Herbs & Herbal Remedies @ Green Papaya

Beneficial-and Controversial

Family: Leguminosae; (includes Beans, Peas)

Genus and Species: Glycyrrhiza Glabra

Also known as: No other names

Parts used: Rhizome and roots

Licorice is one of the most beneficial-and controversial-Healing herbs. Advocates claim it has been used safely around the world for thousands of years to treat cough, colds, rashes, arthritis, ulcers, hepatitis, cirrhosis, and infections. Critics concede the herb’s effectiveness but insist its “potentially life-threatening side effects” make it too dangerous to use.

The licorice extracts used in candies have, in some cases, caused some harm when used in large amounts. But for otherwise healthy adults who use licorice in moderation, this healer’s benefits greatly outweigh its risks.

Sweet Root by another Name

Licorice appears prominently in the first great Chinese herbal. the Pen Tsao Ching (Classic of Herbs), written more than 5,000 years ago according to legend.

Ever since, licorice has been one of China’s most popular Healing herbs. Chinese physicians prescribe it to soothe the throat and treat cough, malaria, food poisoning, respiratory problems, liver and uterine complaints, and some cancers. Chinese herbalists also use the herb’s sweetness to mask the bitter taste of other herbal medicines.

The herb has a long history in the West, as well. During the 3rd century B.C., Hippocrates extolled licorice for cough, asthma, and other respiratory complaints. He called it sweet root, in Greek, glukos riza, which evolved into the herb’s genus, Glycyrrhiza. The Romans changed Glycyrrhiza to Liquiritia, which evolved into licorice.

Amid the treasures of King Tut’s tomb, archeologists found a bundle of licorice sticks. More than 1,300 years after Tut’s burial, the Greek physician Dioscorides prescribed licorice juice for colds, sore throat, and chest and gastrointestinal complaints

A Worldwide Favorite

German abbess/herbalist Hildegard of Bingen prescribed licorice for stomach and heart problems. It was mentioned frequently in 14th- and 15th-century German and Italian herbals as a cough and respiratory remedy.

Seventeenth-century English herbalist Nicholas Culpeper called licorice “a fine medicine … for those that have dry cough or hoarseness, wheezing or shortness of breath, phthisis [tuberculosis], heat of urine [burning], and griefs of the breast and lungs.”

North American colonists found the Indians drinking a tea brewed from American licorice as a cough remedy, laxative, earache treatment, and mask for the bitter flavor of other herbs.

America’s 19th-century Eclectics prescribed licorice for urinary problems, cough, colds, and other “bronchial and pectoral [chest] affections.”

Among American folk herbalists, licorice was considered a treatment for menstrual discomforts. It was included in Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound, the popular 19th century patent medicine for menstrual complaints, and it remains an ingredient in the product’s current formulation.

Licorice has also been used to treat a variety of cancers in many cultures.

Contemporary herbalists recommend licorice for its soothing effects on the respiratory, genitourinary, and gastrointestinal tracts, especially as a treatment for ulcers. Herbalists continue to recommend licorice to mask the bitter taste of other Healing herbs. A few mention the herb’s hormone-like action and recommend it in the treatment of Addison’s disease, a disease in which the adrenal gland produces abnormally low amounts of certain of its hormones.

True to its Greek name, sweet root, licorice is 50 times sweeter than sugar. Licorice contains a remarkable chemical (glycyrrhetinic acid, or GA) with a broad range of benefits. But a bitter battle has erupted over the sweet root’s hazards.

Cough Remedy - Several studies support licorice’s ancient use as a cough remedy. GA has some cough-suppressant properties. In Europe, it’s used extensively in cough formulas.

Ulcers - Back in 1946, a Dutch pharmacist noticed that licorice candies and cough remedies were unusually popular with customers who had gastrointestinal ulcers. They told him licorice provided better, longer-lasting relief than other ulcer medicines. Intrigued, the phamacist published a report in a Dutch medical journal.

Soon studies published in Lancet and the Journal (If the American Medical Association showed concentrated GA extracted from licorice heals ulcers in both animals and people. Unfortunately, it also causes swelling of the ankles-a classic sign of water retention. Water retention is potentially serious. It can lead to elevated blood pressure, which can be dangerous for pregnant and nursing women and anyone with diabetes, glaucoma, high blood pressure, heart disease, or a history of stroke.

