Licorice and Pregnancy: Why Abstaining Is the Safer Choice

No, regular consumption of licorice is not recommended during pregnancy. This is not a theoretical default precaution, as with many unstudied herbs: a human cohort study specifically linked heavy licorice consumption during pregnancy to an increased risk of preterm birth.

What the reference study shows

A cohort study conducted in Finland by Strandberg and colleagues, published in 2002 in the American Journal of Epidemiology, compared 95 women who had given birth prematurely with 107 women who had carried to term, assessing their glycyrrhizin intake (licorice's active compound) during pregnancy via a detailed questionnaire. Women classified as heavy consumers (500 mg of glycyrrhizin per week or more, equivalent to several sticks of black licorice per day) had more than twice the risk of preterm birth compared with the lowest consumers, a risk that was even more pronounced for very preterm births (see the study on Google Scholar). Follow-up work by the same team also reported associations with certain behavioral issues in children exposed in utero to high doses.

Candy, tea or supplement: not all the same

Form	Glycyrrhizin content	Approach during pregnancy
Flavored "licorice" candy (no real extract)	None or near-none	Generally unrelated to the risk studied
Real black licorice stick or candy	Variable, sometimes high	Strongly limit, or avoid
Licorice root tea or infusion	Moderate to high depending on concentration	Avoid as a precaution
Concentrated supplement (whole root, non-DGL)	High	Avoid during pregnancy

This distinction is essential: many candies sold as "licorice" in Western markets actually contain very little, if any, of it, most of the flavor coming from artificial aromas. It is regular, heavy consumption of real root, whether as authentic candy, tea or supplement, that is at issue in the Finnish study.

Why does glycyrrhizin act on pregnancy?

Glycyrrhizin inhibits an enzyme that normally protects the fetus from excess maternal cortisol, which can expose the fetus to higher-than-usual hormone levels. It is this physiologically plausible mechanism, consistent with the observational results, that makes this association more solid than most default precautions applied to other herbs on this site, which rest on a simple absence of data rather than an identified signal.

Should you panic after occasional consumption?

No. An occasional piece of candy or a single cup of tea does not match the level of consumption studied in the Finnish cohort, which involved repeated, heavy exposure throughout pregnancy. The practical rule stays simple: avoid regular consumption of real licorice during pregnancy, without dramatizing a one-off deviation, and discuss it with a midwife if in doubt about consumption habits.

What about while breastfeeding?

Data on glycyrrhizin's passage into breast milk remain limited, but the same cautious logic generally applies during breastfeeding, particularly with heavy daily consumption. Our guide to Ayurveda and pregnancy details the general principles applicable to this period and to breastfeeding.

How to know if you are consuming too much licorice?

In practice, few pregnant women spontaneously consume the equivalent of several sticks of authentic black licorice per day throughout pregnancy, the level associated with the strongest risk in the Finnish study. The most useful reference remains checking the actual composition of products consumed: a candy package listing "licorice extract" or "licorice root" among its ingredients, eaten daily, deserves to be limited, while an artificial flavor does not pose the same problem. If in doubt about habits, simply discussing it with a midwife during a check-up removes the uncertainty without needless stress.

What this study reminds us more broadly

The case of licorice illustrates a useful rule for all traditional herbs: absence of a study does not mean absence of risk, but the presence of a solid, physiologically coherent study should be taken seriously and not dismissed just because it involves a traditional food rather than a synthetic drug. This is exactly the logic developed in our guide to Ayurveda and pregnancy, which distinguishes herbs that are simply unstudied from those for which a caution signal has been specifically documented.

A herb otherwise widely used in Ayurveda

Outside pregnancy, licorice (yashtimadhu) remains a traditional herb valued for the throat and digestion, as detailed in our articles licorice review and licorice dosage. The pregnancy-related contraindication does not call into question its traditional use outside this period, but it illustrates well how an otherwise well-tolerated herb can deserve specific attention depending on physiological context.

Precautions

Authentic licorice is among the herbs for which caution during pregnancy rests on direct human data, not just a generic precautionary principle. Regular, heavy consumption is best avoided; an occasional deviation does not justify excessive worry. In case of already elevated blood pressure, caution applies outside pregnancy too, as our article on licorice dangers notes. For general guidance, see our safety and precautions guide.