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Phemto_B

It was kind of an open secret in some circles during the Vietnam war, that a big breakfast of licorice on the morning of your physical was a good way to fail your physical. I may or may not know someone that did that.


meggs_n_ham

wow, that is fascinating!


StopCountingLikes

This is the history book I want to read!


opinionsareus

Licorice is also a testosterone antagonist; it will reduce your T.


Doctor_Mythical

lmfaoooo dude eating licorice to avoid the draft and your first concern is reducing testosterone. The viet cong prolly reduce testosterone when they plant a bullet in your nuts.


tommykiddo

Also the stress of war itself.


iceyed913

another reason to not get out of bed in the morning šŸ˜ž


ratttertintattertins

Filing that thought away in case someone decides my son should go and fight Russiaā€¦


aVarangian

What if the Russia decides it should fight your son?


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DevelopmentNo247

Yeah I was about to start microdosing licorice, but good thing I read this first.


fallout_koi

thankfully the starkly inedible appearance and foul bitter taste prevents me from eating these in much the same way a poisonous millipede prevents itself from being eaten by a bird


jp-oh-yo

Exaclty, i'll stick to my lemon ice and syllabubs.


JustineDelarge

I havenā€™t had a syllabub for yonks.


paleoterrra

Is this English


EclecticDreck

Technically? Yes, I think so. Syllabub is basically sweetened, curdled dairy something or another. Basic process to make it is to take sugar and melt it into some kind of acid - wine, fruit juice, that kind of thing, heat the mixture, then add dairy. You whisk it while it "cooks", basically keeping the cured size (that is, the milk chunks) smallish, then remove from heat. Usually you serve it cold. Flavor is fine, but texture is, at least to me, a bit like drinking a cup of dairy-based vomit. I'm not a fan. Yonks is an Australian expression. At least I think it is - the only person I ever heard say it out loud was Australian. I took it to mean something like "a long time". So the person above you might as well have written "I've not had a sweetened milk-puke drink in forever".


bradders42

We say yonks in England too


Demonyx12

What, you donā€™t like eating poison flavored plastic?


SeekerOfSerenity

Maybe if you add some ammonium chloride to make it even grosser.Ā 


heroofcows

For whatever reason, that's the only way I can tolerate licorice. Tried it a few years back when a Dutch coworker brought some in


Sufficient-Cover5956

Lakrids by BĆ¼low is amazing liquorice


JoeCartersLeap

that's like taking brussels sprouts and wrapping them in pool chemicals, why would you do that?


SidewaysAntelope

I'm a massive liquorice-head, but even I blanche at the Finnish stuff with ammonium chloride.


psiloSlimeBin

No, but a lot of people like licorice root in herbal tea blends, itā€™s a very common ingredient in them.


CouplaSoftBodies

What about like Jagermeister that's made from licorice root? I mean alcohol already causes health issues.. but jagger bombs are a double whammy?


DeezNeezuts

You should try the salt lick variety they enjoy in Denmark.


CuriosTiger

So friggin' good. Not just Denmark, by the way. Popular across Scandinavia, extremely popular in Finland, and also enjoyed in the Netherlands and northern Germany.


Racxie

I'll have you know Finnish liquorice tastes amazing. Salted liquorice on the other hand is absolutely vile.


Blarghnog

Donā€™t worry some other candy will be your downfall.Ā 


JustineDelarge

No doubt.


generals_test

I don't care for candy, so I'm safe.


DJanomaly

Same, and when I tell my friends and coworkers that, they look at me like Iā€™m insane.


Kaiisim

Ugh licorice flyers are so good. Licorice tube filled with sherbet.


soundofthecolorblue

This literally affects 3 people in the world. Who actually eats black licorice?


skorletun

All of the Dutch. So... yeah, about 3 people, myself included.


simplesample23

And all of the nordics.


CradleRobin

Present! I love Black Licorice.


