mg per day glycyrrhizinic acid limit.

--------------------------------

Availability

amazon.com/Bulksupplements-...

"Hello, this product is standardized to carry 22% Glycyrrhizin.

By BulkSupplements Seller on July 9, 2017"

This is about twice the concentration of the preparation used in the study. So one could reduce the amount accordingly to get the same amount of Glycyrrhizin, or use the same amount as in the study, 136 mg, and get a similar quantity of the cofactors and twice the Glycyrrhizin.

Note that 100 mg is a small pinch of powder. To measure such amounts accurately you will need a scale accurate for measuring out small quantities. These are readily available from Amazon.

Also, if you decide to embark upon this, it would not hurt to keep track of your blood pressure with a blood pressure cuff, and have your potassium levels checked during routine blood work.

[bassofspades]

Licorice root is an mao b inhibitor, well certain types

[chartist in reply to bassofspades]

' Licorice root is an mao b inhibitor, well certain types'.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

This means that licorice root can potentially inhibit an enzyme in the brain that breaks down levodopa.

Art

[jayb12]

Thanks for posting

I like licorice. It does seem to help me, certainly not make me worse like some foods specially sweet foods. Mainstream doctors are never gonna tell you this they don't do research. We never get the truth from phrmagedon. Money care publicly traded greedy. But we donate to cures never found. Time for us to stand.

[Farooqji]

Journal of Ethnopharmacology

Volume 247, 30 January 2020, 112226

Efficacy of oral administration of licorice as an adjunct therapy on improving the symptoms of patients with Parkinson's disease, A randomized double blinded clinical trial

drive.google.com/file/d/1JI...

[Farooqji]

Extract from the full text

"According to the obtained results, it can be concluded that admin-

istration of the polyphenol-rich extract of licorice at the given dose, can

improve total UPDRS scores as an adjunct therapy for PD patients, and

also improve daily activities and tremor (after two months) along with

motor test and rigidity scores (after 4 months). The statistical power at

the end of the study was 0.9 for total UPDRS (the primary outcome of

this study), despite of the small sample size, which is quite acceptable

for a clinical trial. Except for mentation, the power of secondary out-

comes had a range between 0.5 and 0.8. Since the study may suffer

from small sample size (for secondary outcomes), the Cohen's d effect

size was calculated for the observed effects. The Cohen's d value is in-

dependent from the sample size, and from the confidence interval, but

it can reflect the importance of the observed effect in the clinic. The

Cohen's d values for most of the scores were equal or higher than 0.8 at

the end of the trial, which means that licorice intake had a big effect on

improving the symptom in PD patients in comparison with the placebo

group. No serious adverse event (SAE) were observed with the given

dose. In this trial no patient had an electrolyte imbalance, hemody-

namic instability or blood pressure instability following licorice intake.

But, the trial was conducted only for six months and longer period of

licorice intake may give different results including improving the

symptoms or raising adverse effects. More clinical trials with a bigger

sample size and longer duration for assessing the effects on PD symp-

toms would give more knowledge on licorice beneficial or its side ef-

fects."

[Farooqji]

But I fear that the results of this study may turn out to be the replica of Celery Seed extract trial. The study results looked promising but when tested by the forum members, it proved to be acting as catalyst in deterioration of dystonia

[park_bear in reply to Farooqji]

Which forum reported this? Link please! I have got some on order and do not want to end up with the same problem.

[Farooqji in reply to park_bear]

None reported about licorice, I was referring to the results of celery seed extract. The experiences of forum members were different from what were published in the study report. I fear that the same can happen in the case of licorice as well.

[park_bear in reply to Farooqji]

Adverse effects are definitely a concern, and not limited just to dystonia. That said, the dropout rate in this licorice extract study was much lower than the celery seed extract study. We shall see.

[Farooqji]

BTW why such studies reports are sold by the researchers? They should distribute it freely to promote further research

[park_bear in reply to Farooqji]

It is the journal publishers that are making obscene profits from science publishing. The researchers have to pay to publish. The publishers are raking in from both ends. The Public Library Of Science, PLoS, is an attempt to change this.

[park_bear]

My licorice root extract arrived. Not really a surprise that it tastes like - licorice

The powder is pretty strong taken straight, but mixed into a drink is quite pleasant.

[Oldearkie_83]

I understand that it is a natural carcinogen, but then so is sassafras----. Both taste good and I'm not stopping either one.