Licorice experiments

[berlin1984]

I think BoneBroth and some others experimented with licorice specifically, I'm creating this thread to collect a bit the results.

To increase blood pressure.

To increase cortisol:

How To Replace Cortisol. An Ultimate Guide.

General mentions:

what works for me, 70% is taurine, coffee or tea, magnesium, cashew nuts, licorice and sardines,

On the other forum I was told to try licorice root tea after every orgasm and I am doing that since the end of july.

Web links:
https://selfhacked.com/blog/licorice/

Web links CFS:
https://ammes.org/treatment/licorice/

https://cfsremission.com/treatment/symptom-mitigation/core-licorice-glycyrrhiza/

https://me-pedia.org/wiki/Licorice

Google results for "nofap licorice"

licorice on thenakedscientists forum

[Journey]

I actually realized during the cupboard cleaning at my home there's a tea mix with Licorice and Pine leaves and some third ingredient whose name I forgot again currently I might try it sometime.

[berlin1984]

I now sometimes take a certain throat candy with licorice extract when I feel too weak (orthostatic intolerance? desire to sit down?). I think it works fine. Also seems to make it easier to get out of bed in morming (morning cortisol?)
So I'll add it to my repertoire..

It might be that throat candy works better because then some of the chemicals in the candy are directly absorbed by the mouth (sublingual). English wikipedia claims that Glycyrrhizin bio-availability from the gut is poor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycyrrhizin

[berlin1984]

I really think this candy is the solution to my general late afternoon weakness where I can't even stand up anymore.

So in POIS state if I'm stressed with heart racing and anxiety, the passion flower extract and theanine can help me to calm down. (valerian for extreme cases)

But in my normal non-POIS life, I need the licorice extract to push my cortisol up and make me a normal productive and active being.

(^ this is all just by my feeling, I did not actually measure any of those hormone values. But I go by self experimenting)

EDIT: In other threads, I mentioned that I eat salami and drink the non-alocolic wheat beer with lemone. Those still help too because they hydrate the body.
Also mentioned somewhere that NADH SUBLINGUAL helps too. But that is more expensive than the licorice candy.

[BoneBroth]

Yes I tryed licorice some years ago because its an adaptogen (lowers the harm of cortisol). But I stopped since science shows that licorice lowers testosterone significally. So does peppermint. Perhaps I will start trying licorice in smaller doses though. There are other things that raises blood pressure (like salt). Low blood pressure are caused by low kidney function. We have to adress that and I start to belive that POIS is VERY related to kidney health and kidney health is very related to reducing stress and inflammation - maybe the main cause of POIS.

[Journey]

Yes I tryed licorice some years ago because its an adaptogen (lowers the harm of cortisol). But I stopped since science shows that licorice lowers testosterone significally. So does peppermint. Perhaps I will start trying licorice in smaller doses though. There are other things that raises blood pressure (like salt). Low blood pressure are caused by low kidney function. We have to adress that and I start to belive that POIS is VERY related to kidney health and kidney health is very related to reducing stress and inflammation - maybe the main cause of POIS.

My blood pressure is like 70/110

[Progecitor]

The potential use of glycyrrhizin for COVID-19 has been reviewed in detail by Murck et al. and Andersson et al. Glycyrrhizin is an active ingredient extracted from liquorice plant and has been used in traditional Chinese medicines to control COVID-19. It gets metabolized in the human gut to the systemically active metabolite glycyrrhetinic acid. It appears to possess direct antiviral properties and was reported to inhibit in vitro replication and penetration of SARS-CoV-1. More importantly, it has an anti-inflammatory effect through downregulation of HMGB1-mediated inflammation and TLR4 antagonism. Given its dual antiviral effects and TLR4 antagonism, as well as being a natural compound, it may be a promising candidate in the treatment of COVID-19.
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/mi/2021/8874339/

Glycyrrhiza glabra L. has natural products that are PPARG ligands.
In traditional Chinese medicine it is used to reinforce the function of the spleen and replenish qi, remove heat and counteract toxicity, dispel phlegm and relieve cough, alleviate spasmodic pain, and moderate drug actions.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006295214004249

[berlin1984]

(Just to clarify: When I measure my blood pressure, it's always in a very good range for my age/sex/etc. Even when I have those fatigue problems. Pulse rate might be a bit low though)

[berlin1984]

Licorice - Glycyrrhiza glabra [400 mg per capsule from which 16 mg is glycyrrhetinic acid]:
I had one capsule the previous morning and one in the morning. About 8 hours later I took another one and 3 hours later I had an O. Right after it I took another one (18 h). So on that day I took 1200 mg of licorice of which 48 mg was glycyrrhetinic acid.
It reduced POIS somewhat at its onset, but I still had symptoms like weakly bloodshot eyes. I measured it several times and my blood pressure didn't seem to change, but I had other side-effects. In the first hours I felt transient slight pain sensations all over the body and developed some mild headache or discomfort, although it is hard to tell if the latter was not due to POIS itself. Another worrisome symptom was a recurring weak heart ache or cramping that I felt from time to time even in the next morning. I think licorice only has side-effects at first. It was around the time I went to bed when I began to feel myself somewhat better. It was 8 hours after I took the second capsule and I mean the first one in the afternoon. I got up after three hours of sleep to take a leak and I definitely felt better at the time. In the morning I generally felt better, but I still had a weak level of POIS. I still had some depression, but the eyes were relatively well. The nodules in the breast were moderately reduced. The burning feeling noticeably reduced and the quality of the stool was better. The best was that I could walk relatively easily without feeling the fatigue-like burden on my muscles. So licorice really has a beneficial effect on my POIS, but its side-effects prevent me from using a higher dose.
Licorice also contains phytoestrogens, so I am not even sure if its beneficial effects are really due to glycyrrhetinic acid.

[demografx]

Thanks, berlin1984.

[quiteQuiet]

I had saved an old post from somewhere that mentioned licorice and l-dhea. So I bought and experimented now with licorice for a month.
Unfortunately I didn't notice any effect from licorice. Once, when I had stopped licorice for a while already, I was having a pois episode. It was towards the end i.e. when I was pretty much recovering, I woke up with 7 hours of sleep, I woke up before my alarm clock but I could soon i.e. after an hour or two tell that something was off. I felt so tired, it was as if I had not slept at all. But I managed to come home and get 20 mins to lay down with closed eyes. Afterwards, I decided for some reason to take licorice again. I drank black tea and an hour or two later coffee. Towards the evening, I noticed strangely that something changed with my energy levels. Although I was a little tired, I became functioning again. There was an increase in energy definitely. It was strange as I expected that the longer the day gets the more tired I would be (as usual).
Besides the short rest and coffee, I suspect it was the licorice that played a big role. Also bearing in mind, as I said before, I was already almost out of pois. Still, I guess licorice might be good to have in those situations. Maybe I didn't waste my money buying this. I guess it's better to take in the later stages of a pois episode?