Stay away from licorice if you’re trying for a baby, new study suggests

If you’re trying for a baby, stay away from licorice – a compound in the food could tamper with hormone production and your ovaries, a new study is warning.

American doctors out of the University of Illinois say that high levels of isoliquiritigenin (or iso), a compound found in licorice, affects key genes tied to producing hormones. A specific gene for aromatase – an enzyme that helps to convert testosterone to estrogen – drops by 50 per cent or more, they say.

“In general, when you start to have lower hormone levels, you could start to have problems with reproduction. And because estrogen is also important for healthy brains, healthy bones, a healthy cardiovascular system, if the levels are depleted for too long, you could have problems with those systems. We haven’t shown that to be the case. That’s just a possibility,” study lead author, Dr. Jodi Flaws, said.

“I would say though, that a 50-plus per cent drop in aromatase in humans would be a serious problem for fertility and for other things,” she warned.

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Licorice root and other forms of iso are found in herbal supplements, teas, candies and even as flavouring in tobacco products.

Licorice is even marketed to women to help with hot flashes, or to stave off some types of cancer, the experts say.

But the same properties that prop it up as a healthy ingredient might be making it toxic when it comes to the development of the ovary.

It’s just too early to tell, though. For starters, Flaws’ research is preliminary and based off the reproductive tissues in mice.

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It’s also the first study to examine iso’s effects on the ovary. The experts say more research needs to be done to determine how iso tampers with women’s reproductive health.

This isn’t the first warning about licorice either.

Around Halloween, experts often warn adults about eating too much black licorice. Just two ounces a day for about two weeks could land you in the hospital with an irregular heart rhythm or arrhythmia, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

In black licorice, a main compound called glycyrrhizin is derived from licorice root. It can cause potassium levels to plummet in the body, triggering heart rhythm abnormalities, along with high blood pressure, lethargy and other cardiovascular health issues.

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It can even interact with some medications and supplements, the U.S. federal agency warned.

Read the FDA’s full warning.

Flaws’ full findings were published this week in the journal Reproductive Toxicology.

carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
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