It is noted that glycyrrhizic acid, which is contained in licorice root, can provoke an increase in blood pressure, therefore, according to WHO recommendations, its use should be limited to 100 milligrams or less. Swedish scientists decided to test whether this “safe limit” poses any health risks.

The researchers recruited 28 healthy volunteers aged 18 to 30 years who were divided into an intervention group and a control group. So, the first of them consumed 3.3 grams of sweet licorice candy containing 100 milligrams of glycyrrhizic acid daily for two weeks, while the control group was given vegan salty licorice candies without this acid. Two weeks after the experiment, the groups switched places.

The subjects had their blood pressure measured before the study and during their participation in the study, and the findings suggest that consuming licorice containing 100 milligrams of glycyrrhizic acid may increase blood pressure in young, healthy people. The average increase, according to scientists, was 3.1 millimeters of mercury. The researchers pointed out that such an increase had not previously been found for such a small amount of licorice consumed.