Reports of people dying from eating too much black licorice are few and far between, but they do exist.

Several case reports show that daily black licorice consumption leads to a condition called pseudohyperaldosteronism, which can be lethal if untreated.

The most recent report — published on Sept. 23, 2020 — involved a 54-year-old man who had been in a fast-food restaurant when he suddenly lost consciousness (1).

Emergency medical personnel arrived at the restaurant and identified that the man was experiencing ventricular fibrillation, a serious type of irregular heartbeat.

The man was rushed to the hospital but died 32 hours later after experiencing electrolyte imbalances and multiorgan failure.

The doctor concluded the patient died of pseudohyperaldosteronism, a medical condition wherein your body mimics the effects of elevated aldosterone with high blood pressure. This suggests that excess black licorice intake had trigg…

Licorice contains a compound called glycyrrhizic acid. This acid gives licorice candy its sweetness.

Glycyrrhizic acid is reported to be 50 times sweeter than sucrose, or table sugar (3).

Your body converts glycyrrhizic acid to glycyrrhetinic acid, which medical specialists agree is relatively harmless in small amounts (1).

But in large amounts, glycyrrhetinic acid and its digestive by-products inhibit an enzyme that helps your body from converting active cortisol into inactive cortisone (4).

This leads more cortisol to bind to its receptor and exert its effects in the body that lead to pseudohyperaldosteronism.

In most cases, eliminating licorice from your diet can resolve pseudohyperaldosteronism within a few weeks or months. Still, high blood pressure may sometimes persist due to other causes (4).

Summary

Licorice root has been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years to treat coughs, asthma, stomach pain, insomnia, and infections (5).

Indeed, licorice contains various beneficial plant compounds that contain anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties (6).

Still, despite its long — and presumably safe — history of use, scientific organizations have urged caution against eating too much licorice due to its ability to increase blood pressure and cause electrolyte imbalances (7).

The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that an intake of up to 100 mg per day of glycyrrhizic acid is safe for the majority of adults (8).

This amount equates to about 2–2.5 ounces (60–70 grams) of licorice.

Still, it’s difficult to provide a safe recommendation for black licorice candy consumption because the glycyrrhizic acid content can vary by as much as 30-fold from one product to the next (3).

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suggests that if you’re age 40 or old…