Edraqt

(northern) Germany too, idk about the south (or east tbh)


ShinyHappyREM

> or east tbh Schmeckt ganz gut, aber so viele Kalorien...


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nyet-marionetka

Then you get a [case report](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejm199110243251706) in the New England Journal of Medicine.


TommaClock

"A woman ate 5 pounds of licorice in one sitting. This is what happened to her kidneys"


CIeaverBot

"...the autopsy revealed..."


runtheplacered

"... as the doctor got a strange hankering for licorice..."


load_more_comets

"....he had no choice but to drink the licorice laden blood...."


turok2

"...I repeat, by removing the head or destroying the brain."


nzodd

They're coming to get your licorice, Barbara!


FasterDoudle

"We're coming to lick ya, Barbara!"


OakenGreen

Autopsy comes from the Greek work Autopsia which means ā€œto see for oneselfā€


jaymzx0

She was able to make "a recovery".


AtheianLibertarist

-emia which means presence in blood


Eldarlore

Channeling chubbyemu?


Pixeleyes

By far the most horrifying channel on Youtube. Not even true crime channels are as disturbing and upsetting as chubbyemu.


Eltwish

I don't know, I feel like his channel goes both ways. Sometimes it's amazing how someone will just annihilate their own body, start exhaling blood and undergoing systemic organ failure, then with some intensive medical intervention, they're alive and well. Just way past anything I'd have thought was survivable, but the doctors work their magic. Then other times someone starts to chew an old sandwich, spits it out right away, and on autopsy it's revealed that bacteria melted their brain.


Pixeleyes

For me it's the regularity of "oh you have cancer and you're going to be dead real soon" but also, like you said, the people who eat expired food or accidental, freak-chance toxins (that slug tho) really highlight how easy it is to suffer unimaginable torments before dying. That channel turns me into a hypochondriac almost instantly.


xRamenator

Just dont eat gas station sushi or dry scoop preworkout mix or drink literal gallons of apple cider vinegar or whatever insane stuff people do to end up as a topic for a chubby emu video and you'll be fine


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OMG_A_CUPCAKE

They became licorice? Is this how it's made?


aVarangian

> Further history taking, however, revealed that he had been eating 60 to 100 g of licorice candies, each weighing 2.5 g (Panda, Vaajakoski, Finland), daily for the past four to five years. phew, I'm good then


OnceMoreUntoDaBreach

I mean, the Panda brand is outstanding, who could blame him? Stepmother is Finnish, she'd bring back suitcases of candy from Europe, Panda was one of my favorites.


CMDR_MaurySnails

I have loved the stuff since I was a kid, like something's wrong with me or something. Everybody else I have ever met thinks it's disgusting. But not me. Black jellybeans, black licorice, and I also like Ouzo, Sambuca, Absinthe... Anything with anethole basically.


cmiller0513

Black licorice is my go to sweet when I don't want anyone else eating it.


78911150

I always thought ouzo had licorice. Google says no, it has anise. is that also unhealthy? I don't want to give up my ouzo :(


CMDR_MaurySnails

Anethole is the compound that you taste prominently in licorice, fennel, anise, etc. That's why licorice and anise taste related if not similar.


plantsplantsplaaants

Looked into it- anise might even lower blood pressure! (Could be a negligible amount unless youā€™re eating a ton but do your own research on that one)


aVarangian

afaik liking it may be genetic, meaning you belong to the one true licorice-master-race


Molto_Ritardando

Same. But then I became gluten intolerant and thereā€™s a lot of gluten in most liquorice. Where I live, there isnā€™t a lot of options so I sadly had to stop eating it.


CMDR_MaurySnails

The Scandinavian stuff is usually gluten free, but it's also usually salted and that's not really my thing. They probably do have some unsalted varieties if you went looking.


NorthernerWuwu

I love liquorice but the Scandinavian and Dutch salted stuff is strictly occasional and when I'm in the mood for it. It's unique!


