Q. I have heard that licorice is helpful with digestion. All I have been able to find is artificially flavored licorice. I assume this won’t work. Where can I find real licorice?
A. Real licorice can be found in health food stores as licorice root, licorice tea, licorice capsules or even natural licorice candy. We would not advise using it regularly, however. Licorice contains glycyrrhizin, which can raise blood pressure, deplete potassium, alter hormone balance and lower libido.
To use licorice for digestive problems, look for DGL (deglycyrrhizinated licorice). This is safer and has been shown to be helpful.
