Does eating liquorice in pregnancy raise the risk of ADHD?

Conclusion This study provides evidence of some link between how much liquorice a pregnant woman eats and earlier puberty in girls, but not boys. It also shows some association between pregnant women eating liquorice and their children scoring lower for intelligence and being more likely to have ADHD. However, this study has some limitations to consider: Glycyrrhizin is found in other food products, such as chewing gum, sweets, cookies, ice creams, herbal teas, and herbal and traditional medicines, as well as alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. The amount of these products the women ate was not reported, which means their intake of glycyrrhizin may not have been measured accurately. Although the study accounted for some confounding variables, there are other factors that might have affected the results that were not reported – for example, income or social class. The study was carried out on healthy babies all born in Helsinki, Finland. People in this region may consume larger amounts of liquorice than people in other countries, especially a salty liquorice called salmiakki, so the results may not be generalisable to women in the UK or elsewhere. There were only 51 children in the group who had mothers who consumed large amounts of liquorice. This is a fairly low number, and a bigger study may have shown less difference between the groups. There are currently no UK guidelines suggesting pregnant women should avoid all liquorice. But, as a precaution, i...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Pregnancy/child Neurology Food/diet Source Type: news