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Zen Peddler

Licorice - mood elevation?

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i find the mood elevation and relaxed feeling I get from licorice root and tea most interesting.

Some articles suggest its a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Other studies suggest that the mood elevation of licorice was not altered by a chemical that supresses Serotonin release and believe therefore it is mediated by norepinephrine and dopamine. Still other research suggests licorice contains MAOI constituents, selective to MAOI - A over MAOI B.

Anyone got any ideas? Surely an SNRI would not result in feelings of relaxation and calm?

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i don't like licorice, even since childhood, i even get a bit sick from it (psychosomatic responce?)

somewhere, i even picked up, it contains some stuff, which is bad for us??

however, one of my ex gf, loved the stuff, like crazy and seemed to get uplifted by it (she would suddenly start polishing the helmet, after consuming it). :wink::blush:B)

she aswell, would always say, if it was good stuff, or not, so i assume, it must have done something, but proly the word sugar has to do with it aswell.

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I come from a country where licorice is almost a national dish. Love it.

The trouble is, too much gives me headaches. Probably not surprising, as the glycyrrhizinic acid and glycyrrhetinic acid in it is known to raise blood pressure.

Consume with care.

Edited by WoodDragon
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The reason it can cause high blood pressure is that glycyrrhizin produces a dop in potassium levels which can also result in irregular heartbeat and in some cases, congestive heart failure. It is a dose related response, which means the more you eat, the more pronounced the effects. People over 40 years old are more prone to this. Per FDA info, 5 pieces a day for 2 weeks straight is enough to cause trouble. Best enjoyed in moderation. Interestingly, the city I live in here in the US Midwest has a store that specializes in licorice, and the stuff they import from Oz is considered some of the best. I love it. Just not everyday.

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I never tried it in me but an old female friend used to use the real plant derived licorice as a mood altering female aphrodisiac. She said it also worked in her female friends who tried it back in the 70's but I never got independent confirmation from other girls because the stuff is rare in the US these days. American products are mostly made from star anise or petroleum now.

Any observations on the female aphrodisiac aspect?

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Excuse me? Petroleum-based licorice?!?!?! :puke:


I notice licorice produces a mood elevation in me - perhaps on par with dark chocolate. It's also really bad to eat it during pregnancy IIRC - they did a study in perhaps Denmark, and found that it was bad, for some reason.

But other than that, it seems fine for me - so I occasionally eat it. :)
I ALSO notice, that it produces satiation/fullness in me. I'm one of those people who don't feel a strong "fullness" after eating sugar or carbs - I can just keep eating them (unless I've been exercising heavily lately) - I also have an extremely hard time just "saving" it for next time, so I prefer to avoid them altogether. But I found with dark chocolate, or licorice - I feel full well before I would otherwise. So when I eat sugar, I try to restrict it to these two, as they produce fullness feelings. :)

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Thanks for the replies. The blood pressure effects were why I take it. Its not the potassium depletion that raises blood pressure - that is a by product of the increase in aldosterone and sodium which pushes the balance with potassium out. Licorice causes psuedo hyperaldosteronism.

but on interested in its mood-based side effects and am leaning toward dopamine.

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I stand corrected on the potassium mechanism, Zen.

You got me curious about the mood-based effects and so I did a bit of looking around on this lazy day. I do think you're probably right about the dopamine connection. In one animal study from the Indian Journal of Pharmacology, they gave mice glycyrrhizin and found it to be as effective as imipramine and fluoxetine as an antidepressant agent. Co-administration of p-chlorophenylalanine, which is an inhibitor of serotonin synthesis, did not alter the antidepressant effect. But sulpiride, which is a selective D2 receptor antagonist, and prazosin, which is an a1-adrenoceptor antagonist, did reduce the antidepressant effect. Which likely means the effect is a combination of adrenergic and dopaminergic effects, at least for the mice in the study. Could very well be a similar mechanism at work in humans. I've never noticed the effect, but maybe I need to eat a bit more licorice or try the root and tea, as you have. Next time I notice a sad looking mouse, I might toss some her way....

Evaluation of antidepressant-like activity of glycyrrhizin in mice

Year : 2005 | Volume : 37 | Issue : 6 | Page : 390-394
Dinesh Dhingra, Amandeep Sharma

India Journal of Pharmacology

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thansk for posting that dude - that might explain it. have any of you guys found something similar when you drink a tea of the ground root?

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An interesting question that came to mind is whether one could co-administer an herb with a1-adrenoceptor antagonist action in order to reduce undesired adrenergic effects of the licorice, thus emphasizing the dopamine side of things.

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The reason it can cause high blood pressure is that glycyrrhizin produces a dop in potassium levels which can also result in irregular heartbeat and in some cases, congestive heart failure. It is a dose related response, which means the more you eat, the more pronounced the effects. People over 40 years old are more prone to this. Per FDA info, 5 pieces a day for 2 weeks straight is enough to cause trouble. Best enjoyed in moderation. Interestingly, the city I live in here in the US Midwest has a store that specializes in licorice, and the stuff they import from Oz is considered some of the best. I love it. Just not everyday.

Don't mix licorice with SSRI's

Heart Problems linked to SSRI antidepressants

The study, which involved data from more than 38,000 adults, found that patients taking Celexa or certain other antidepressants called serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) had a significantly longer QT interval, which is an indicator of abnormal heart rhythms. The disturbance increased with greater doses of the drugs.

In all, nearly one in five patients taking these drugs had longer QT intervals. In an updated drug safety communication from the FDA, it’s noted that Celexa “use at any dose is discouraged in patients with certain conditions because of the risk of QT prolongation.”

“Changes in the electrical activity of the heart (specifically, prolongation of the QT interval of the electrocardiogram [ECG]) can lead to a risk of an abnormal heart rhythm called Torsade de Pointes, which can be fatal.

 

Patients at particular risk for developing prolongation of the QT interval include those with underlying heart conditions and
those who are predisposed to having low levels of potassium and magnesium in the blood
.

 

A friend's mother became addicted to licorice tea, and ended up in hospital with abnormal heart rhythms from licorice, she would make two or three teapots a day and drink it almost constantly, like water.

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Good advice on the SSRI/licorice combo. Not a great idea.

There are also some other type of meds that can cause low potassium that one would probably best avoid in combination with licorice. This would include certain diuretics ("water pills"), some medicines used for asthma or COPD (beta-adrenergic agonist type drugs like bronchodilators, or theophylline) and aminoglycosides type antibiotics. If you're already taking one of these, adding licorice could tip the scale further. I have read that 1 of 5 patients admitted to hospitals in the US (not sure about Oz) have low potassium.

Bottom line is moderation and be aware if you're already in a position of having low potassium.

That being said, I find licorice much more interesting than I once did, Zen.

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Wow.....licorice seems to do it all. What system doesn't it work on? Amazing mix of properties.

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