Unidentified rubber objects, that’s how a customs officer once described the contents of a bag of typical Dutch “drop”, according to an article in Dutch life science and chemistry magazine C2W (December 12, 2009). He tried one to test the hypothesis “these are Dutch sweets” and spat it out quickly.
The average Dutch person consumes about 2 kilograms per year of the stuff, called Lakritze in German, liquorice or licorice in English, liquirizia in Italian, réglisse in French and regaliz in Spanish.
It contains glycyrrhizinic acid, which gives liquorice its sweet taste and expectorant action. Dutch “drop” tends to taste different – saltier – because it contains more ammonium chloride (salmiak).
That salty taste makes many of the Dutch assume that salt is the cause of the blood-pressure elevation that can be the result of excessive liquorice consumption. The real culprit is glycyrrhizinic acid (a substance derived from the root of the plant Glycyrrhiza glabra).
It affects the body’s fluid regulation and, on top of that, the body has trouble getting rid of it. Liquorice consumption therefore has an accumulative effect on the body.
The maximum amount of liquorice a person can safely consume appears to be somewhere between 60 and 120 grams per day. 120 grams of liquorice contain approximately 200 mg of glycyrrhizinic acid.
It is not a bad idea to talk to your physician if you’re taking medications that for example impact your blood pressure or fluid regulation, and are in the habit of consuming liquorice or liquorice-containing products.
Every year, a few people land in hospital because of overconsumption of “drop” alone.
One example is a 62-year old woman in the UK who was in the habit of eating lots of Pontefract cakes – also called Pomfret cakes or Pomfrey cakes –which has nothing to do with cake, but would be called “dropjes” in Dutch. Liquorice sweets. Confectionery. She displayed a persistent hypertension of 200/118 mmHg and hypokalemic alkalosis.
Another example is a 35-year old man who developed acute hypokalemic myopathy as a result of chronic liquorice consumption in Italy. He displayed serious hypokalemia, hypertension, and metabolic alkalosis, among other things.
The Dutch are very fond of liquorice, but it is also very popular in the Scandinavian countries, including Finland. Apparently, Icelanders even dip their ice cream lollies in liquorice sauce.
Tags: blood pressure, drop, fluid regulation, licorice, liquorice, sweets