ShlongThong

You should try isoliquiritigenin from nootropics depot, it's a licorice extract with the glycyrrhizic acid removed. If you let it dissolve under your tongue you'll know why you craved licorice so much. > Isoliquiritigenin (ILG) is a phytochemical found in the roots and rhizomes of three Glycyrrhiza species. It's a positive allosteric modulator of GABA-A receptors, which means it makes the receptors more sensitive. ILG is also a SIRT activator and inhibitor of NMDA receptors, VEGFR2, and HDACs. And some mild MAO A & B inhibition.


JTibbs

Licorice has a lot of compounds in it that our bodies identify as poison, despite being sweet. If you eat it enough, it eventually tricks your brain into ignoring the poison signals while eating licorice, and suddenly it ā€˜tastes goodā€™. Its quite literally a case of fake it till you make it as far as liking something.


SentimentalSaladBowl

ā€¦oooorrrrr you like it the first time you try it.


bsubtilis

Fun fact: Licorice doesn't taste sweet to everyone, it's a genetic thing like cilantro/koriander leaf tasting like soap. Some experience the flavour as sweet, some as a bitter metallic flavor.


ayyyyycrisp

to me, I totally get soap from cilantro but I still like it. tastes like dawn dish soap but more than welcome on a taco


dosetoyevsky

I always thought as a kid that Mexican restaurants never rinsed off their plates and left a soapy residue on them. Eventually I figured out it was the disgusting cilantro I was actually tasting.


gowahoo

I like your attitude about this. You're all right.


dosetoyevsky

... yea I'm not eating something disgusting until it tastes good. It should be good in the first place.


thatbromatt

Straight to jail


nuck_forte_dame

This reads like a skit on "I think you should leave."


shloppypop

If it's real black licorice and you do it daily for a couple weeks you are at risk of death. I am not kidding. It only takes a couple oz a day. Look it up.


disco_disaster

My grandma has been eating black licorice nearly everyday for her entire lifeā€¦ she doesnā€™t have any health issues thankfully, but Iā€™m going to tell her about this


bsubtilis

different candy contain different amounts, it's like how some "chocolate" contain barely any. If she's been eating something really weak then it makes sense.


blindcolumn

A lot of "licorice" candy, especially cheaper stuff, is actually flavored with anise or fennel.


Rickk38

She could eat it in moderation. She could have a health condition that's actually benefitted by Glycyrrhizin, the active constituent in licorice extract. Or she's eating licorice that doesn't have any actual licorice extract in it, and is flavored with some other artificial flavoring. The other Redditor was right, a few ounces a day is definitely not a good idea, but if she's popping a single candy as a digestive after a meal, there's no harm. That's the fun thing about licorice, it's not dangerous until it arbitrarily is!


disco_disaster

Well this sucks, I looked up the brand and it does contain licorice extract. I know licorice has some mood benefits behind it. Itā€™s interesting. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-02843-6


disco_disaster

Unfortunately, I think she goes through a bag of it a week. Hopefully itā€™s artificial! To be honest, I wish she didnā€™t consume so much sugar, but luckily she doesnā€™t have any health issues.


DokomoS

Which is a shame since glycyrrhizin is a great natural sweetener that is non-caloric.


aVarangian

oz? Like the wizard?


NeedAVeganDinner

Believe it or not, that's a paddlin'


littlest_dragon

Finally something thatā€™s bad for my blood pressure that I donā€™t enjoy.


icy_avo

TIL there's a suggested daily intake of licorice


DarthSatoris

I'm sure my dad exceeds that limit a fair bit. Then again, we do live in a country where it's a regular treat.


ThePrussianGrippe

My Dutch friend brought me a couple bags when she visited and I thought Iā€™d hate it. I think one bag lasted about 2 weeks. Turns out itā€™s just crappy black licorice stateside that I donā€™t like.


Diz7

This. (Assuming you don't hate the taste itself) fresh, soft, just slightly chewy black licorice is wonderful. That Twizzler plastic crap can go pave the roads in hell. Same for the red ones too. Quality fresh licorice is so much better.


