Your cholesterol count is one of the most reliable predictors of your risk for circulatory problems like heart attack, heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure. The best thing you can personally do about your cholesterol count is to understand how foods and dietary supplements -- like licorice -- affect your cholesterol levels. Despite the name, licorice candy -- the most familiar kind of licorice for most Americans -- usually contains no licorice. You'll see real licorice more often in teas and herbal supplement pills.
Licorice Basics
Although many people are most familiar with licorice as a candy, the plant that provides the licorice flavor also goes into teas and herbal supplements in pill and powder form. The plant -- various species within the genus helichrysum -- was originally a tropical shrub, but can grow as an annual in temperate climates.
Cholesterol Basics
Your body produces three substances that are measured in your cholesterol count. LDL cholesterol increases your risk for circulatory problems, while HDL decreases your risk by cleansing the LDL from your blood. A third substance, triglyceride, is not technically a cholesterol but acts enough like LDL that it is counted in this measurement. Your body makes LDL in response to saturated fats in your diet, HDL in response to unsaturated fats. It produces triglycerides in response to spikes in your blood glucose levels, typically after you've eaten sugary or starchy foods.
Nutrition Effects
Licorice teas and supplements contain no fats of any kind, and thus stimulate the production of neither HDL nor LDL cholesterol. It's worth noting, however, that licorice candies are high in sugars and starches -- and can elevate your triglyceride levels.
Herbal Effects
A number of supplement companies and distributors claim that licorice can help to reduce your cholesterol levels. However, a fact sheet at the U.S. National Library of Medicine reports that no statistical evidence supports this claim. Worse, it can -- in large doses -- exacerbate symptoms of heart disease and high blood pressure. Put simply, licorice does not help with your cholesterol levels, and may make some symptoms of high cholesterol worse.
