Do you enjoy licorice? If I ask that question to many people I would expect to hear plenty of "oh yes!" replies. It is quite a delicious flavor. Mostly though, those affirmative responses will be based on consuming licorice flavored confectionary.

Real licorice does indeed have a delicious flavor which is why it is added to many items of confectionary, not just the ones bearing its name. Small amounts are found in many different sweets and assorted other food products.

While I can't recommend the consumption of licorice flavoued lollies (well, not too many!) I certainly do recommend using licorice medicinally. It is a wonderful herb, not just a flavor enhancer. In fact, it can be used for quite a wide range of needs.

The Herb Health Guide lists several beneficial uses for licorice. It is best to go there to see them rather than me typing them here.

I do want to emphasize here though, that it is important to use licorice for reasonably short periods of about six weeks or so. After a break of a similar length of time it should be quite safe to repeat the licorice. This pattern avoids the potential problems associated with long term use of licorice.

One of the possible side effects with continued and high dosage use is hypertension (high blood pressure). Since hypertension is already such a widespread problem, resulting in more medical consultations than any other single condition, it is easy to understand why this concern is raised. It is quite possible that it may add to pre-existing hypertension, which is most undesirable. That said, it is probably a good idea to have your blood pressure checked before starting to use licorice.

It is also a herb on my "should be avoided in pregnancy list". So if you are pregnant or think you may be, don't start to take licorice without checking, and don't take it while you are pregnant.

The benefits of licorice are considerable. As you can see in the Herb Health Guide it is useful for many different conditions. It has proven clinical benefits surpassing those of some pharmaceutical drugs, without the serious side effects.

The anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic properties are very good and since these two areas alone account for massive expenditure on pharmaceutical drugs, if this has relevance to you, it may be wise to consider licorice. It may save you a great deal of money, protect you from many nasty side effects and improve more of your health than you expect.