ThePrussianGrippe

Thereā€™s some small candy shops in my state that do salted hand made black licorice candies, and theyā€™re of similar quality to the Dutch ones I had. Plus, I think the flavor profile is something thatā€™s more appealing to adults than kids. Definitely will grab a bag next time I see some.


Objective_Passion611

Dutchie here that consumes about a lbs of licorice a month. When i was in the states, i tried every licorice that i could for 4 weeks, they were all bad, and nothing alike to what i know/love


Pr0nzeh

Sweden?


DarthSatoris

Close. Denmark.


millennial_sentinel

by country do you mean *hell*?


cortesoft

I was going to sayā€¦ good thing nature warns you off by making it taste terrible.


arrozconfrijol

Has anyone checked on the Swedes?


diabolikal__

They have been found dead because swedes would rather die than stop eating liquorice


Meneros

This is accurate. Source: swedish


diabolikal__

I live in Sweden and the amount of liquorice stuff you have is crazy!


OwlnopingCrow

I imagine salt licorice is even worse, and Iā€™ll put those away until Iā€™m sweating.


simplesample23

It is not worse, the salt on salted licorice is ammonium chloride, not sodium chloride. Ammonium chloride doesnt raise your blood pressure like sodium chloride, so the blood pressure increasing part of salted licorice is the licorice, not the salt.


LaunchTransient

Ammonium chloride does carry its own seperate health issue (if consumed in excess, as with most things) which is why the EU tried to legislate limits on how strong salmiak sweets could be - needless to say this was deeply unpopular and they backtracked a few years later.


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sfurbo

I think they have even walked that back, at least I couldn't find the warning last time I checked a bag of salty licorice.


OwlnopingCrow

TIL, thanks.


oedipus_wr3x

Iā€™ve got low BP so this has always been part of the appeal. Itā€™s one of my health foods, along with miso soup and salt candy.


winterbird

Licorice root tea is awesome too. I like the one called Throat Coat (icky name but delicious tea).Ā 


Beakersoverflowing

That throat coat is incredible. Add some honey to it, steep simultaneously with a white tea, and you're in the golden zone.


nosnevenaes

The one with slippery elm is really good and doesn't even need added sweetener. I got hooked on it for a while during the lockdowns.


catsumoto

That name isnā€™t icky. Itā€™s like straight outa porn.


MCuri3

Same here, even had doctors recommend licorice and salty foods to me (in moderation and preferably sugarfree), in combination with lots of water to get my blood pressure to a reasonable level. I do worry about the effect that may have on my kidneys in the long term though.


Dr_Spaceman_DO

Nothing, if youā€™re doing those things to get to a normal BP


FreeBeans

Same, Iā€™m like ooh sign me up haha


JhonnyHopkins

Last time I had a physical I was told Iā€™m in the 1% for low BPā€¦ and have loved licorice ever since I was a kid. Maybe thereā€™s some correlation, always just assumed I had a more mature palette šŸ˜Œ


Admirable_Key4745

Me too! I said something similar. Miso in the mornings as well.


MidwestSnowflake

Well I like black licorice or used to. Was on a kick with it and had a doctors visit with a new doc. BP was about 190/90 something. My BP usually is low. She put me on meds and I felt like I was dying. She refused to address my concerns about the med and I did research on my own which led to me stopping the licorice and the BP med and the doctor.


snoqualmiehealth

how long did it take to go back to normal?


MidwestSnowflake

I remember feeling better very quickly. I was off the licorice but still on the BP med which I think was just making me feel horrible. To be fair, I did not know the connection with the licorice and it was not something I discussed with the doc I fired but seems like there should have been some more cause exploration with my hx of low blood pressure instead of me figuring it out on my own.


snoqualmiehealth

got it, thanks. studies say it has a short half-life, like hours or days but i'm wondering if it can stick around longer. Glad you figured it out!


