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Mothers-to-be have been warned against eating licorice, after researchers found that it could increase the unborn child’s risk of disease as an adult.
August 9, 2010
A study by the Great Ormond Street Hospital and the University of Helsinki found that glycyrrhizin — an ingredient in licorice — affected the levels of the stress-hormone cortisol, the UK’s Daily Mail reported.
Cortisol is released during periods of stress to help the body cope, but has also been linked to diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.
The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, found that eight-year-olds whose mothers had eaten even small amounts — around half a gram — of licorice a week had up to a third higher levels of cortisol in their systems compared to children whose mothers didn’t eat licorice.
An earlier joint project between the University of Helsinki and the University of Edinburgh looked at 321 eight-year-old children from Finland, whose mothers’ licorice intake was monitored during pregnancy.
Researchers in that 2009 study found that children whose mothers had eaten large amounts of licorice did not perform as well in cognitive tests and were more likely to have poor attention spans and show disruptive behaviour, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, researchers said in a media release.
The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology in October 2009, suggested an ingredient in licorice called glycyrrhizin affected the placenta and allowed the glucocorticoid stress hormones to pass through to the unborn baby.
Researchers found that women who ate 500mg of glycyrrhizin a week — or around 100g of licorice — were more likely to have children with reduced intelligence and behavioural issues.
“This shows that eating licorice during pregnancy may affect a child’s behaviour or IQ and suggests the importance of the placenta in preventing stress hormones that may affect cognitive development getting through to the baby,” the University of Edinburgh’s Professor Jonathan Seckl said.
Licorice root — also known as the blue flowering snow pea — has been a major ingredient in Chinese medicine for more than 3000 years, FoodMuseum.com reported, and appears in many herbal remedies for everything from coughs and colds to constipation.