Licorice

Licorice

Licorice has been used as a herb in Europe since prehistoric times and its medicinal use is well documented (Fiore et al, 2005). References to licorice date back to approximately 2500bc on Assyrian clay tablets and Egyptian papyri. It has been used as both a food and a medicine since ancient times. The genus name, meaning 'sweet root', is attributed to the first century Greek physician Dioscorides. The herb is also popular in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Ayurvedic medicine (Bluementhal et al, 2000). The theory that it is possible that licorice may lower testosterone levels in women provides a theoretical basis for its use in PCOS (Armanini et al, 2004). While trials using licorice as a stand-alone treatment are lacking, studies of licorice in combination with other herbal medicines such as 'peony' have produced promising results, showing reductions in LH:FSH ratio, ovarian testosterone production and improvements in ovulation (Takahashi & Kitao, 1994, Takahashi et all, 1988).