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posted by martyb on Tuesday October 31 2017, @11:34PM   Printer-friendly
from the Be-still-my-beating-heart!-Oh?-Wait... dept.

Trick or Treat: Don't Eat Too Much Black Licorice on Halloween, Warns FDA

It's that time of year again when ghoulish children turn up at your door, demanding payment in candy or threatening a sinister trick instead. But if you're keeping a bowl of sweets on stand-by, you might want to leave out the black licorice.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning ahead of Halloween—which it describes as the "biggest candy eating holiday of the year"—urging people not to overdo it on the medicinal-tasting candy or potentially face heart problems.

The problem is caused by glycyrrhizin—a sweetening compound derived from the root of licorice, a low-growing shrub that is found most in Greece, Turkey and Asia. When consumed in large amounts, glycyrrhizin can prompt potassium levels in the body to fall. Low potassium can lead to a variety of health issues, particularly abnormal heart rhythms, but also high blood pressure, swelling, lethargy, and even congestive heart failure.

The FDA warned that, for people 40 years old or over, eating two ounces of black licorice a day for two weeks can result in arrhythmia, or irregular heart rhythm. Potassium levels usually return to normal with no permanent health problems when a person stops eating it, according to the FDA's Linda Katz.

🎃💊 → 💀

Also at Business Insider.


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  • (Score: 1) by kurenai.tsubasa on Wednesday November 01 2017, @03:24AM (5 children)

    by kurenai.tsubasa (5227) on Wednesday November 01 2017, @03:24AM (#590352) Journal

    I'm surprised they didn't include the weak anti-androgen effect of glycyrrhizin. There's nothing that will frighten people quite like the idea that something is feminizing. See the odd fascination with similar when it comes to soy products (or BPA). It'll steal your balls and make you like pretty pink things! Oh right, and gay sex.

  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday November 01 2017, @04:09AM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday November 01 2017, @04:09AM (#590368) Journal

    That reminds me to submit the "soy no longer good for your heart" thing.

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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by FatPhil on Wednesday November 01 2017, @08:59AM (3 children)

    by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Wednesday November 01 2017, @08:59AM (#590451) Homepage
    If it'll make me *enjoy* gay sex, what's so wrong in that? If it makes me crave to participate in, but *not enjoy* gay sex, then that would be bad.
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    • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday November 01 2017, @12:27PM

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday November 01 2017, @12:27PM (#590522) Journal

      Then you're talking about vanilla pudding.

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      Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 2) by Snotnose on Thursday November 02 2017, @12:11AM (1 child)

      by Snotnose (1623) on Thursday November 02 2017, @12:11AM (#590810)

      I have to wonder what conversion of inches to centimeters would turn you into enjoying gay sex, as opposed to not liking it......

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      • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday November 02 2017, @05:44AM

        by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Thursday November 02 2017, @05:44AM (#590893) Homepage
        I'm too afraid to say, lest I get banged up in federal kilogram-me-in-the-ass prison!
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        Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves