How Does Licorice Work

Though it is usually famous for its use in candies, drinks and foodstuffs, licorice is also famous as a natural antidepressant for the treatment of several medical diseases. It must be kept in mind that a lot of “licorice” candies and other products possess little or no licorice root, but actually they possess a nice flavoring (which tastes similar to licorice), but they do not possess the benefits and l-tryptophan for depression and anxiety treatment which licorice presents.

Licorice Information

Licorice has a lot of effects on the human body; a few of them are advantages and others are disadvantages. Most commonly, the licorice side effects are due to glycyrrhizin. Licorice side effects include elevated blood pressure and low blood potassium.

The advantageous effects of Licorice and gotu kola supplements are that it is very effective in treating ulcers or other related diseases, such as heartburn or indigestion. It does so by preventing the breakdown of prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are substances that are very helpful in guarding the stomach. This consequence does not appear to be associated to the glycyrrhizin component.

Licorice Effects

Licorice may also influence various hormones and their receptors. It can show estrogen-like characteristics in some conditions and anti-estrogen characteristics in other conditions. Licorice Information suggests that it also suppresses testosterone production in men. Licorice information also tells that it possesses flavonoids, which can show a lot of useful effects, such as decreasing cholesterol. The ingredients presents in Licorice MDMA are believed to decrease edema; thin mucus secretions reduce cough and elevate the chemicals in our body that cure ulcers.

The two key components of Licorice Ecstasy are glycyrrhizin and flavonoids. According to the recent studies, glycyrrhizin has the property of working against inflammation. Glycyrrhizin can also reduce the breakdown of the cortisol synthesized in the human body. Licorice can also show antiviral activities, though this has not been confirmed in the regular pharmacological researches. Licorice flavonoids, along with the chalcones, assist in repair of the gastrointestinal tract cells. They are also excellent antioxidants and protect the liver cell from the free radical attack.

Previous research has proven the fact that flavonoids are very effective in killing Helicobacter pylori, the bacteria which is the causative agent of majority of ulcers and stomach tenderness. Nevertheless, it is still doubtful if this action is only true for the oral licorice for the cure of ulcers in patients or not.

An extract of Licorice, known as liquiritin, has been widely implied as a natural antidepressant and for the cure of melasma, which is a skin disorder. In a preliminary experiment, topical usage of licorice cream twice a day for 28 days led to a 70% improvement in comparison to just 20% improvement in the placebo group.

Another form of Licorice is deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL) which is a really effective form of Licorice.  One preliminary experiment has proved that human DGL used as a mouthwash was successful in speeding up the healing of cancer sores. Overall, Licorice benefits are widely discussed in research and Licorice side effects are very rarely reported in literature.