The naturally sweet root brewed for coughs and ulcers — genuinely soothing, but carrying a serious warning for a community already burdened with hypertension. Licorice RAISES blood pressure.
Licorice root was a Southern cough and stomach remedy, and the candy carried the flavor into the corner store. Many in the community love the taste without knowing the root that flavors true licorice is a blood-pressure hazard — a critical literacy gap given how common hypertension is.
Licorice's active compound glycyrrhizin soothes inflamed mucous membranes and promotes mucus that protects the stomach lining — the basis for its long use in ulcers, reflux, and sore throat. But that same glycyrrhizin inhibits the enzyme 11-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, which lets cortisol act like aldosterone, causing the body to retain sodium and dump potassium. The result is RISING blood pressure and falling potassium. This is the single most important caution in this entire tea tradition for a Black audience: a community with sodium-sensitive, weathering-driven hypertension should treat regular licorice tea as contraindicated unless cleared by a doctor.
Steep a small piece of dried root or half a teaspoon of cut root in hot water for 5-10 minutes. The sweetness is natural — no sugar needed. Deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL) is the safer form for ulcers, with the BP-raising compound removed.
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