Subject: Re: Licorice Cured My Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in Two Hours!!!!

From: Camilla Cracchiolo <[email-masked]>
Date: 22 May 1996 23:26:01 -0700

Mark Gold <[email-masked]> wrote:
: Pix,

: Unfortunately, you heard inaccurate information.  Every few months, 
: it seems, someone posts nonsense about how licorice will kill you or 
: cause liver damage based on misreading the scientific literature.  Of 
: course, the Chinese would all be dead having ingested the stuff
: for thousands of years if it were true.

But Mark: we're not talking about using licorice in the traditional
Chinese fashion.  The Chinese use it in small amounts, in combination 
formulas and with close supervision.  Any Chinese herbalist will be
the first to tell you that one should not mess around with herbs
unsupervised.  In fact, they're a lot more authoritarian about it
that Western herbalists are.

If someone wants to use licorice *in the traditional way, under the 
supervision of a trained herbalist, either Western or Chinese*, I have
no objection.  I DO however, object to people running off to the local 
health food store and proceding to take several grams of the stuff a day, 
often in the very extract form you object to.  

This IS dangerous, and it's not based on any misreading of the scientific 
literature. It is, in fact, exactly what has caused the deaths and 
serious illnesses.  And contrary to what your report says below, there 
*are* cases of serious illness from the whole root and not just the 
extract.  You just have to eat a lot more of it is all.  I personally 
know a man who developed a serious although fortunately not fatal, 
cardiac arrthythmia from *whole licorice root*.  Seems he liked to make 
a strong tea because he really liked the taste, and drank several cups a 
day.  His doctors were stymied and he didn't get rid of it until he 
mentioned it in passing to one of his doctors.

--
   "The trick is to keep an open mind, without it being so open
                      that your brain falls out."

           Camilla Cracchiolo, RN   [email-masked]

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From: Mark Gold <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 01:50:49 -0401

>Date: Thu, 23 MAY 1996 01:01:19 GMT 
>From: PIX INTL <[email-masked]>
>Newgroups: misc.health.alternative, sci.bio.botany, alt.folklore.herbs,
>    triangle.gardens, alt.med.fibromyalgia, sci.med, sci.med.pharmacy,
>    sci.med.immunology
>Subject: Re: Licorice Cured My Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in Two Hours!!!! 
>
>I heard on the news a few months ago that doctors were trying to get
>licorice off the market because quite a few people have gotten sever
>liver damage and heart problems from ingesting it frequently.
>
>Too bad it can really hurt  ya!

Pix,

Unfortunately, you heard inaccurate information.  Every few months, 
it seems, someone posts nonsense about how licorice will kill you or 
cause liver damage based on misreading the scientific literature.  Of 
course, the Chinese would all be dead having ingested the stuff
for thousands of years if it were true.

To followup the abstract I posted earlier (to alt.med.cfs), I want
to quote from the conclusion of a study regarding the use of *whole
licorice root* as opposed to a *single chemical* extract (i.e., drug):

  "In conclusion, it is important to restate that this study clearly 
   indicates that the continuous consumption of licorice root extract in 
   daily use as food or for therapeutic purposes is safer than the use 
   of glycyrrhizin alone or when the latter is added to man-made 
   products (sweets, chewing gum, drinks, drugs, etc.)  From the results 
   of this paper, it is well demonstrated that [licorice root extract] 
   reduces the toxicity of [glycyrrhizin] probably due to component 
   interaction before and/or during intestinal absorption, providing an 
   increased measure of safety."

   Cantelli-Forti, et al., "Interaction of Licorice on Glycyrrhizin 
   Pharmacokinetics," Environmental Health Perspectives, Volume 102, 
   Supplement 9, page 65-68.

Therefore, abstracts which discuss the toxicity of the single chemical 
extract of licorice, glycyrrhizin, are not really relevant.  There 
are some studies which test whole licorice root extract on humans.  
Those are the studies which should be used for a discussion of the 
effects of licorice root.  Those studies show that a *high* dose of 
licorice root can produce mild, reversible adverse effects in some 
individuals.

There is certainly no evidence that ingesting reasonable amounts of 
licorice root, especially as it is traditionally consumed as part of 
an herbal formula, causes serious adverse effects.  There are some 
contraindications that are mentioned by some herbalists in regards to 
the use of licorice, but it is not, "Don't use it, you're going to 
die" nonsense based on studies of glycyrrhizin.

In his article on the safety of licorice root from "The Scientific 
Validation of Herbal Medicine," Dr. Daniel Mowrey concludes:

-----------

  1) There are some people in the population that are sensitive to 
     Licorice root extracts and derivatives.  These persons should avoid 
     overuse of true Licorice candy, laxatives containing large amounts of 
     Licorice extract, and antiulcer drugs that are nothing but 
     concentrated Licorice derivatives [all containing only glycyrrhizin].

  2) DGL (deglycyrrhizinated Licorice) has never cause toxic 
     symptoms, and would be an excellent product to use for treating 
     ulcers.

  3) Whole Licorice root has never caused toxicity.

  4) Millions of people all over the world consider Licorice root to 
     be one of the top two or three herbs found in nature; they use it 
     daily without any signs of toxicity.

  The bad press on Licorice is exactly that.  Inadequate familiarity 
  with the research coupled with a characteristic susceptibility to 
  scare tactics have led some writers, lecturers and other so-called 
  health experts to be overly cautious about a situation that really 
  needs very little caution at all.

  Finally, Licorice root should generally be combined with other 
  herbs whereby the effectiveness of all the herbs is enhanced.  This 
  principle has been known and practiced religiously and with great 
  precision by Chinese physicians for thousands of years.

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

Of course, abusive use of licorice or any food, herb, spice, drug, 
etc. should be discouraged.  I do agree that long-term use of *high*
doses of licorice root to treat CFS is not a good idea.  I hope this 
clears up the issue to some extent.

Best Wishes,
                             - Mark
                          [email-masked]
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