← The FormularyDrive & vitalityLicorice root
Also known as Glycyrrhiza glabra / glycyrrhizinSweet, useful, and the one to read the dose on.
Licorice deserves a straight answer in a vitality product, because there is an awkward fact in the file: at high doses licorice has been shown to reduce serum testosterone in men — around 25–35% in two small studies, though a larger attempt to replicate found only a non-significant fall. Those studies used 7 g a day of licorice preparation. PRIME's share of a 745 mg blend is a tiny fraction of that, and at ordinary amounts the effect is considered not clinically meaningful. The caution that genuinely matters is the blood-pressure one, and it is not theoretical: licorice-induced hypertension is a documented cause of hospital admission. Enjoy it in a formula; do not take it daily by the bagful.
The root of a Mediterranean legume, fifty times sweeter than sugar, used in medicine and confectionery for millennia. In skincare it is a brightening and soothing agent.
Glycyrrhizin blocks an enzyme in the kidney that normally deactivates cortisol. With that enzyme inhibited, cortisol goes on stimulating the mineralocorticoid receptor — the body retains sodium, loses potassium and blood pressure rises. Everything good and bad about licorice runs through that single mechanism, which is why the dose is the whole story. On skin, a different constituent, glabridin, inhibits pigment production, which is the basis of the topical use.
Traditionally used to soothe the gut and the throat, and used topically to calm and even skin tone. In a blend it is a supporting botanical and a flavour.
Most people, at ordinary amounts. Nobody with high blood pressure, heart or kidney disease, or low potassium.
Daily inside PRIME's blend or in CLEAN's wash, where it stays on the skin. If you also eat black licorice regularly, that counts.
Nothing from the small amount in a blend. Topically, evening of tone is slow and measured in weeks.
Grade B for pharmacology. Glycyrrhizin inhibits 11β-HSD2, producing pseudohyperaldosteronism — hypertension and hypokalaemia — with well-documented case reports at sustained high intake. On testosterone: a 1999 report found a 35% fall in seven men and a later study a 25% fall, while a 31-man replication found a non-significant 9.5% change; therapeutic amounts are considered unlikely to matter clinically.
Read the labelDo not take daily at high amounts. Glycyrrhizin raises blood pressure and lowers potassium. Avoid entirely with high blood pressure, heart or kidney disease, low potassium, or in pregnancy, and speak to a doctor first if you take diuretics, blood-pressure medication or digoxin.
Evidence grades describe how well an ingredient is studied — A well-supported, C emerging — not a promise of results. Educational, not medical advice. Doses are typical ranges; follow the label on the product.