Old-School Iron

I actually found a reason why eating salmiak (salty liquorice) is good for you.
And from a respectable source, too!

The March 2006 Issue of National Geographic magazine had intresting things to say about it, and I repeat word for word:

“One of the world’s oldest known medicines, the root of the licorice plant has been prescribed since antiquity. Historians such as Pliny the Elder describe its use in treating colds and asthma and healing wounds. Herbalists in China and India add licorice to their compounds, and it’s in over-the-counter remedies for sore throats. Now scientists worldwide are testing its potential. One team found that glycyrrhizic acid, a compound in licorice, kills cells infected with the virus that causes Kaposi’s sarcoma, a cancer. It also inhibits the growth of the SARS virus and has been tested with success against Japanese encephalitis, chronic hepatitis and HIV.”

Note that it’s only the black stuff that really has any real licorice in it. (Funny, but the American and British spellings of this word is remarkably dissimilar…)
In Finland, salmiak can be found at your local store or at the pharmacy. Intrestingly, pharmacies in Finland have their own brand of salmiak… Large quantities have been known to raise bloodpressure, so eat lots of salmiak with your bloodpressure medication and you’ll be just fine!

Now, I really should have a webstore where I could sell licorice/liquorice by the ton…

Here’s what Wikipedia has to say on Salmiak. And here’s the word on liquorice. More!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 25th, 2006 at 4:46 pm and is filed under Miscallenous. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.