Gan Cao (Licorice Root)

Chinese Herb Actions

Chinese Herb Dosage

• 3-10 grams ¹²
• 1.5-9 grams ¹³
• Maximum of 15-30 grams for large doses

Chinese Herb Combinations:

Chinese Herb Contraindications & Cautions

• Do not use with vomiting, nausea, or chest and abdominal distention/fullness due to Dampness.
• Do not use with high blood pressure or edema

Chinese Herb Toxicity & Overdose

• Overdoses may cause symptoms such as higher blood pressure, edema, weakness or numbness of the extremities, dizziness, or headache.
• Gan Cao may also cause increase sodium retention and decrease potassium excretion.
• Gan Cao can be combined with Ze Xie (Rhizoma Alismatis) and Fu Ling (Poria) to mitigate water and sodium retention.

Herb-Drug Interactions

• Corticosteroids: Glycyrrhizin, a compount in Gan Cao may prolong the biological half-life of the sytemic corticosteroids. ^{12, 25}
• Digioxin: Potassium loss associated with Gan Cao may increase toxicity of cardiac glycosides such as Lanoxin ^{12, 26}

Chinese Herb Notes

• Reduced sodium intake and a potassium supplement are recommended when taking Gan Cao in large doses or long term.

This herb is incompatible with:

• Da Ji (Herba Cirsii Japonici)
• Jing Da Ji (Radix Euphorbiae Pekinensis)
• Gan Sui (Radix Euphorbiae Kansui)
• Hai Zao (Herba Sargassii)
• Yuan Hua (Flos Daphnis Genkwae)