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Man dies from eating more than a bag of liquorice a day

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Man dies from eating more than a bag of liquorice a day

#121

Post by samatman »

ponker wrote: post #110
dang wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comment and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24581592 are obviously not cool. If you keep posting flamewar comments we're going to have to ban you again. I don't want to do that, so can you please fix this? Did you not see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23255339 or https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23469154 ?

What is your claim here? That Americans do not consume in absurd quantities as a way of life? Meat, sugar, oil, land, etc.? Is this even a matter of serious debate?

The Netherlands has a 20% obesity rate.

Granted that this isn't the 36% in the United States.

But it doesn't justify your confident claim that Nederlanders never engage in 'wanton consumption'; clearly a fifth of your compatriots take a third stroopwafel when a single serving would suffice.

Re: Man dies from eating more than a bag of liquorice a day

#122

Post by lepton »

ThePadawan wrote: post #97
sjg007 wrote: post #13

Wow.. unusual case but perhaps black licorice needs to come with warning labels!

It doesn't in the US? The strongest liquorice in Germany has to be labelled (translated word-by-word) as "Strong liquorice, extra strong, liquorice for adults - not children's liquorice" [0] [0] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakritz#Zusammensetzung_von_La...

That just sounds like an invitation to try! No indication of possible harmful effects?

Re: Man dies from eating more than a bag of liquorice a day

#123

Post by DoofusOfDeath »

EForEndeavour wrote: post #82
jdofaz wrote: post #77

Dr. Hibbert: Another broccoli-related death. Marge: But I thought broccoli was— Dr. Hibbert: Oh yes. One of the deadliest plants on Earth. Why, it tries to warn you itself with its terrible taste. I feel the same about Liquorice

Humor aside: oven-roasted or pan-seared broccoli with garlic, salt, and butter tastes amazing! And depending on how much salt and butter you add, is probably way safer to eat than black liquorice.

Another variation, which my family really enjoys is: cut fresh broccoli into small florets; toss with olive oil and (optionally) salt/pepper; roast in oven at high temp until desired softness.

I tried butter with my broccoli once, and I found it tasted unpleasantly fatty. (And I'm no stranger to fatty foods.)

Re: Man dies from eating more than a bag of liquorice a day

#125

Post by pkaye »

Smileyferret wrote: post #99

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apparent_mineralocorticoid_exc... We actually learned about this in med school last week, but I never thought it actually happened to people... Licorice contains glycyrrhetinic acid which inhibits the conversion of cortisol to cortisone. If you have too much cortisol floating around because of this, that cortisol starts activating receptors in your kidneys that are normally activated by…

So it would me even more deadly if they were taking Prednisone?

Re: Man dies from eating more than a bag of liquorice a day

#126

Post by samatman »

Ah, see, I love black liquorice. I always thought people who hate it just lack an adventurous palate, but at least it was an opportunity to relieve them of their black jellybeans.

It turns out I was simply ignoring a clear biological signal that the substance is dangerous, in the pursuit of pleasurable sensation.

Ah well. Wouldn't be the first time, and won't be the last!

Re: Man dies from eating more than a bag of liquorice a day

#127

Post by DVassallo »

starkred wrote: post #41

I was surprised to see how clearly the FDA recommends against black licorice consumption. https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/black-licoric... > If you’re 40 or older, eating 2 ounces of black licorice a day for at least two weeks could land you in the hospital with an irregular heart rhythm or arrhythmia. I love black licorice but as far as I'm concerned that's enough of a reason to do without. Just becau…

Something can be harmless or even beneficial at one dose, and fatal at another dose.

People have died from drinking too much water. Or breathing too much oxygen.

Re: Man dies from eating more than a bag of liquorice a day

#129

Post by WorldMaker »

AnotherGoodName wrote: post #22

Another similar one is chocolate poisoning. Humans can handle 3 times more chocolate per KG of body mass than dogs so the risk is much smaller to us but we're still susceptible at the extremes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theobromine_poisoning

Humans can do it much easier with Caffeine. The pathways are related (and basically swapped between humans and dogs; in theory a dog would experience coffee more like we experience hot chocolate). That's why Four Loko was so dangerous and why a lot of colleges tend to have massive "Caffeine Pill Awareness" campaigns and why college administrators (and psychologists) have sometimes thought that Caffeine in any pill form should be "behind the counter" and somewhat strictly controlled because humans can't be trusted with Caffeine doses in pill form and overdoses are more common than a lot of people think.

Re: Man dies from eating more than a bag of liquorice a day

#130

Post by ChickeNES »

BrandoElFollito wrote: post #104

I know that this is not related but I cannot unsee the comments about a similar sweet (Haribo sugar free bear) [1] We do not have these in France (despite having the Haribo museum in the south) so I cannot tell whether this is true or just a sophisticated ad campaign. I am generally very skeptical about food that is completely made up from non-food (that is above "processed") but in the case of licorice this is a swe…

> We do not have these in France (despite having the Haribo museum in the south) so I cannot tell whether this is true or just a sophisticated ad campaign.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylitol#Humans

Though I don't know what you mean by "non-foods"?

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