Your told not to take/use licorice if you have high blood pressure. But if you have it under control with medication can you use it safely?

Andrew said: Hi Josey2: Licorice is safe to use in low doses as part of a larger formula. When you begin to learn about herbal formulation you will notice that licorice is a low dose herb. If you stick to that principle the herb is safe. Additionally, use licorice with those clients for whom it is indicated. For example, I would not think of it for someone who has a phlegmy slow digestive system. It nourishes yin, tonifies qi, and harmonizes herbs in a formula. So, it is a tonic! Generally, it may not be my first choice for a person who has a lot of excess. The exception would be very low dose honey-baked licorice, which is used to harmonize the actions of many herbs in one formula. In this case it is versatile and can be used for many energetic patterns. In general, stick to traditional herbal wisdom and history of use. For example, in a TCM formula, I may give 120 grams of dried herbs to make a decoction that lasts two days. In that recipe, licorice will only make up 6-10 grams. There are very few TCM formulas that use higher doses of licorice. How does that translate into tincture dosing? I would say I use licorice tincture in doses of 10-30 drops 2-3 times per day. When I go higher than that I am using it to intentionally help INCREASE blood pressure or cortisol in patients who need the support. In that case I occasionally go up to 2-4 mL 2-3 times per day for a short period of time. Meanwhile, I will closely monitor their saliva cortisol, serum electrolytes, and vital signs to be sure they do not have adverse reactions. So, if hypertension is controlled, licorice is used with appropriately low doses (10-30 gtt), and licorice is indicated for the person's condition/constitution... it can be very safely used! Remember Paracelsus's expression: "dose makes the poison!" I am sure David will speak to this in more detail when you encounter licorice (sheng gan cao/zhi gan cao) in the TCM materia medica.