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Licorice Extract
Read this page even if you skip the others. Licorice is the one ingredient here with a real ceiling, and it is the reason the safety page exists.
Where Licorice Extract Comes From
Licorice root comes from a legume grown across the Mediterranean and western Asia. It has been used as a sweetener and a digestive remedy for thousands of years, and the root is genuinely sweet — far sweeter than sugar by weight.
The compound responsible is glycyrrhizin. On this label it appears as monoammonium glycyrrhizinate, a salt form used for flavour and for its own effects. The important thing to know is that this is the active version, not the deglycyrrhizinated form sometimes sold for stomach complaints.
The Job It Does In Sugar Reset
In a formula like this, licorice does two jobs. It sweetens, which matters in a liquid supplement people have to taste every day. And it contributes its own traditional use for digestive comfort.
There is also some research on licorice compounds and glucose metabolism, but it is early and mostly not human. We are not going to build a claim on it. Treat licorice here as a flavour and traditional-use ingredient, and treat everything below as the more important half of the page.
It sits alongside Panax Ginseng and Gymnema Sylvestre in the botanical half of the blend.
How Strong Is The Evidence?
The safety pharmacology is the well-established part. Glycyrrhizin inhibits an enzyme that normally protects a receptor from cortisol. The result, at sustained intakes, is sodium retention, potassium loss, rising blood pressure and, in serious cases, muscle weakness or heart rhythm disturbance.
This is not a fringe concern. Regulators in several countries publish intake guidance for glycyrrhizin, and case reports of licorice-related high blood pressure and low potassium appear regularly in the medical literature — usually from confectionery or tea rather than supplements, but the mechanism is the same.
The glucose research is early. Cell and animal work, not human trials. We mention it and we do not lean on it.
Dose, Timing And What Is Disclosed
Inside the 200 mg blend, so the amount is undisclosed. For most healthy adults, the quantity in a shared blend of this size is small. Small is the right word, but undisclosed is the honest one, and the two together are a fair reason to be careful if you have high blood pressure.
Do not double the dose. Do not take it alongside licorice tea or licorice sweets as a daily habit. If you already eat black licorice regularly, this ingredient is the reason to mention this product to your doctor.
Who Should Check First
The clearest do-not-take list on this whole site.
- High blood pressure, whether or not it is treated
- Heart failure, or any heart rhythm problem
- Kidney disease
- Low potassium, or anything that lowers it — most diuretics do
- Anyone taking digoxin, where potassium levels matter a great deal
- Pregnancy, where glycyrrhizin intake is specifically discouraged
Stop and see a doctor for swelling in the ankles, unusual muscle weakness or cramps, a headache that will not shift, or a noticeable rise in your blood pressure readings.
Two Things It Is Not
It is not the same as DGL. Deglycyrrhizinated licorice has the problem compound removed and does not carry these cautions. This formula uses the active form.
It is not just flavouring. It does contribute sweetness, but glycyrrhizin is pharmacologically active and deserves to be read as an ingredient rather than a taste.
Not medical advice. If you take prescription medication, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or manage a diagnosed condition, speak to a doctor or pharmacist before you start. The full interaction list is on side effects and safety.
Licorice Extract: Common Questions
What readers ask about this ingredient in particular.
Why is licorice a safety concern?
Glycyrrhizin causes the body to retain sodium and lose potassium, which raises blood pressure. At sustained high intakes that can become serious.
How much is too much?
Guidance varies by country, and the amount here is undisclosed. If you have high blood pressure or kidney disease, the safe answer is not to take it without asking a doctor.
Can I take it with a water tablet?
Ask your doctor first. Many diuretics lower potassium and licorice does the same, so the two together are worth supervising.
Should I stop eating black licorice while taking this?
If you eat it regularly, yes, mention both to your doctor. The mechanism is identical and the amounts add together.
The Other Seven
Every Ingredient, One Daily Dropper
Join the people who use Sugar Reset as the one small daily habit that keeps the rest of the routine honest.
- One dropper a day, straight under the tongue
- Supports healthy glucose levels already in the normal range
- Chromium picolinate listed with its own amount
- 60 days to change your mind