licorice root

[Wufflebear]

So i got up the guts to try a small amout of licorice root in capsul form. It seems to take the edge off!!! I love this place.

[yikespanic]

May I ask what is licorice root used for?

Kim

[momdi]

Licorice root is used by herbalists as an analog for steroids. Among other things, it supports the adrenal gland. It may help with dysautonomia because it helps retain salt and water. It can also help with energy - some people use it for chronic fatigue. It also can cause the same side effects as drugs that cause you to retain salt and water. Because it's an herb, some people feel that it's effects are more *soft* than drugs, but you still need to be careful.

While it has many benefits, it also can have many interactions with both other herbs and drugs, so do your homework if you want to give it a try and watch for fluid retention.

The potentially risky component of licorice is glycyrrhizin. If you want to use licorice to sooth the stomach (and it can be amazing for this) but don't want the fluid retention, use a de-glycyrrhizinated licorice, ie DGL. DGL would NOT be helpful for increasing your blood pressure if you have a dysautonomia however - you'd need the regular licorice root.

One good brand of DGL is by Enzymatic Therapy. This is a chewable form and tastes like licorice. Solgar makes it in capsule form. The natural medicine guru, Dr. Andrew Weil, is a huge fan of DGL and you can read about it on his website.

BTW, most licorice candy contains little or no true licorice. It's flavored with anise oil which smells and tastes like licorice.

[Wufflebear]

Would the DGL stuff help mental fog and energy level some ,but not the rest of it?

Edited January 20, 2006 by hmichel

[momdi]

You pose a very good question. With greater research into herbs, our analytical western minds (mine included) want to dissect the components and actions of herbs by looking at them as if they're drugs, but of course they're not.

There is a synergistic wholeness to herbs that simply doesn't exist in drugs that have been created to be *silver bullets*. So, taking out glycyrrhizin removes a lot of the fluid and water retention that one would think should be helpful for POTS, but there's probably something else going on with DGL that you find helpful.

Herbalists also use licorice root as an overall tonic to strengthen the system, and it might be that DGL is helpful for this as well, even without the glycyrrhizin.

There's actually quite a bit of data out there on licorice root as it's a *Commission E* approved herb in Germany for cough/bronchitis and gastritis. You should be able to locate the new PDR for herbal medicines to research this further. I have the PDR 2nd edition from 2000, but there's way too much to try to summarize here.

Many supplement companies online have a *health library* section, and there's always IHerbs online.

NOW Foods online has a health library section that gives some access to Herbalgram, IMO, the most reliable source for anything about herbs, but usually a bit technically written. Herbalgram is a subscription only journal, published by the American Botanical Council, but some articles are available through the NOW Foods website. Interestingly, there's one article there about a young man who's dizzy, had a positive TTT, and was taking Flourinef. It's titled "Using licorice root to treat vasovagal syncope". You might want to check that out.

But as I said before, licorice root is potent stuff - be cautious. More is not necessarily better.

[Wufflebear]

I will do more investigating. The stuff I have in a capsule is 300mg so I guess that is not much especially since it is DGL, although I guess it is not completely removed...it is just degraded to less than 2% er...ingredient... (-;

I did some research last night.

It does seem to kick down the foggies and anything that helps is a blessing, in my book. (-;

Thank you as always!