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NEW YORK (Dagbladet): – Even a small amount of licorice can raise blood pressure a bit, explains Dr. Neel Butala, according to AP.
The 54-year-old is said to have been so excited about licorice that he ate a bag and a half of the Twizzler candy every day for several weeks. It must have caused him problems with other nutrients and he died of cardiac arrest, doctors say.
The unusual incident is reported in the acclaimed New England Journal of Medicine.
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Collapse
The death of the 54-year-old is described as an extreme case. In the final weeks before he died last year, he is said to have switched from a red variant of the fruity Twizzler candy to another variant of the same candy, but made from black licorice.
One day he collapsed after having lunch at a fast food restaurant. Then doctors discovered that he had dangerously low potassium levels, which led to problems with his heart rhythm and other things. Ambulance personnel managed to revive him, but he died the next day.
According to doctors, the problem is glycyrrhizic acid, which is found in black licorice and many other types of licorice root foods and supplements. They warn that glycyrrhizic acid can lead to dangerously low potassium levels and imbalances in other minerals, especially electrolytes.
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Warns
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns that eating as little as 55 grams of black licorice every day for two weeks can lead to heart rhythm problems, especially in people over 40, writes AP.
– It’s more than licorice. There may be other candy flavored with licorice, licorice, and many things that are sold over the counter. Even some types of beer, like Belgian beer, have this component. It also has some types of chewing tobacco, says University of Colorado cardiologist and former American Heart Association president Robert Eckel to the news agency.
CNN also points out that many of the so-called licorice products in the United States do not actually contain licorice but anise oil, which tastes similar.
– All of our products are safe to eat and are developed in accordance with FDA regulations. All foods, including candy, should be enjoyed in moderation, says Jeff Beckman, a spokesman for the Hershey Company, which makes Twizzler candy.