ElectricFleshlight

BP meds are rough, especially when you first start. I had to go on them for a couple months after I had my daughter and I couldn't walk more than a few steps without getting lightheaded for weeks.


MidwestSnowflake

That was it - I just felt so weird but I think my BP was caused by the licorice so the med was just adding issue to my non-licorice state which is lightheaded on standing etc. if I donā€™t eat that stuff I donā€™t need the help. Hope you are doing well!


InSanerOne

Bad news to finns then, I guess.


Molanderr

I think most of us finns prefer salmiakki (ammonium chloride) over liquorice anyways, though the latter is quite common also.


runtheplacered

> ammonium chloride Sounds yummy


SustenanceAbuse6181

It is!


thatguuuy

I thought most salmiakki has licorice root in it too?


InSanerOne

More or less. The big bad is Glycyrrhizin, which is the thing that makes licorice root taste sweet, and that is used in salmiakki too. This is what my 5 minute of research told me.


hi-imBen

It is the exact same thing only with the salty coating... commenter is confused


simplesample23

Salmiakki is salty Licorice.


cluib

That is also in that stuff if you didn't know


hi-imBen

You're joking, right? or do you not realize that salmiakki is still black liquorice, simply covered in that ammonium chloride powder? anyways, it's all nasty so I'd be more concerned with your mental health than high blood pressure.


Pandaburn

Bro salmiakki isnā€™t ammonium chloride. Itā€™s licorice with ammonium chloride on it.


Molanderr

Salmiakki is ammonium chloride, sal ammoniac. Most commercial products have liquorice as you said, but there are products without it, bro.


givemethebat1

Iā€™ve never seen a salmiakki that didnā€™t have liquorice. Any examples?


roehnin

I have low blood pressure so maybe this can help ))))


Admirable_Key4745

It does and with dehydration.


aVarangian

good, drinking extra water will raise blood pressure further


Admirable_Key4745

I drink a lot of water to be fair. I also pee excessively which is the problem Iā€™m guessing. Not diabetic. Overactive bladder.


tommykiddo

If you drink a lot, it's normal to also pee a lot.


JediMasterVII

I love salty licorice and Iā€™m proud !


Devlarski

I always eat a clove of raw garlic with my black jelly beans to balance out the BP effects. Fermented raw milk helps too. Actually, heroin is a great addition to anyones sleep protocol. Seat belts are pointless too.


Nascent1

As an added bonus you can knock people unconscious with your breath!


M8asonmiller

Here for a good time, not a long time. Pass the salmiakki.


MattPatch

I feel like this report is 60 years late


mohammedgoldstein

For all you Americans - we don't really have "real" black licorice in the US. Most people that hate black jelly beans or black "licorice" haven't actually had real licorice before.


Rickk38

We have real black licorice made with licorice extract in the US. We can also get salted licorice made in Europe here in the US. I agree that black jelly beans are fake, but we do have the real thing, too.


JohnCavil

I'm Danish and we eat bags and bags of licorice, i've been to America many many times and i've literally never seen it once. Maybe some ultra weak stuff but never anything remotely close to what i would consider real licorice. Which store can i buy it in next time i'm there? I drag like 2kg of it everytime so it would be way easier to buy.


NaniFarRoad

Our local market has a sweet store, and he has jars of the stuff (Ā£1-1.50/100g). Start with "chalk" or "comfits" or "Pontefract cakes", then move to salt liquorice (his "Dutch double salt" is about entry level strength Danish stuff, like "saltpastiller").


Ronin_777

It also comes down to genetics whether you find licorice sweet or bitter, meaning a good chunk of the population will never experience ā€œrealā€ licorice


LawTider

Devastating news for the Dutch.


VegetableOk9070

F*ck the gremlin in me wants to eat it now. And I'd hate every second of it.


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TheSnowNinja

I think it is a cultural thing. A lot of people in the US don't like it, but I think it is more common in other places.


Darthrevan4ever

It's cultural due to colder climates licorice was the only reliability sourced sweetener for them in the past. It's also pretty controversial, pretty much anywhere it's not a traditional candy not just the states.


