The Dangers of Licorice
With Halloween upon us and the abundance of candy everywhere for the holidays, this may be an article you should read if you're pregnant or think you might become pregnant.Licorice is used in many holiday recipes as decoration, but it may negatively affect fetal brain development. Read more:
SEE ALSO: FOODS FOR FERTILITY AND PREGNANCY (getpregnantover40.com)
It is thought that a component in licorice called glycyrrhizin may impair the placenta, allowing stress hormones to cross from the mother to the baby.High levels of such hormones, known as glucocorticoids, are thought to affect fetal brain development and have been linked to behavioral disorders in children.
The results of the study are published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Eight-year-olds whose mothers had been monitored for licorice consumption during pregnancy were tested on a range of cognitive functions including vocabulary, memory and spatial awareness.
from: www.sciencedaily.com
