BLACK LICORICE CANDY CAN BE DEADLY, MASSACHUSETTS MAN DISCOVERS
So. Black licorice can kill you. Seriously. And I know, I know, anything can kill you, especially if there’s too much of it. But licorice, never mind black licorice, was not an item I would ever have put on my list of deadly things I need to avoid. But I did know someone in college who had an overdose. Of carrots. They were some kind of obsessive health nut on a diet. And ate a LOT of raw carrots, getting a carotene overdose. But black licorice is, just… well, black licorice. It that’s your thing you already know you like it. But one man in Massachusetts found out the hard way. Eating it every day will kill you. It certainly killed him.
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54-YEAR-OLD COLLAPSED IN FAST FOOD PLACE, ONLY TO DIE A DAY LATER
The man was just 54 years old. He happened to be in a fast food joint when his trouble started, suddenly. He began gasping, got severe shakes and passed out. An EMS team realized the man was suffering from ventricular fibrillation. That’s a major rhythm issue of the heart which can be deadly. They gave him CPR and quickly took him to the hospital. And all of this, from black licorice? He regained consciousness, if briefly. At the hospital, he received treatment for extremely low potassium levels and was on a ventilator. But he passed away despite that 32 hours after arriving.
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NATURAL BLACK LICORICE INGREDIENT CAN LITERALLY STOP YOUR HEART, EVENIN MODERATION
So how did black licorice kill this man? Well, he didn’t have the best diet. In fact, he ate one to two large bags of candy every single day. And just a few weeks before his death, he had switched from red, fruity candy to….. black licorice candy. But one of the ingredients is glycyrrhizin, which comes from the licorice root itself. But glycyrrhizin can lower your potassium levels. And that can mean high blood pressure and bad rhythms of the heart. And that black licorice with glycyrrhizin every day diet is what killed this poor man. If you are over 40, only 2 ounces of this black death candy can put you at risk.
And no, anise is not the same, which is what you will see in many supposed “licorice” products. But do be on the lookout for glycyrrhizin. It could kill you.
