Why cant I eat Licorice?

[Daydream Believer]

I ate a fair bit when I was pregnant & afterwards with DD for the same reason. The OB said to try that before stool softeners

[krysalyss]

re: real licorice can be found in dutch licorice lollies which is also often salty.

[Visitor7]

There's an interesting article on ninemsn this about morning about this. Title reads "Skip licorice during pregnancy for healthier kids". Not sure that I can put the link up, but it's on ninemsn.

[Tuesday's Child]

The research that the ninemsn article refers to cautioned against "excessive intake" of licorice in pregnancy (more than 500g per week). It's believed that a constituent of (pure) licorice allows higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol to cross the placenta and this can affect brain development.

I had no idea about this while I was pregnant. I went through periods of eating a couple of small pieces of soft licorice to help with constipation.

[krysalyss]

Maybe instead try drinking lots of water and eating lots of fruit/vegetables. This helped me after birth when things are a little sensitive.