Papaya - a world class meat tenderizer, natural digestive aid, prevents ulcers, and also a soft contact lense cleaner.Licorice The Safety Factor
U.S. medical journals have been slow to pick up on licorice’s successes, but they’ve jumped all over its potential for causing pseudoaldosteronism. The problem is real, and some people should not use licorice. But in moderation, most people can use it safely.
There have been no reports of licorice sticks or the powdered herb causing problems. The problems-about 25 reports in the world medical literature-have been caused by the highly concentrated licorice extracts used in some candies, laxatives, and tobacco products. And most have resulted from overindulgence in licorice candies.
Remember, though, that most U.S. “licorice” contains anise, not licorice. Real licorice is available, however, in specialty shops. The Journal of the American Medical Association recounted the case of a man who ate 2 to 4 ounces of real licorice candies a day for seven years. He developed weakness and hormone disturbances requiring hospitalization. Another overdose victim ate more than a pound of licorice candy a day for nine days. He, too, required hospital treatment.
Licorice-Laced Products
One woman suffered weakness after taking 4 tablespoons of Lydia Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound a day for three months. (As a menstrual remedy, it should be taken only a few days a month.) According to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine, she recovered two weeks after she stopped using the compound.
Licorice-laced chewing tobacco can also cause problems.
One man chewed a dozen 3-ounce bags a day and swallowed his saliva instead of spitting it out. He developed weakness and had to be hospitalized. Of course, his symptoms could have been caused by substances in the chewing tobacco other than licorice-nicotine, for example.
These cases raise important points: Pregnant and nursing women, and anyone with a history of diabetes, glaucoma, high blood pressure, stroke, or heart disease should be cautious regarding consumption of licorice. In these people it might raise their blood pressure and cause potentially serious problems.
On the other hand, the vast majority of overdose reports have involved huge doses of highly concentrated licorice extracts not the whole herb. Otherwise healthy people may use the herb cautiously, but should familiarize themselves with overdose symptoms: headache, facial puffiness, ankle swelling, weakness, and lethargy.
Other Cautions
Despite its well-publicized potential hazards, licorice is included in the Food and Drug Administration’s list of herbs generally regarded as safe. For otherwise healthy non-pregnant, non-nursing adults who do not have diabetes, glaucoma, high blood pressure, or a history of heart disease or stroke and are not taking digitalis-like medications, licorice is considered relatively safe when used cautiously in amounts typically recommended for brief periods.
Licorice should be used in medicinal amounts only in consultation with your doctor. If licorice causes minor discomforts, such as stomach upset or diarrhea, use less or stop using it. Let your doctor know if you experience unpleasant effects or if the symptoms for which the herb is being used do not improve significantly in two weeks.
Beautiful Candy Plant
Licorice is an erect, hardy perennial that reaches 3 to 7 feet. Small, alternate, inch-long leaflets and Ih-inch purple midsummer flowers give the plant a graceful beauty. Mature plants have a long taproot that sends out creeping horizontal rhizomes (stolons). the source of other shoots and more branching roots, creating a tangled mass of underground growth. Licorice roots have brown bark, and sweet, juicy, yellow pulp
Hard freezes kill licorice. It grows best in warm, sunny climates, or in greenhouses in pots 48 inches deep. Greenhouse licorice often requires artificial light.
Licorice is usually propagated from root cuttings containing eyes. Plant them vertically about an inch below the surface, with 18-inch spacing Beds should be rich, well dug, well manured, well drained-and contained. Once established, this herb can become extremely invasive. Contain it.
Licorice requires little care other than weeding. Expect slow growth the first year or two. Harvest rhizomes and roots during the fall of the third or fourth year. The year you plan to harvest, pinch the flowers back. Flowering drains some of the roots’ sweep sap. Thick roots should be split to dry. Shadedry roots for six months.