6 ms·

It tastes absolutely horrible to me. I guess somewhere deep down, I knew all along that it's actually poison.

boomlinde 6y ago
Poisonous like water, table salt and other substances that are lethal in excess and benign or even essential in moderation.
- smoyer 6y ago
  > Poisonous like water http://dhmo.org/ http://dhmo.org/
  - kenned3 6y ago
    No, Poisonous like water : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication if you drink enough of it too quickly, it will overload your kidneys and kill you.
- gridlockd 6y ago
  You wouldn't casually consume toxic amounts of water or table salt, but a bag and half of licorice per day doesn't sound all that excessive to me.
  - vidarh 6y ago
    A bag and a half of licorice a day without adequate dietary sources of potassium. And a bag and a half of licorice a day for any length of time would wreak havoc on your digestion.
- Dylan16807 6y ago
  Those don't continue tasting good when you already have dangerous levels of them in your system. So no it's not poisonous in the same way.
  - boomlinde 6y ago
    Bollocks. There are a lot of people who regularly consume dangerous amounts of salt, ultimately resulting in heart disease in the long term. Water, maybe not so common, but among runners or during heat waves people get sick from overconsumption. Neither will somehow change taste, although it's hard to consume an acutely lethal amount of salt because it simply doesn't taste good in concentration. People with healthy lifestyles will feel when they're having too much licorice for their own good. This was a person with a poor diet in general and possibly didn't notice the negative effects of his overconsumption because he was already used to high blood pressure, shitting salsa and having his heart play math rock.
    - Dylan16807 6y ago
      Excess salt is complicated and likely only dangerous to some people and it's not nearly the same thing as directly poisoning you to death. And for water you had to talk about exceptional circumstances like runners for a reason. In a heat wave I'd say it's not the water itself at fault either. You're still in danger if you drink less of it too. > People with healthy lifestyles will feel when they're having too much licorice for their own good. That's quite a claim, especially if we consider the possibility of low-sugar licorice. I think it requires some evidence. He might notice some negative effects before dying but that doesn't mean he'd reasonably be able to tell what caused it, and it might already be too late.
      - boomlinde 6y ago
        > Excess salt is complicated and likely only dangerous to some people and it's not nearly the same thing as directly poisoning you to death* What does it mean to "directly poison to death"? Licorice is harmful if ever by causing potassium deficiency which can lead to heart disease among a range of other easily noticeable symptoms. It doesn't "directly poison you to death" in any sense that consuming a lot of salt or water doesn't; you overconsume it and it causes a harmful chemical imbalance in the body. > And for water you had to talk about exceptional circumstances Let's talk about exceptional...this guy, according to the journal, "had a poor diet, consisting primarily of several packages of candy daily" and that "3 weeks earlier [to the cardiac arrest], he had switched the type of candy he was eating [to a licorice]". So basically no source of potassium in his diet to begin with, and then three weeks after switching to a different type of candy that may in itself cause hypokalemia he suffered a heart failure, somehow without noticing any of the rather obvious symptoms associated with hypokalemia. That is exceptional. > That's quite a claim, especially if we consider the possibility of low-sugar licorice. I think it requires some evidence. What does sugar have to do with anything? For evidence, look up any medical source on the symptoms of potassium deficiency. These are not symptoms that would pass an otherwise healthy person by. > He might notice some negative effects before dying but that doesn't mean he'd reasonably be able to tell what caused it, and it might already be too late. Reasonably, if I'm on a diet "consisting primarily of several packages of candy daily" and start experiencing any of the symptoms of potassium deficiency, I'm going to reconsider my diet. We can discard the notion that this might have been a person with a reasonable attitude towards his health in the first place.
MayeulC 6y ago
I personally like chewing on sticks. The sweets? Not so much. "The dose makes the poison" -- Paracelsus; pretty much on point in this case. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquorice#Food_and_confectionery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquorice#Food_and_confectione...
postalrat 6y ago
I typically hate licorice but love anise pizzelles.

