Is licorice harmful for hypertension

[Guest guest]

I have been taking various ayurvedic compounds over the years--Maharishi

Ayurveda--many

of which have licorice in them. After acquiring hypertension, I read somewhere

in Nancy

Lonsdorf's book "A Woman's Best Medicine" that people with hypertension should

stear away

from ingesting licorice. But, after consulting with the head of MA in Colorado,

USA, I was

instructed that when licorice is combined with other herbs in these age old

ayurvedic

formulas that it is not harmful to anyone. Do other ayurvedic doctors have any

feedback on

this? I have steered away from MA's Amrit products because they all have

licorice in them

and I thought I noticed my BP climbing after taking them.

[Guest guest]

Dear Candace,

That very often is the problem when you try to obtain info on drugs or

herbs used in ayurveda from books on herbal medicine. Ayurveda has its

own methodology of combining herbs and very often any ill-effects are

negated by other herbs or substances in the formulation. Some very

commonly used ayurvedic formulations contain herbs or plants which you

would find on the toxic plants list in herbal medicine or botany. But

the plants or herbs are processed and mixed with other

herbs/plants/substances in such a way that their toxic effect is

totally negated and only the beneficial part is obtained.

Having said that even ingestion of licorice alone in proper dosage

does not elevate blood pressure. But very often many ayurvedic herbs

are passed of as nutritional items and hence their dosage is not

regulated. In the recent controversy relating to the Lancet article, I

was suprised to know that mahalaxmi vilas is sold as a over-the-

counter product or rather off-the-shelf product when the fact is that

even in India it should be sold strictly on prescription of an

ayurvedic medical practioner only. Therefore there might be some other

substance in the medications you are taking which might be elevating

your BP.

 

Cyervaidya.

 

 

> After acquiring hypertension, I read somewhere in Nancy

> Lonsdorf's book "A Woman's Best Medicine" that people with

hypertension should stear away

> from ingesting licorice. But, after consulting with the head of MA

in Colorado, USA, I was

> instructed that when licorice is combined with other herbs in these

age old ayurvedic

> formulas that it is not harmful to anyone. Do other ayurvedic

doctors have any feedback on

> this? I have steered away from MA's Amrit products because they

all have licorice in them

> and I thought I noticed my BP climbing after taking them.

[Guest guest]

Just my two cents worth here guy's... I read that the FDA deemed licorice

Harmful after some guy in England eats 5 pounds of real licorice. I am

sorry, but if you eat 5 pounds of anything I would think it would raise your

blood pressure. My advice to you is to get one of those automatic blood

pressure cuffs and try a cup of licorice tea and see what happens. I think

everybody should have one of these at home anyway. There a great tool for

about 30 bucks and you can keep an eye on what is affecting you and what is

not.

Noel Gilbert

Counselor

Body, Mind & Soul

LifeStyle Counselor

Ayurveda - Herbalism

Nutrition - Medical Astrology

 

 

 

Dear Candace,

Ayurveda has its

own methodology of combining herbs and very often any ill-effects are

negated by other herbs or substances in the formulation. Some very

commonly used ayurvedic formulations contain herbs or plants which you

would find on the toxic plants list in herbal medicine or botany. But

the plants or herbs are processed and mixed with other

herbs/plants/substances in such a way that their toxic effect is

totally negated and only the beneficial part is obtained.

[Guest guest]

Candace

 

Cybervaidya and Noel have already cleared most of your doubts. Final

proof is that Licorice (Jethimadh in indian language) is used in an

anti-stress formulation of five herbs. (See message 3626, which

illustrates how ayurveda is a hormonious syntehsis and not analysis

using a science mindset.) A herb leading to hypertension, how can it

be used in a formulation for anti-stress effect? after all stress and

hypertension are just cause-effect duals. So head of MA in Colorado,

USA, gave you correct info.

 

Combining herbs is as skilled an art as indian cooking. A litle

change and new receipe gets produced, having different taste or

effects. Though using ready formulations produced by pharmacies is

slowly picking up, compounding mixture of herbs for each patient

still remains a sizeable practice, at least in villages.

 

dr bhate

 

 

ayurveda, "Candace" <cox-ct wrote:

After acquiring hypertension, I read somewhere in Nancy

> Lonsdorf's book "A Woman's Best Medicine" that people with

hypertension should stear away

> from ingesting licorice. But, after consulting with the head of MA

in Colorado, USA, I was

> instructed that when licorice is combined with other herbs in these

age old ayurvedic

> formulas that it is not harmful to anyone.

[Guest guest]

Wow, 5 pounds of licorice!!!! Over what duration?

What was he trying to do or was it one of these controlled studies

that are being conducted in the name of "science".

If you drink 5 pounds of "amrut" which is the nectar of life, that

will also lead to side-effects (maybe they will ban it then).

What is urgently needed is an ultra-modern mental asylum for persons

consuming any substances in such large quantities and more so for the

guys who deem the substance harmful based on the incident.

On a more serious note, many votaries of modern medicine shout from

roof-tops that in order to prove or disprove the benefits of any drug

it has to be administered to a large population under controlled

conditions. How does one person consuming insane amounts of any drug

fulfill the parameters to declare it harmful?

 

 

Cybervaidya

 

> Just my two cents worth here guy's... I read that the FDA deemed

licorice

> Harmful after some guy in England eats 5 pounds of real licorice. I

am

> sorry, but if you eat 5 pounds of anything I would think it would

raise your

> blood pressure.

[Guest guest]

This is why they banned comfrey here - same reason - overdose & ban - also Kava

Kava - the Dutch eat liquorice by the kg - probably about 77% of those I care

for are on anti-hypertensives.

 

Jane

 

> Wow, 5 pounds of licorice!!!! Over what duration?

> What was he trying to do or was it one of these controlled studies

> that are being conducted in the name of "science".

> If you drink 5 pounds of "amrut" which is the nectar of life, that

> will also lead to side-effects (maybe they will ban it then).

[Guest guest]

Jane,

 

Do you have morre information about the ban on comfrey? I used to make

kitcheree and put in fresh comfrey leaves but stopped after I heard about the

ban. I was not sure if it was an FDA ineptness or a real problem so I erred on

the side of being safe.

 

GB

 

Re: Is licorice harmful for hypertension

 

This is why they banned comfrey here - same reason - overdose & ban -

also Kava Kava - the Dutch eat liquorice by the kg - probably about 77%

of those I care for are on anti-hypertensives.