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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

#171

Post by andyroid »

neurostimulant wrote: post #154
WorldMaker wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The origin of salty licorice was as a throat lozenge (same reason a singer might gargle salt water ever so often to keep their throat healthy) in cold/freezing fishing waters. (The salt was the important bit, the licorice was just the flavor the fisherman really like to make it sweeter and easier to chew.) It wasn't invented to be an appetite suppressor, though for a lot of people it certainly is. (Not many people li…

As a person from a tropical country, I was puzzled with all those salty "candy" sold in the west. I ate one and thought who the hell would eat this horrible salty candy on purpose? So those are actually good for the throat on freezing climate?

From a Nordic country myself and have never experienced that effect, nor heard of anyone who would eat it for that. We just like it for the taste. Getting a little more cautious from reading all the comments here though!

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

#172

Post by parksy »

Wistar wrote: post #90
EForEndeavour wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Well, what about black licorice with salt and butter?

Anethole, one of the major flavour components of liquorice, is shared among a range of popular cooking herbs and spices.

Milder-tasting fennel goes great with loads of cooking, it's quite common to chop up a fennel root to add to slow-cook roasts / braises, or sprinkle fennel seeds over roasts and mix into dry rubs.

Anise has a stronger flavour than fennel, which lends itself to stocks, sauces and curries.

Less commonly you'll see liquorice root itself used in cooking, I haven't used it myself but I don't see why it wouldn't work - if balanced out and seasoned properly.

edit: Of course, just pan frying a slab of black liquorice with salt and butter would get mixed reactions, personally I'd find it overpowering, like eating straight up peppercorns even though they work well in moderation as a seasoning.

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

#173

Post by netule »

FandangoRanger wrote: post #159

Liquorice is not licorice in the US. Only licorice has licorice in it. Liquorice does not.

Indeed. I'm a Dutch guy who migrated to the US and have had to import all my licorice from abroad since it just doesn't taste the same.

Though, now I may want to rethink this consumption.

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

#174

Post by pvaldes »

copperx wrote: post #98
jasonv wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been eating a small handful of gluten-free licorice daily for the last couple of months.. dang.

Is liquorice derived from wheat?

Not, is from the root of a legume. Anything that substitutes cereal flour by legume flour is gluten free. Same if you just mash the dried root to extract the flavor, instead to eat the candy bar.

The problem is that legume flour is normally very toxic in raw, and therefore more complicated to produce.

Legumes have a much better reputation than Solanaceae, but they are still able to build some serious chemical weapons. Licorice belongs to the same tribe as Colutea, a genus used to poison mammals. Is the only genus seen as edible in its group if I'm not wrong. I don't know if it can be adulterated.

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

#175

Post by Smileyferret »

pkaye wrote: post #125
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?

Not necessarily. Believe it or not, dexamethasone (another corticosteroid) is actually a second-line treatment for this disease because it reduces endogenous cortisol production without binding too tightly to the mineralocorticoid receptor in the kidneys.

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

#176

Post by 74ls00 »

_Microft wrote: post #138

There was a case when a woman in Germany also ate lots of liquorice on a daily basis and developed health problems. The case went to court because she thought that she should have been warned by the producer. It was dismissed with a reason like "common sense dictates that this was a bad idea" (think: "lol, wut? u dumb").

I don’t know, seems reasonable to me. How many people on the street would know when asked what the safe dosage of liquorice is? Guess most would say it’s no worse than any sugary candy. Is it not similar to an allergy?

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

#177

Post by dylan604 »

verst wrote: post #153
icedistilled wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah Then purpose of the salty licorice with ammonium chloride must be to prevent people from consuming too much in one sitting. Usually I can only make it 2/3rd through a single piece before the ammonia flavor is too over powering.

I loved eating that stuff as a kid growing up in Germany. Still do, but can't easily find it in Seattle. It's a very acquired flavor... just like I absolutely cannot get used to the taste of IPAs.

Sort of like Jaegermeister. I can't believe people drink that by choice.

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

#178

Post by mstade »

simongray wrote: post #168
MisterBastahrd wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't imagine why someone from the land of fermented shark flesh would like the flavor of ammonia.

In Denmark we mixed in some pepper with the salt, making salty licorice with pepper inside (Tyrkisk Peber). People love that stuff.

I just ate a bag of it tonight in Sweden, I love that stuff!

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

#179

Post by tomjakubowski »

nicoburns wrote: post #160
NineStarPoint wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t really buy that it makes that much of a difference. As a child I hated all forms of broccoli, could barely stomach it. Now that I’ve grown older I find even the plain steamed stuff edible. While I certainly like it prepped like you described, it still in the end has the taste of broccoli in it. I have a hard time imagining someone who hates the vegetable caring about how it was prepared.

It probably makes more of a difference if you kind-of liked it to start with. I will happily munch on broccoli and other green veg out of choice, but it can taste a bit plain. If you salt and butter it, it brings out the flavour, which is a good thing if you like the underlying taste.

A little acid (lemon juice) goes a long way too.

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

#180

Post by ben_w »

rabboRubble wrote: post #136
umvi wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...so just let tourists and foreigners in your country fend for themselves and hope the internet warns them before they eat too much unlabeled poison?

let's hope those tourists and foreigners read Dutch if and when labels are added to packaging!

I use Google Translate when I browse food somewhere I can’t read the language.
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