Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
Liquorice is the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra, a small legume shrub. In German it is called Süßholz, meaning "sweet wood". The dried root and its extracts go into sweets, teas, cough syrups and capsules.
European folk healers reached for it mainly for coughs, sore throats and upset stomachs. Long use in a tradition is not proof that a remedy works. It is also not proof that it is safe.
Honest verdict: human evidence for benefit is thin and comes from a few small trials. The harm side is better proven than the benefit side.
Glycyrrhizin, the sweet compound in the root, can raise blood pressure and drop potassium (a key body salt). That effect is well documented in people, and it is dose related.
The best-proven action of liquorice in people is on salt and water balance, and it is not a wanted one.
The gut turns glycyrrhizin into glycyrrhetinic acid. In people, this blocks a kidney enzyme (a helper protein) that normally switches off cortisol, a stress hormone. The body then holds sodium and water and loses potassium.
This is why blood pressure can rise, ankles can swell and muscles can weaken. The effect builds with daily use.
The soothing claims are less certain. In test tubes and animal work, liquorice compounds appear to calm inflammation and coat irritated tissue.
In lab tests, some compounds slow Helicobacter pylori, a stomach bug linked to ulcers. Whether that happens inside a person's stomach is not established.
DGL stands for deglycyrrhizinated liquorice, which has most glycyrrhizin stripped out. The idea is to keep the soothing feel without the blood pressure risk. Human proof that DGL helps ulcers or indigestion is limited and mostly old.
The key question with any form is how much glycyrrhizin it carries, and that varies hugely.
Dried root pieces and root powder are brewed as tea or chewed.
Teabags and cut-root blends appear in many cough and stomach teas, often mixed with other herbs.
Liquid extracts and tinctures are concentrated. Strength differs from maker to maker.
Capsules and tablets often state a glycyrrhizin amount on the label. That number is worth reading.
DGL chewable tablets have most of the glycyrrhizin removed. They are sold for stomach complaints.
Liquorice sweets and salty liquorice count too. So do some pastis-style drinks, herbal cough syrups and chewing tobaccos. People often forget these add up.
Gels and creams with glabridin are sold for skin tone. Human evidence for that use is weak.
Liquorice has one of the longest records of any European herb. Greek and Roman writers described the sweet root, and it later filled monastery gardens.
In German-speaking lands it was known as Süßholz. Bamberg in Bavaria grew it on a large scale for centuries.
Folk use centred on dry coughs, hoarseness, sore throats and sour stomachs. It was boiled into black sticks, syrups and lozenges.
Apothecaries also used it to mask the taste of bitter medicines. That habit carried into modern pharmacy.
From the 1900s it became a sweet as much as a medicine, especially in the Netherlands and the Nordic countries. Its salt and water effect was only described by doctors in the mid-20th century, after cases of swelling and high blood pressure.
Stop using it and see a doctor if you notice puffy ankles, hands or face, new headaches, muscle weakness or cramps, or unusual tiredness.
Get urgent medical help for chest pain, a racing or skipping heartbeat, fainting, or weakness so bad you cannot move a limb.
Also seek urgent help for dark brown urine with aching muscles, which can mean muscle breakdown.
If you have indigestion with weight loss, black stools, vomiting blood or trouble swallowing, see a doctor straight away rather than treating it yourself.
In the EU and UK, liquorice is an ordinary food and flavouring, and sweets above a set glycyrrhizin level must carry a liquorice warning on the label. In the United States it is allowed as a food flavouring, and supplements are sold without pre-approval for safety or effect.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
Reviewed by the HealisticMD editorial team How we grade evidence →
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
One email with the summary. We'll also send a short weekly evidence update — unsubscribe any time.
