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

bbc.co.uk

311–320 of 374 posts

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

#311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> (Not many people like salty licorice, given a choice.) That's about as sensible as saying "Not many people like salty popcorn".

One of the weird things I’ve found traveling internationally is that salt & butter popcorn is apparently an American thing. In Asia and South America popcorn is almost always sweet. Salt & butter popcorn is one of those things you don’t realize how much you’ll miss it until you go to every market and movie theater in town and can’t find any popcorn that’s not sweet :-/

This is just not true. Salty popcorn is very normal in both Europe and Latin America. The artificial butter component is something that is more American and rarer outside of the US.

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

#312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's a very acquired flavor... I don't think that it is actually "acquired". You liked it as a child, and still do. I find it to be vile and inedible, and always have. This preference seems to innate and fixed.

I don't care for it, but I don't hate it. It's kind of "meh". Don't see what the fuss is, either way.

> I don't care for it, but I don't hate it. It's kind of "meh".

Therefor, if there is a gene that makes one sensitive to the extreme pungency of liquorice in bad way, then you don't have it. You just fall somewhere on the range of preferences that you might find for any taste.

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

#314
post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

familiarity breeds comfort. A common hack to get your kids to eat anything, is to force them to try it at least 10 different times. They always keep spitting it out or crying they don't like it. Eventually one time you feed it to them and they get used to it and like it, as if they never threw a fit with it before. Not everybody's parents did this. That's why there's grown adults that eat nothing but pizza or steak a…

Yeah it's odd. I didn't like coffee much until I got a job stacking shelves as a teenager. I'd walk past the instant coffee section a lot. One day a customer bumped the display and a large jar smashed open on the floor. Cleaning it up and smelling it, I suddenly realised I now liked it.

This doesn't have much to do with polarising tastes such as liquorice.

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

#315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who takes a considerable amount of a potassium-sparing diuretic every day for medical reasons, it just occurred to me that I might benefit from eating more licorice, as hyperkalemia is an actual risk of my meds.

Is it Spiro?

Yes it is.

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

#316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So as an aside - I've had some salted liquorice in Sweden, and the closest I can't compare this experience to is having drain cleaner poured on your tongue, and then rubbed in with some sandpaper. But hey, we eat pickled mushrooms and meat in jelly, so what do I know ;-)

Wait until you try the Finnish salty liquorice alcohol called Salmiakkikossu. I love the salty candy but this is foul :) I read once that it was best described as old tractor tires marinated in moose piss :)

Oooh I really like salmiak candy, so that actually sounds pretty good to me. It's really interesting that love for salty licorice & salmiak is concentrated in only a handfull of countries.

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

#317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

What does being from a tropical country have to do with it? I know plenty of tropical country that like salt lassi to which I had the same reaction (who would drink this horrible thing on purpose). But they do. It's a staple.

There might be some little bit salty and spicy drinks, but certainly there is no strong salty candies from where I come from. GP mentioned it might be beneficial in colder climate, which is probably why the culture around here never develops that kind of candies because there is no real need for it. Instead, we have no shortage of sour and spicy traditional candies and snack though.

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

#319
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The demented quantities (of everything) that are very common in the US are probably very infrequent in Holland.

I get your point and I personally do consider the dietary habits of many Americans outright insane (though it has to be said that many may have not as much "choice" to eat more healthy, since healthy food appears to have become a inaccessible privilege for many). However, I would (in periods) eat up to 500~700 grams of this stuff myself. Not quite what you could call a small amount by any measure. Still, not a single…

> healthy food appears to have become a inaccessible privilege for many

Is that really the case? I live in Eastern Europe. Unhealthy food is inaccessible privilege for many. Instead I eat stews of legumes, which are healthy, and ridiculously cheap. I never understood this "healthy food is more expensive" thing, it most definitely is not the case here. All sorts of legumes, vegetables, and the ingredients to make healthy food are all very cheap, in comparison to pizza, or junk food, etc. which are expensive and I actually cannot financially live on them.

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

#320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> (Not many people like salty licorice, given a choice.) That's about as sensible as saying "Not many people like salty popcorn".

One of the weird things I’ve found traveling internationally is that salt & butter popcorn is apparently an American thing. In Asia and South America popcorn is almost always sweet. Salt & butter popcorn is one of those things you don’t realize how much you’ll miss it until you go to every market and movie theater in town and can’t find any popcorn that’s not sweet :-/

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