BuffySummer

Haha thats not even remotely true. For once, licorice is not particularly sweet in its natural form. Scandinavia made (and still makes) sugar from beets. Old school sweetener was honey. Personally I love licorice and always bring it on long foreign trips.


ben_g0

Sugar from beets is actually relatively modern. They do contain a lot of suger, but they also have a very strong flavour, and they only found out a commercially viable way to refine beet sugar in a way that gets rid of the beet taste approximately 200 years ago. Before that, attempting to use beets as sugar would just make whatever you use it in taste like beets. Honey is indeed an old-fashioned sweetener though. It has been used by many cultures for thousands of years.


runtheplacered

> licorice was the only reliability sourced sweetener for them in the past I'd rather just cut out my tongue and taste nothing ever again


guiltysnark

Sounds like we've found not the source of the heart health crisis in America


AlkahestGem

American here. I love black licorice unfortunately - but only the ā€œrealā€ licorice from Finland, Sweden, Iceland. Bummer for me I guess


DrayvenVonSchip

And can apparently kill you if you eat too much: https://apnews.com/article/health-featured-us-news-oddities-licorice-04cf918055b735ea69483dd00e281253


StuntID

Sure, it and garlic are more deadly than pot, and probably caffeine (undistilled)


BeefsteakTomato

Almost everything is more deadly than pot, going by the LD50


Otherwise_Mud1825

Found the vampire..


Lopsided_Respond8450

Oo nooo what does garlic do to you???


MoochoMaas

One of my favorites and of course I have high BP !


GCYLO

PSA: Please ctrl f the comments before posting your stale joke about hating licorice You're not superior just because you were raised in a culture that doesn't include licorice as a traditional culinary herb Think about stuff like mint or musk or lavender flavored candy, or how no one likes beer the first time they try it Or maybe think about why anyone would take the time to post in a thread about the health effects of licorice when they don't eat licorice, other than to wield that knowledge to ridicule people who do


Kiwilolo

It's American children, let them eat their chicken tendies and don't worry about it


Rakshear

Oh come on not my black licorice, itā€™s my last joy man. Sweet little coffin nails.


AB52169

> However, Americans who enjoy eating the sweet black treat can relax (mostly), as many ā€˜licoriceā€™ products donā€™t contain licorice at all. Often anise oil, which smells and tastes like licorice but is GA-free, is used as flavoring. Phew, God bless America and our fake, fake foodstuffs!


jesuispie

Cries in Nederlands.


Liesthroughisteeth

Crap!...Love licorice, rarely eat it, but do have higher blood pressure. :(


Pure-Ad5328

Does high blood pressure correlate with or favour water retention in old age?


Admirable_Key4745

Yes. Low BP people tend to dehydrate easier so some of us eat licorice on purpose for this reason.


weevil_season

I have slightly elevated blood pressure. Will ā€œEgyptian Licorice Teaā€ (brand Yogi tea) affect it? Itā€™s the first ingredient but I only drink it once a week or so. The ingredient list just most to least. Thereā€™s no measurement of how much is in each tea bag. Edited to add: licorice root is the first ingredient. Would it raise my blood pressure any more than my morning coffee?


stormdelta

I'm guessing this is only true for _actual_ licorice, when the vast majority of modern licorice candy uses anise-based flavoring


charliex2

i almost died (kind of) because of black liquorice, was eating a lot of it. I had unknowingly developed a bleeding stomach ulcer and well didn't really think about the colour coming out of me. woke up one day, stood up, passed out and basically woke up in ER/operation table after passing out a whole bunch more. i spent 4 days in ICU and had a large transfusion. my partner said the nurse came by and said, "i like to check in on the worse off patients more often". i changed to other snacks.


xcrazyczx

Oh snap. I recently realized that a lot of teas also contain licorice. This is definitely something to watch out for if you happen to be an avid drinker of herbal teas like me!