The dangers of licorice

drifting —

“… CDC’s [sodium] RDA is 2300mg … ”

If you are not hypertensive, salt is no big deal.

Low Sodium Debunked

— end drift.

[hypotensive  —> hypertensive]

low sodium is easy if you make your own food

I think low sodium is important for some people.  Other people not a big deal.  It’s easier to just tell everyone to have low sodium.

I keep meaning to do an experiment.  Try low sodium, high sodium, potassium/sodium mix, record blood pressure, see if there’s any correlation.

“Tom K: 350mg sodium is 10% of the average American’s daily sodium intake.  CDC’s RDA is 2300mg and I’m pretty sure that is for a 2000 kcal daily food intake.  Folks needing fewer calories for stable weight should scale down that RDA.”

Agreed.  I wasn’t recommending that as the optimal approach.  As I said, fruits and veggies should do the trick under normal conditions.  The only place it really makes sense to me is when one is exercising strenuously, especially in hot climates.  A lot of sodium can be lost under those conditions, and replacement becomes critical to avoid potential hyponatremia.

I’m no expert at all but just stick to my simple idea that too much is too much.

So :

Any herbal tea that won’t kill you at the rate I drink?

How about if instead of having 7 cups of the same stuff you go for some variety ?

^^^^ can’t argue with that.

Looking at herbal teas so many of them have licorice in them. I like a warm cup of something … for now I am cutting back period but switching between chamomile and mint and ginger.

OK I have a dumb question: why not drink black or green tea?

Tea leaves you know…….people have been drinking that stuff for centuries and still do without too many apparent ill effects.

Am I missing something?

I didn’t want that much caffeine . Now that I am dropping down to 3 cups a day I guess the caffeine would not be too much. You certainly have a point there. I do not like the taste of green tea at all…but Earl Grey is a treat :)

How about if instead of having 7 cups of the same stuff you go for some variety ?

Nobody thinks it’s weird if I have seven cups of coffee in a day or seven beers. I assume people who will drink herbal tea feel the same way about their beverages of choice.

Also….it was somewhere between 4 and 7 cups a day. Happens fast when you drink a couple in the morning and go from there…

“I didn’t want that much caffeine . Now that I am dropping down to 3 cups a day I guess the caffeine would not be too much. You certainly have a point there. I do not like the taste of green tea at all…but Earl Grey is a treat :)”

Understand you want to cut back on caffeine. I have a completely different situation..I love the taste of coffee but my body revolts :(. So I drink tea which my body seems to tolerate well.

What I’ve taken to doing is to drop a tea bag in a tall glass beer mug and fill it full with water (warm or cold depending on what I’m feeling like). I don’t let it steep too long (especially in warm water). I can sip a couple of those during the course of a day. How many cups is that? I dunno….But it’s pretty weak for tea but has a nice (to me) flavor. Sometimes I’ll add a twist of lemon for something different.

As with many things….the dose makes the poison.

Nobody thinks it’s weird if I have seven cups of coffee in a day or seven beers.

Yes and that is why doctors do such a good business , because most people don’t know how to look after themselves.

I have no idea about the safety or danger of any of these, but I like to grow my own herbal teas. I use: catnip, hyssop (somewhat similar in taste to licorice), chamomile, various mints, sage, lemon balm, and lemon verbena. I’ve probably forgotten one or two. They are all easy to grow, harvest and dry. I also really like commercial spice teas, but I have never checked ingredients. How about mixing it up with hot apple cider (love that for backpacking) and cocoa? Or decaf black tea.

^^^^ that all sounds good.

I did ask for suggestions :)  but really I just wanted to let peopke know about licorice and what it can do even to someone without hypertension.

What I learned from this thread is that I now feel like eating some liquorice .

I’ll be looking to find some sticks because I haven’t had any of those since my pre-teens or there about.

They probably helped causing some tooth cavities.

In winter 1977 I was in Florence Italy for a semester of art. One of the women in the group had a taste for licorice. She couldn’t find it in any of the candy stores. We asked one of our guides and learned it was sold only in pharmacies. We couldn’t understand why.

Odd, in fact I think you got the wrong info because I used to eat then both the stick version as well as the confectionery type.
Mind you, in the past we had folk claiming that you can’t get denatured alcohol there, except that every supermarket sell it.(in the cleaning product section)
Just to refresh my memory..
This brand was available then, I remember the box.

they have been selling liquorice for over 200 years made in the same factory in Calabria, the bit that tries to kick Sicily.

They sell all sorts of products from the sticks to beer made with that stuff.

BTW,  tobacconists will stock it . (that is where in Italy you buy also salt,stamps and sweets…)

Memories…

Aged 10 or so (around 1965) I used to take a neighbour of mine , pushing his wheelchair, “to town” .

The centre of town, the shop where he was going to buy his cigarettes, was about 4-500m away. Not a long journey. My reward was a packet of chewing gum, at the time my favourite was liquorice flavoured.

I remember the sticks inside a (probably glass) jar but cannot remember what shops had them.

Trouble is ginger can be very bad for you too, as can anything in excess.

Our Darryl Lea must be flavoured with anise oil not blackroot