Avoid
liquorice while pregnant: Scientists find one of its ingredients can affect a
child's IQ, memory and even cause ADHD
Pregnant
women have long been warned to stay away from liquorice but new
research has found another reason why expectant mothers should avoid the
popular sweets.
Eating lots
of liquorice all-sorts while carrying a child can affect their IQ, affect their
memory and increase their chances of ADHD, scientists discovered. Experts are unsure if there is a safe limit of glycyrrhizin, found in
liquorice for pregnant women due to its harmful effects.
Finnish researchers compared 378 youths whose mothers had either consumed large
amounts or next-to-no liquorice while pregnant. They
defined a large amount as more than 500mg of glycyrrhizin each week - the
equivalent to 250g of liquorice.
A photo posted by @glitterkisskorut on Dec 9, 2016 at 8:32am PST
"In real
terms, that is slightly more than a standard packet of Maynards Bassetts
Liquorice Allsorts, which weigh 190g. In the study, youths were then asked to perform cognitive reasoning tests to
measure their intelligence levels. They found
those exposed to large amounts of liquorice in the womb performed less well. On
average the difference was seven IQ points.
While it also
made the youngsters have worse memory, according to the study published in the
American Journal of Epidemiology. As a result of animal experiments, the biological mechanism of the effects of
liquorice is well known.
A photo posted by Sanna Toivanen (@sannatoivanen1) on Dec 27, 2016 at 11:51am PST
Glycyrrhizin intensifies the effects of stress hormone cortisol by inhibiting the enzyme that inactivates cortisol. While cortisol is essential to the development of a fetus, it is detrimental in large amounts. And parental estimates even suggested that the natural sweetener even caused ADHD-type problems.
While in terms of puberty, it was found to make girls start theirs earlier putting them at risk of breast cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
The University of Helsinki researchers now claim pregnant women and those seeking a family should be warned of glycyrrhizin's harmful effects.
However,
they said it was impossible to say whether it was directly responsible for the
development of a child.