Licorice Root Benefits: What the Research Shows and What You Need to Know
Licorice root has been used in traditional medicine systems across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe for thousands of years. Today it appears in everything from herbal teas and throat lozenges to standardized supplements and skincare formulations. That broad presence reflects genuine scientific interest — but it also creates confusion about what licorice root actually does, which forms matter, and what variables determine whether it's appropriate for any given person.
This page covers the research landscape around licorice root benefits, explains the key compounds involved, and maps out the specific questions that shape how anyone should think about this herb.
What Licorice Root Is — and Where It Fits in Functional Herbal Remedies
Licorice root comes from Glycyrrhiza glabra (and related species, including Glycyrrhiza uralensis, widely used in Traditional Chinese Medicine). Within the broader category of functional herbal remedies — plants used not just for flavor but for their biologically active compounds — licorice root is notable for the sheer number of bioactive constituents it contains and the range of body systems those compounds appear to interact with.
What distinguishes licorice root from more straightforward herbs is its dual identity: the same compounds responsible for many of its researched benefits are also responsible for its most significant safety concerns. That tension runs through every serious conversation about this herb and is why understanding the science, rather than just the benefits list, matters here.
The Key Compound: Glycyrrhizin and Its Derivatives
The most studied compound in licorice root is glycyrrhizin (also called glycyrrhizic acid), a saponin that gives licorice its characteristic sweet taste — it's roughly 50 times sweeter than sucrose. Glycyrrhizin is metabolized in the gut into glycyrrhetinic acid, which is the form that exerts most of its biological effects in the body.
Glycyrrhizin and glycyrrhetinic acid have been studied for their influence on inflammation pathways, mucous membrane function, and the enzyme 11β-HSD2, which plays a role in how the body processes cortisol. This enzyme interaction is central to understanding both some of the herb's researched benefits and its well-documented risks at higher doses.
Licorice root also contains flavonoids — including liquiritin, isoliquiritigenin, and glabridin — that have been studied separately for antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, often through in vitro (lab) and animal research. These flavonoids have drawn particular interest in skin research and in studies examining how oxidative stress affects various tissues.
A critical distinction for anyone researching licorice supplements: deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL) is a processed form with most of the glycyrrhizin removed. DGL products are formulated specifically to retain other active compounds while minimizing the hormonal side effects associated with glycyrrhizin. The research findings for whole licorice root and DGL are not interchangeable.
What the Research Generally Shows 🌿
Digestive and Mucosal Support
The most consistent body of clinical research on licorice root — particularly DGL — involves the digestive tract. Studies, including some randomized controlled trials, have examined licorice root's effect on the mucosal lining of the esophagus and stomach. The proposed mechanism involves stimulating mucus secretion and supporting the integrity of the protective lining, rather than reducing stomach acid.
Research quality in this area varies. Some findings come from small trials; others are older studies with limited controls. The overall direction of evidence suggests a plausible mechanism and some measurable effect on mucosal symptoms, but the evidence base is not as strong or uniform as that supporting well-established pharmaceutical treatments.
Respiratory Tract and Soothing Effects
Licorice root has a long documented history of use for coughs and sore throats, and some research supports a demulcent (coating, soothing) effect on mucous membranes of the throat and upper respiratory tract. Glycyrrhizin itself has been studied in laboratory settings for effects on certain respiratory pathogens, though most of this work is preclinical — meaning it was conducted in cells or animals, not in large human clinical trials. Translating those findings to human outcomes requires significant caution.
Anti-Inflammatory Mechanisms
Multiple compounds in licorice root interact with inflammatory pathways studied in both in vitro and animal models. Glycyrrhetinic acid has shown effects on prostaglandin synthesis pathways in lab settings. Flavonoids like glabridin have demonstrated antioxidant activity in cell studies. These findings are scientifically interesting and support the rationale for ongoing research, but observational and preclinical findings don't confirm that taking licorice supplements will produce measurable anti-inflammatory effects in a specific person at typical doses.
Skin Research
Glabridin, a flavonoid concentrated in licorice root extract, has attracted considerable attention in dermatology research for its potential to inhibit melanin synthesis — the process that produces skin pigmentation. Some clinical research on topical licorice root extract has examined effects on hyperpigmentation and uneven skin tone, with modestly positive findings in small studies. This is a different application route (topical) and involves different absorption and concentration dynamics than oral supplementation.
