A US man’s deep love for liquorice absolutely ruined his blood pressure and nutrient levels, and caused his heart to completely give out. Boy, do you hate to see that.
As reported by AP, the unnamed Massachusetts man passed away last year after collapsing in a fast-food restaurant, with doctors finding he had extremely low levels of potassium. It was also found that the bloke loved to snack on a bag and a half (!!!) of black liquorice every day, which shot his blood pressure through the roof.
The man’s huge nutrient imbalance was all thanks to the glycyrrhizic acid found in liquorice and other liquorice root products, which apparently has the ability to fuck up your vital nutrient levels and deprive you of essential things like electrolytes and blood potassium (which can affect the function of your nerves).
Though he was scoffing down a metric fuckload of black liquorice every single day, the man reportedly had only switched over from red liquorice – which doesn’t contain liquorice root – a few weeks before his death. So it’s very much the excessive amounts of black liquorice in particular that led to his demise, which has been noted as a very extreme case of glycyrrhizic acid massively ruining his insides.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has previously warned that even a small amount of liquorice or anything containing liquorice root extract can potentially cause heart rhythm problems, among other issues. It warns that as little as 50 grams of liquorice every day for two weeks can do some serious damage.
“Black licorice contains the compound glycyrrhizin, which is the sweetening compound derived from licorice root,” the FDA’s statement said.
“Glycyrrhizin can cause potassium levels in the body to fall. When that happens, some people experience abnormal heart rhythms, as well as high blood pressure, edema (swelling), lethargy, and congestive heart failure.”
This extreme case has led doctors to report to the FDA, to raise attention to the risks associated with black liquorice and liquorice root.
So if you’re partial to the black jelly beans left at the bottom of the bag, or you know someone who is – not naming names but there’s a certain person here at Pedestrian who loves to hoof down the odd bag of Dutch liquorice – maybe let them know to not go full turbo on those tongue-tingling lollies.
