Good Old Fashioned Licorice - Well What Do You Know.......... ' Antiviral' (The Lancet)

I remember well as a child, we were often given Licorice Root to chew on - I loved it and it was as cheap as chips. Lots of kids chewed on it.

Now the Lancet is reporting on how effective it is as an antiviral treatment:

TextIn the groundbreaking Lancet study, titled “Glycyrrhizin, an active component of liquorice roots, and replication of SARS-associated coronavirus,” German researchers summarized their intention in the following manner: The [recent] outbreak of SARS warrants the search for antiviral compounds to treat the disease.

At present time, no specific treatment has been identified for SARS-associated coronavirus infection. And here is what they found:
We assessed the antiviral potential of ribavirin, 6-azauridine, pyrazofurin, mycophenolic acid, and glycyrrhizin against two clinical isolates of coronavirus (FFM-1 and FFM-2) from patients with SARS admitted to the clinical centre of Frankfurt University, Germany.
Of all the compounds, glycyrrhizin was the most active in inhibiting replication of the SARS-associated virus. Our findings suggest that glycyrrhizin should be assessed for treatment of SARS. [emphasis added]

View Study Abstract Licorice’s potent antiviral properties are not limited to SARS-associated coronaviruses, but have also been studied in connection with another epidemic/pandemic capable and potentially lethal virus: influenza.

TextEven more remarkable, when the splenic T cells from the glycyrrhizin-treated mice were transferred to mice exposed to the same lethal doses of influenza virus, 100% survived, compared to 0% for the control mice inoculated with naive T cells or splenic B cells and macrophages from glycyrrhizin-treated mice.

The researchers discovered that glycyrrhizin’s powerful, life-sparing effects against lethal doses of influenza were a result of the compound increasing interferon gamma production by T cells. In order to fully understand these findings, we must look at the question of safety first. Licorice is still commonly perceived as a “dangerous herb,” due to its ability to stimulate blood pressure elevations in susceptible individuals when consumed excessively; but considering the relatively higher toxicity of most drugs, this perception must be taken with a grain of sea salt.

On the other hand, it is important to exercise caution when using licorice, or any herb, for medicinal purposes, and ideally obtaining the assistance of a medical herbalist who can work with conventional health practitioners, whenever possible.

www.activistpost.com...

How nature provides all we need! The article has lots of info for those wanting to follow it up.

I also thought perhaps this would be useful information for the Survival Forum too - anyway, just thought you guys would find this both interesting and encouraging, given all the well warranted fear of vaccines as of late.

Another great natural anti-viral that is often overlooked is Garlic. I may be wrong but I think garlics anti-viral properties are even better than that of licorice. Everytime I feel a cold or the flue coming on I get out the garlic cloves and press and press about 4 cloves and start eating them. Usually by the next day I feel great and have never been down for any amount of time with illness since I started taking it.

You have to allow the garlic to be expossed to the air in slices or pressed for about 10 minutes before eating. Apparently oxygen reacts with the Allicin in garlic and it is not as effective if you do not allow it to sit for a few minutes before ingesting. Garlic is also a great antibiotic and antifungal, medical research has even shown that it is capable of killing MRSA.

There are literally thousands of natural cures and remidies in the natural world, we have to remember that the drugs that big pharma peerless are nothing more than synthetic copies of natures cures with a lot worse side effects. Thankfully I have an aunt that is a Osteopathic/Naturopathic Dr and I get a lot of info from her.

Originally posted by Nucleardiver
Another great natural anti-viral that is often overlooked is Garlic. I may be wrong but I think garlics anti-viral properties are even better than that of licorice. Everytime I feel a cold or the flue coming on I get out the garlic cloves and press and press about 4 cloves and start eating them. Usually by the next day I feel great and have never been down for any amount of time with illness since I started taking it.

You have to allow the garlic to be expossed to the air in slices or pressed for about 10 minutes before eating. Apparently oxygen reacts with the Allicin in garlic and it is not as effective if you do not allow it to sit for a few minutes before ingesting. Garlic is also a great antibiotic and antifungal, medical research has even shown that it is capable of killing MRSA.

There are literally thousands of natural cures and remidies in the natural world, we have to remember that the drugs that big pharma peerless are nothing more than synthetic copies of natures cures with a lot worse side effects. Thankfully I have an aunt that is a Osteopathic/Naturopathic Dr and I get a lot of info from her.

MMmmm - well considering the thread is about licorice - not garlic and you didn't mention it - I still read yours with interest. I've eaten garlic for years in EVERYTHING - I know I must stink and do my best re personal hygiene, but I never ail a thing. NATURE AGAIN!

Oh and I haven't seen a Vampire in years.

One thing to do when buying licorice is to check the ingredients. Some of it's just corn syrup and artificial flavorings. I think the best place to go would be an organic food co-op. They might have actual licorice.

reply to post by quedup


Yes, real food has healing properties. It's the best medicine around.

But the processed crap kills.

reply to post by quedup


Very interesting. I thought I'd share a small tip for those with high blood pressure like myself...be careful with licorice, it can raise the blood pressure and cause water retention and heart palpitations. I'm so bad for not taking this advice from my doc because every so often I go on a big time salmiakki binge, and I devour all the salt licorice I can get my paws on...and that's the real licorice candy with the real licorice extract. You're safe with things like Red Vines and Twizzlers (the fruity varieties), as they contain no extractive of the licorice plant.