Licorice tea has a long track record as a remedy for digestive discomfort, and modern research supports several of its traditional uses. It can help protect the stomach lining, ease menopausal hot flashes, soothe sore throats, and influence how your body handles stress hormones. But licorice is also one of the few herbal teas that carries real risks if you drink too much, so understanding both sides matters.
Stomach and Digestive Relief
The best-supported use of licorice is for upper digestive problems, particularly stomach ulcers and acid reflux. Compounds in licorice root work through anti-inflammatory and antibacterial pathways to protect the stomach lining from damage and help existing ulcers heal. A derivative of licorice called carbenoxolone was actually used as a prescription ulcer medication before modern acid-blocking drugs replaced it.
Today, most digestive products use a modified form called deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL), which has the potentially harmful compound glycyrrhizin removed. DGL still appears to relieve symptoms of peptic ulcer disease without the cardiovascular side effects that regular licorice can cause. If you’re drinking licorice tea primarily for stomach issues, this distinction matters, because most licorice teas on store shelves contain full-strength licorice root, glycyrrhizin included. DGL is more commonly found in chewable tablets or capsules than in tea form.
For occasional heartburn or a mildly upset stomach, a cup of regular licorice tea is unlikely to cause problems. The soothing, slightly sweet flavor also makes it a natural choice when nausea takes your appetite away.
Menopausal Hot Flashes
A double-blind clinical trial of 90 menopausal women found that licorice root significantly reduced both the frequency and severity of hot flashes over eight weeks of daily use. Women in the licorice group saw their average number of hot flashes drop from about 7.7 per day to 6.4, with severity declining as early as the first week. No side effects related to licorice were reported, though three women experienced bloating that resolved when they stopped taking it.
The catch: the benefits disappeared quickly after stopping. Hot flash frequency and severity returned to baseline within two weeks of ending treatment. This suggests licorice needs to be taken consistently to maintain its effect, which raises the safety question of long-term use (more on that below). The study used capsules rather than tea, so the exact dose delivered by a cup of brewed licorice tea is harder to pin down.
How Licorice Affects Stress Hormones
Licorice root has an unusual effect on cortisol, your body’s primary stress hormone. Normally, an enzyme in your body breaks cortisol down relatively quickly. Glycyrrhizin, the main active compound in licorice, blocks that enzyme. The result is that cortisol stays active in your system longer.
This is sometimes framed as “adrenal support,” and for people with very low cortisol levels, it could theoretically help. But for most people, artificially prolonging cortisol activity isn’t necessarily beneficial, and it’s the same mechanism responsible for licorice’s side effects. When cortisol lingers, it mimics some of the actions of aldosterone, a hormone that tells your kidneys to retain sodium and flush potassium. That’s why heavy licorice consumption raises blood pressure and depletes potassium.
Sore Throats and Respiratory Comfort
Licorice tea is a popular home remedy for sore throats, and there’s a practical reason it works. The root has natural anti-inflammatory properties that can calm irritated tissue in the throat and upper airways. Its naturally sweet, coating quality also provides a physical soothing effect similar to honey. For a simple sore throat or mild cough, a warm cup of licorice tea is one of the more pleasant herbal options.
Safety Limits and Side Effects
Licorice is not a drink-as-much-as-you-want herbal tea. The compound glycyrrhizin, which makes up anywhere from 1% to 12% of licorice root by weight, is responsible for most of the risks. Health authorities generally recommend staying under 100 mg of glycyrrhizin per day. Above that threshold, sensitive individuals can start experiencing problems. At 400 mg per day, adverse effects show up in most people.
The most serious concern is potassium depletion. One case report published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings documented a patient whose potassium dropped to 1.7 mEq/L (normal is 3.5 to 5.0) from regular licorice consumption, causing severe muscle paralysis. Potassium that low can trigger dangerous heart rhythm changes. Other possible effects of excessive intake include high blood pressure, fluid retention, and in extreme cases, cardiac arrest.
These risks are dose-dependent. An occasional cup of licorice tea is very different from drinking several cups daily for weeks. But because glycyrrhizin content varies between products, it’s difficult to know exactly how much you’re getting per cup. People with high blood pressure, heart disease, or kidney disease are more sensitive to these effects and should be especially cautious.
Medications That Don’t Mix With Licorice
Because licorice causes your body to retain sodium and lose potassium, it can amplify the effects of medications that do similar things. Diuretics (water pills) already deplete potassium, and combining them with licorice can push levels dangerously low. Blood pressure medications may become less effective, since licorice is actively raising blood pressure through a separate pathway. Corticosteroids interact for a related reason: licorice slows the breakdown of cortisol, which can intensify steroid side effects. If you take any of these medication types regularly, licorice tea is worth discussing with your pharmacist before making it a habit.
How Much Is Safe to Drink
For most healthy adults, one cup of licorice tea a day is well within safe limits. Problems tend to arise with heavy, sustained use over weeks or months. If you enjoy licorice tea and want to drink it regularly, a few practical strategies help minimize risk. Rotate it with other herbal teas rather than drinking it exclusively. Pay attention to other sources of licorice in your diet, including certain candies, throat lozenges, and chewing tobacco, all of which contribute to your total glycyrrhizin intake. And if you notice swelling in your hands or feet, unusual muscle weakness, or headaches after a period of regular consumption, those are signs to cut back.
Products labeled as DGL (deglycyrrhizinated licorice) have had glycyrrhizin removed and carry far fewer risks. DGL supplements appear safe at doses up to 4.5 grams daily for up to four months. However, DGL products are mainly sold as tablets and capsules rather than teas, and removing glycyrrhizin also removes some of the hormonal and anti-inflammatory effects that make licorice useful in the first place. You’re essentially choosing between more benefit with more risk (regular licorice) or less of both (DGL).