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Everything in moderation is fine. A Massachusetts man wasn’t big on moderation, at least when it came to black licorice, and the excessive consumption led to his death.
According to the New England Journal of Medicine, the deceased consumed a bag and a half of the black licorice every day in the weeks before his death.
Doctors explained that licorice contains glycyrrhizic acid, which depletes potassium levels and contributes to heart rhythm problems.
Dr. Neel Butala, a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, described the case in the New England Journal of Medicine explaining, “even a small amount of licorice you eat can increase your blood pressure a little bit.”
The Food and Drug Administration even warns that eating just 2 ounces of black licorice a day for two weeks could lead to an irregular heartbeat.
The licorice man collapsed at a fast-food restaurant – act shocked- and died the next day. His doctors discovered the man was dangerously low on potassium, which led to heart rhythm and other problems.
A spokesman for the Hershey Company, makers of the popular Twizzlers licorice twists, told the AP, “all of our products are safe to eat and formulated in full compliance with FDA regulations.”
[via NEJM]
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