Poisonous like water, table salt and other substances that are lethal in excess and benign or even essential in moderation.

smoyer 6y ago
> Poisonous like water http://dhmo.org/ http://dhmo.org/
- kenned3 6y ago
  No, Poisonous like water : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication if you drink enough of it too quickly, it will overload your kidneys and kill you.
gridlockd 6y ago
You wouldn't casually consume toxic amounts of water or table salt, but a bag and half of licorice per day doesn't sound all that excessive to me.
- vidarh 6y ago
  A bag and a half of licorice a day without adequate dietary sources of potassium. And a bag and a half of licorice a day for any length of time would wreak havoc on your digestion.
Dylan16807 6y ago
Those don't continue tasting good when you already have dangerous levels of them in your system. So no it's not poisonous in the same way.
- boomlinde 6y ago
  Bollocks. There are a lot of people who regularly consume dangerous amounts of salt, ultimately resulting in heart disease in the long term. Water, maybe not so common, but among runners or during heat waves people get sick from overconsumption. Neither will somehow change taste, although it's hard to consume an acutely lethal amount of salt because it simply doesn't taste good in concentration. People with healthy lifestyles will feel when they're having too much licorice for their own good. This was a person with a poor diet in general and possibly didn't notice the negative effects of his overconsumption because he was already used to high blood pressure, shitting salsa and having his heart play math rock.
  - Dylan16807 6y ago
    Excess salt is complicated and likely only dangerous to some people and it's not nearly the same thing as directly poisoning you to death. And for water you had to talk about exceptional circumstances like runners for a reason. In a heat wave I'd say it's not the water itself at fault either. You're still in danger if you drink less of it too. > People with healthy lifestyles will feel when they're having too much licorice for their own good. That's quite a claim, especially if we consider the possibility of low-sugar licorice. I think it requires some evidence. He might notice some negative effects before dying but that doesn't mean he'd reasonably be able to tell what caused it, and it might already be too late.
    - boomlinde 6y ago
      > Excess salt is complicated and likely only dangerous to some people and it's not nearly the same thing as directly poisoning you to death* What does it mean to "directly poison to death"? Licorice is harmful if ever by causing potassium deficiency which can lead to heart disease among a range of other easily noticeable symptoms. It doesn't "directly poison you to death" in any sense that consuming a lot of salt or water doesn't; you overconsume it and it causes a harmful chemical imbalance in the body. > And for water you had to talk about exceptional circumstances Let's talk about exceptional...this guy, according to the journal, "had a poor diet, consisting primarily of several packages of candy daily" and that "3 weeks earlier [to the cardiac arrest], he had switched the type of candy he was eating [to a licorice]". So basically no source of potassium in his diet to begin with, and then three weeks after switching to a different type of candy that may in itself cause hypokalemia he suffered a heart failure, somehow without noticing any of the rather obvious symptoms associated with hypokalemia. That is exceptional. > That's quite a claim, especially if we consider the possibility of low-sugar licorice. I think it requires some evidence. What does sugar have to do with anything? For evidence, look up any medical source on the symptoms of potassium deficiency. These are not symptoms that would pass an otherwise healthy person by. > He might notice some negative effects before dying but that doesn't mean he'd reasonably be able to tell what caused it, and it might already be too late. Reasonably, if I'm on a diet "consisting primarily of several packages of candy daily" and start experiencing any of the symptoms of potassium deficiency, I'm going to reconsider my diet. We can discard the notion that this might have been a person with a reasonable attitude towards his health in the first place.

MayeulC 6y ago

I personally like chewing on sticks. The sweets? Not so much. "The dose makes the poison" -- Paracelsus; pretty much on point in this case. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquorice#Food_and_confectionery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquorice#Food_and_confectione...

postalrat 6y ago

I typically hate licorice but love anise pizzelles.