Licorice DGL

Licorice has a compound in it called glycyrrhizin which inhibits the breakdown of cortisol and hence increases cortisol in the body. This has been shown to have some beneficial effects on energy and anti - inflammatory effects. It can however, cause a hyperaldosteronism type syndrome including hypertension and hyperkalaemia. Deglycyrrhizinated Licorice [DGL] came about when it was discovered that some of the salutary effects of Licorice upon the upper GI tract were not dependent upon the corticosteroid effect but instead upon other compounds in the whole herb. Subsequently, DGL has been marketed as a safer version of licorice root activity without the corticosteroid effects. Thus, it avoids these side effects at the cost of losing systemic and topical anti - inflammatory effects. The non - deglycyrrhizinated form of licorice may also have hormonal estrogenic effects and potentially lower testosterone [1,2,3,4,5,10,11,12,13,14,15].