By the late 1970s, mainstream medicine had an amazingly effective ulcer drug, cimetidine (Tagamet), currently one of the world’s most widely prescribed medications. How does GA stack up against Tagamet? Several studies compared the two. Tagamet was more effective for stomach ulcers, but the two were equally effective for small intestinal (duodenal) ulcers, with the licorice extract actually providing better protection against relapses. But GA water retention continued to be a problem.

As time passed, researchers learned why GA caused water retention. The chemical acts like the adrenal hormone aldosterone, which is involved in salt and water metabolism. Large amounts can cause a potentially serious condition (pseudoaldosteronism), symptoms of which include headache, lethargy, water retention, elevated blood pressure, and possibly heart failure.

Fortunately, scientists discovered they could retain licorice’s ulcer-Healing benefits but eliminate its hormonal side effects by removing 97 percent of its GA, creating a new herbal medicine, DGL (deglycyrrhizinated licorice).

As European and British journals published studies demonstrating DGL’s anti-ulcer effectiveness without serious side effects, American researchers, who had dismissed GA as too hazardous, took a second look. But during the late 1970s several studies using improperly prepared DGL delivered results that made the medicine appear to be totally ineffective against ulcers. These unfortunate results crushed interest in the United States. It turned out the ineffective DGL preparations released very little medicine (poor bioavailability).

Today, DGL holds little interest for most U.S. ulcer researchers, but European researchers continue to publish impressive results. A 12-week study of 874 duodenal-ulcer sufferers published in the Irish Medical Journal showed DGL healed their ulcers faster than Tagamet with no hormonal side effects.

If future studies corroborate these results, American physicians may one day use DGL to treat duodenal ulcers. In the meantime, ulcer sufferers interested in incorporating licorice into their treatment plans should discuss the herb with their physicians.

Arthritis - Licorice also has anti-inflammatory and antiarthritic properties. One study showed GA could be applied like hydrocortisone creams to treat skin inflammations, such as eczema. These findings led to studies showing licorice taken internally also has anti-inflammatory, specifically antiarthritic, effects. Arthritis sufferers interested in licorice should discuss the herb with their physicians.

Herpes - Licorice stimulates cell production of interferon, the body’s own antiviral compound, according to a study published in Microbiologlj and Immunologlj. Not surprisingly, other studies show it fights Herpes simplex virus, the cause of genital herpes and cold sores. Sprinkling some powdered licorice root on clean sores may help heal herpes.

Infection - Many laboratory studies show licorice also fights disease-causing bacteria (Staphljlococci and Streptococci) and the fungus responsible for vaginal yeast infections (Candida albicans). Sprinkling some powdered licorice root on clean wounds may help prevent infection.

Hepatitis - Cirrhosis. Chinese physicians have used licorice for centuries to treat liver problems. Asian studies show the herb helps control hepatitis and improve liver function in people with cirrhosis. Hepatitis and cirrhosis are serious conditions requiring professional care. If you’d like to try licorice for liver disease, discuss it with your physician.

Intriguing Possibility - Immune stimulation may help explain licorice’s antitumor activity against cancerous melanomas in experimental animals. It’s too early to call the herb a treatment for these tumors, but in the future it might become one.

Rx for Licorice - To help prevent wound infection, sprinkle powdered licorice on minor wounds after washing them with soap and water. It can also be used in this way on herpes sores, but check with your physician before doing so.

To help soothe a sore throat, add a pinch of sweet-tasting licorice to any herbal beverage tea.

If you want to take advantage of licorice’s more powerful Healing action-against liver disease, ulcers, or arthritisdiscuss the herb with your physician. To make a possible infection-fighting decoction, gently boil ½ teaspoon of powdered herb per cup of water for 10 minutes. Drink up to 2 cups a day.

In a tincture, use ½ to I teaspoon up to twice a day. Licorice should not be given to children under age 2. For older children and people over 65, start with low-strength preparations and increase strength if necessary.

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.