| Blood
Pressure - Licorice
QUESTION: My
name is Linda. I had been taking Esprogen for several years and
was very satisfied with the results. (It
was good to only take 2 or 3 capsules a day instead of the 6-8
I had been taking to get all of those ingredients). However,
as I had discussed with you at that time, I had experienced some
light-headedness during a period of time late last summer and
early Fall. As it concerned me, I went to my doctor
who found that my blood pressure was up in the low hypertensive
range (not quite "high blood pressure", but on its way there). As
I am very conscientious about my diet and exercise
and health, I couldn't believe that I could have elevated blood pressure
without some specific cause. Although, several members
of my family have high blood pressure, I live a different life
style than they do and have always been determined that
wouldn't be my fate.
So then, I began examining what I was consuming as far as food, supplements,
salt (which I consume very little of), etc. I consulted my Natural
Health & Healing Encyclopedia for affects of the ingredients in the Esprogen
that I was taking, and found that licorice causes elevation
in blood pressure. I immediately stopped taking the Esprogen
(which has licorice in it). And without changing anything else in my
diet or routine, within a couple weeks, my blood pressure went back to
normal. So, I am certain that it was the licorice that was causing the
blood pressure elevatuion. I now take all the other ingredients contained
in Esprogen, separately, except the licorice. I substituted the licorice
for "red rasberry leaves", which my book says provides the same benefit
as the licorice without elevating blood pressure.
As I had been very pleased with the Esprogen, and would still like to take
it, I wonder if whomever formulates it would consider changing the licorice
ingredient in it to something else with the same benefit (such as red rasberry). I
can't imagine that I am the only person taking it that has had the blood
pressure problem, but maybe didn't equate it to the licorice. Because
women taking this formula are most likely in their 40's and 50's of age,
this is also the time in their lives when other health issues (such as
hight blood pressure, diabetes, heart conditions) begin to show up. So
changing the formula (or offering it as a licorice-free alternative formula)
would certainly benefit other women, too.
Could you please check into this possibility, and let me know if and/or when
it can be changed. I would very much like to be able to use it again. Thank
you. Linda
ANSWER: Dear
Linda,
Thank
you for your email. I formulated Esprogen with a DGL (DeGlycyrrhizinated
Licorice) Licorice root, a form of
Licorice root that specifically removes the glyccyrrhizin,
which is the ingredient that is responsible for causing elevated
blood pressure by depleting potassium.
Naturopathic
Physicians are well aware that as stated in HealthNotes:
"Licorice
products that include glycyrrhizin may increase blood pressure
and cause water retention. Some people are more
sensitive to this effect than others. Long-term intake
(more than two to three weeks) of products containing more
than 1 gram of glycyrrhizin (the amount in approximately
10 grams of root) daily is the usual amount required to cause
these effects." (Blumenthal M, Busse WR, Goldberg A, et al,
eds. The
Complete Commission E Monographs: Therapeutic Guide to
Herbal Medicines. Boston, MA: Integrative Medicine Communications,
1998, 161–2.)
I
believe your story, but am surprised that this specialized DGL
Licorice root would cause an elevated BP. Our product
contains only 200mg of DGL per capsule, with a maximum
of no more than 1mg of Glycyrrhizin per capsule. As stated
above, one typically would have to take 1 gram (1000mg)
of Glycyrrhizin daily for several weeks to cause any elevation
in BP. Perhaps
your system is particularly sensitive. I have not heard
of this in any other customers on seen it in any of my
patients, nor in any research papers. DGL is commonly used
by tens of thousands of women daily for the treatment of
hormonal imbalances, ulcers, canker sores, etc. I
appreciate your sharing this information with me and will
look into it further.
Sincerely,
Dr.
Hansen
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