Adrenal and Stress-Related Research
Because glycyrrhizin inhibits 11β-HSD2, it slows the conversion of cortisol to its inactive form, effectively prolonging cortisol's activity in certain tissues. Some practitioners in integrative medicine have used this property to discuss licorice root in the context of adrenal support, though the concept of "adrenal fatigue" itself is not recognized as a diagnosis in conventional medicine. The research here is mechanistically plausible but clinically thin, and the same mechanism that might theoretically support cortisol activity is also the mechanism behind licorice root's most serious documented risk: hypertension and hypokalemia (low potassium) with chronic high-dose use.
The Variables That Shape Outcomes
What distinguishes licorice root from herbs with simpler safety profiles is how significantly individual factors influence both potential benefit and potential harm.
Dose and duration are the most important variables. The adverse effects associated with licorice root — elevated blood pressure, fluid retention, low potassium, and in extreme cases cardiac complications — are consistently dose-dependent and accumulate with prolonged use. These effects are primarily driven by glycyrrhizin content, which is why DGL formulations were developed. But "how much is too much" varies by individual, making this not a question with a universal answer.
Form of the supplement matters substantially. Whole licorice root, licorice root extract standardized for glycyrrhizin content, DGL supplements, licorice tea, and topical preparations all deliver different compound profiles at different concentrations. Research findings from one form don't automatically apply to another.
Existing health conditions significantly affect risk. People with hypertension, kidney disease, liver disease, heart conditions, or hormonal sensitivities face a different risk calculation than generally healthy adults. Pregnancy is consistently flagged in the research literature as a period requiring particular caution, with some studies suggesting associations between high licorice consumption and adverse pregnancy outcomes — though the strength of this evidence varies.
Medications represent a serious consideration. Because licorice root affects cortisol metabolism and potassium levels, it may interact with corticosteroids, diuretics, antihypertensive medications, digoxin, and other drugs that affect electrolyte balance or blood pressure. These aren't theoretical interactions — they're based on the understood pharmacology of glycyrrhizin.
Age plays a role, as older adults may be more sensitive to potassium depletion and blood pressure changes. Children are not well-represented in the licorice root research base.
Dietary context adds another layer. Someone consuming licorice root supplements while also eating licorice candy that contains real licorice extract, or using multiple herbal products with overlapping ingredients, may be accumulating glycyrrhizin from sources they're not tracking.
The Spectrum of Individual Response
Because licorice root affects hormone metabolism, blood pressure regulation, and electrolyte balance — all systems that vary significantly between individuals — the range of outcomes across different people is wide. Some people use DGL supplements for extended periods without measurable adverse effects. Others show sensitivity to glycyrrhizin at doses that most people tolerate without issue. The research captures population-level patterns; it can't predict individual response.
People with strong family histories of hypertension, those on multiple medications, and those with thyroid, adrenal, or kidney conditions are specifically noted in the clinical literature as populations for whom the benefit-risk calculation is more complex. For these groups in particular, a healthcare provider's input isn't just a formality — it reflects a genuine gap in what general nutritional information can address.
Key Questions This Sub-Category Covers
Understanding licorice root benefits fully means working through several distinct questions, each of which has its own evidence base and set of variables. 🔍
The distinction between DGL and whole licorice root deserves dedicated attention — these aren't minor variations; they're substantially different products with different research profiles and different risk considerations. The evidence for DGL in digestive applications is more developed than that for whole licorice root, while whole-root research encompasses the hormonal and anti-inflammatory mechanisms more directly.
The question of licorice root for the gut — covering esophageal, gastric, and mucosal applications — is one of the better-researched areas and one where the mechanistic rationale and clinical evidence are most aligned. Understanding what the studies actually measured, over what time periods, and at what doses is essential to interpreting those findings accurately.
Licorice root and skin represents a largely separate research thread, focused on topical application of specific flavonoid-rich extracts rather than oral supplementation. The mechanisms, study designs, and relevant variables differ enough that it functions as its own topic.
The safety and side effects question isn't a footnote to the benefits discussion — for licorice root, it's central to it. The dose-dependent nature of the risks, the role of glycyrrhizin content, the populations at elevated risk, and the interaction picture all require clear, specific coverage to give readers an accurate view of what the research actually shows.
Finally, how licorice root is used across traditional systems — Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Western herbalism — offers useful context for why interest in this herb is so widespread and why the specific applications, preparations, and dosing assumptions vary so significantly across traditions. Understanding that context helps explain both the depth of use and the difficulty of drawing universal conclusions from any single study or tradition.
A note on this site's approach: The research and mechanisms described here reflect what nutritional science and peer-reviewed literature generally show. How any of this applies to a specific person depends on their health status, medications, diet, age, and individual physiology — factors this page cannot assess. Anyone considering licorice root supplementation, especially for a specific health concern or while taking medications, is in a better position to make that decision with input from a qualified healthcare provider or registered dietitian who knows their full health picture.