WOW Maternal Licorice Consumption In Pregnancy May Be Associated With Lower IQ, AD/HD-Like Behavior, Early Puberty In Kids.

reported that “eating large amounts of licorice during pregnancy could lead to a lower IQ,” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD)-like “behavior, and early puberty in kids,” researchers found. The findings of the 378-participant study were published online Feb. 3 in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Eating too much licorice is potentially harmful even for those not pregnant. In particular, black licorice contains glycyrrhizin, a sweetening compound taken from licorice root. The compound can cause potassium levels in the body to fall, which can lead to abnormal heart rhythms, high blood pressure, oedema (swelling), lethargy, and heart failure, according to the Cleveland Clinic. During pregnancy, glycyrrhizin is believed to impair the placenta by allowing stress hormones to cross from the mother to the baby. High levels of hormones like glucocorticoids are thought to affect fetal brain development, and are linked to behavioral disorders in children. In a 2013 study, Professor Jonathan Seckl, an endocrinologist at the Queen’s Medical Research Institute at the University of Edinburgh, and study author, explained to The Telegraph: “If you inhibit this barrier then you start to get children being born with low birth weight and who have altered stress responses and depression. This may be what underpins the variation you get from one individual to another.” http://www.medicaldaily.com/eating-licorice-candy-during-pregnancy-may-lead-adhd-symptoms-early-puberty-410245 Inappropriate use of licorice can produce pseudoaldosteronism, by inactivating 11β-hydroxysteroiod-dehydrogenase and by binding to mineralocorticoid receptors. Licorice possesses many other therapeutic properties as to potentiate the action of cortisol, to reduce testosterone synthesis, especially in women, to exert an estrogen-like activity and to reduce body fat mass.