Licorice Root, “Medicinal Plant of the Year”
In 2012, Licorice Root was named the “medicinal plant of the year” by the Study Group for Herbal Research at the University of Wurzburg, Germany.
The common use for Licorice Root is for the adrenals. Licorice Root aids in healing the adrenal glands by strengthening and restoring damage to the body caused by severe stress, overworked adrenals and extreme nervousness and irritability. Licorice Root gives a stimulating lift to produce its own cortisone and helps the pancreas better control insulin release.
Licorice Root helps with acid reflux, and is used for soothing gastrointestinal problems, stomach ulcers, heartburn, and food poisoning. It helps with symptoms of pain and cramping caused by ulcers. Licorice Root neutralizes and help prevent Helicobacter pylori from attaching to the walls of the stomach. H.Pylori is a common type of bacteria that found in the digestive tract. Licorice help prevent and heal ulcers and other conditions due to the inflammatory response caused by bacteria.
Licorice Root soothes and softens the mucous membranes of the throat, lungs, stomach, intestines, and cleanses any inflamed mucous membranes that needs immune system support. Licorice Root loosens phlegm in the respiratory tract, so that the body can expel the mucus.
Licorice Root helps reduce body fat by ramping up metabolic function due to its thermogenic properties. Licorice affects the production of ghrelin, the hunger hormone which helps reduce appetite. Also, Licorice Root is known to decrease adipose tissue mass. Body fat drops and hydration levels increase, while both weight and blood pressure remained constant.
Licorice Root has as anti-inflammatory substance to help in gastric or bowel irritations and also helps the inflammation caused by hemorrhoids. Licorice Root is also beneficial for liver health. It helps your liver recuperate from the effects of drinking alcohol, preventing the onset of fatty liver disease.
One compound in Licorice Root, carbenoxolone, which helps reduce stress and slows brain aging which leads to dementia. Another compound in Licorice Root, liquiritigenin, has positive effects on brain cells, specifically for treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. Licorice Root helps prevent other brain and cognitive dysfunctions and diseases, and boosts memory. Licorice Root also aids in treating symptoms of depression.
The component amorphousness found in Licorice Root possesses anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory properties. It helps to reduce blood sugar, inhibit the development of insulin resistance, and assists in preventing Type-2 diabetes.
Licorice Root helps slow the progression of neurological symptoms and provides relief from chronic fatigue. This root helps regulate the nervous system function, allowing your body to handle excessive amounts of stress. Because Licorice Root prevents adrenal exhaustion by providing support to the glands which balances female hormones, premenstrual syndrome, menopause and bone loss. For women, Licorice Root stimulates ovulation by positively impacting estrogen levels in women. Those same flavonoids seems to negatively impact testosterone in men.
Licorice Root is known to induce sleep and enhance sleep duration. Gabriel and liquiritigenin are two compounds that increase the length of non-REM sleep without disturbing deep sleep patterns. Taking Licorice Root an hour before bedtime can assist with the release of GABA, inducing feelings of sleepiness that improves the time it takes to fall asleep, as well as have a positive impact on the quality of your sleep.
Licorice Root can have a dampening affect on the cold and flu viruses as well as other more chronic viruses. Licorice root helps inhibit the effects of herpes simplex viruses. Also, addresses symptoms related to more serious viruses such as hepatitis, flu and even HIV and SARS viruses.
Licorice Root helps prevents life-threatening infections that occur frequently after burns. Glycyrrhizin found in Licorice Root improves the ability of damaged skin to defend itself against bacteria.
We recommend limiting your consumption of Licorice Root (including tea) for no more than four consecutive weeks.
Healthy people may consume 15 grams of pure Licorice Root per day, when accompanied by a healthy diet and regular activity regimen. But at no time should you consume more than 50 grams per day.
People with hypertension should avoid Licorice Root.
DISCLAIMER
This information is to be used for educational purposes only and has been solely based on the historic and traditional use of herbs. This information has not been evaluated by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Part of KuKista’s roots come from an original group informally interested in knowing more about the healing properties of medicinal plants. Initially, a collective effort to compile information to share with each other was started without regards to sources or references. KuKista recognizes all information on our website to be “shared” information without the intention of plagiarism, acknowledgement to original authors and sources or copyright infringements. We have made a conscious effort to give credit where credit is due, and will be happy to reference, change or remove any particular source information.
