An interventional study of Sweet licorice and Salty licorice in Hypertension,Essential, sponsored by Linkoeping University. Completed at 1 site in Sweden. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 30 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2023-08-28.
Sponsored by Linkoeping University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Other
Out-of-office blood pressure is more strongly associated with cardiovascular risk than office blood pressure. Licorice is known to raise blood pressure, but no previous studies have measured the effects on home blood pressure. The aim of this study is to analyze the association between licorice intake and home blood pressure.
Healthy volunteers will be invited to participate in a randomized, non-blinded, cross-over study. Participants will be randomized to either of two groups with a 1:1 allocation ratio, stratified by sex. Intervention will be sweet licorice and control will be salty licorice. A run-in period of 1 week will be followed by a 2-week intervention/control, a 2-week washout period, another 2-week control/intervention period and again a 2-week washout period. Home blood pressure will be measured continuously, and blood samples (including potassium and aldosterone) will be collected every two weeks. Analyses will be made comparing baseline characteristics of the two groups, intervention/control and washout period results of the two groups to look for potential carry-over effects, and finally comparing intervention and washout period results respectively to the baseline data to look for the effects of licorice.
527 studies on the registry are indexed under Essential Hypertension; 76 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 28 is below the median of 166 across 449 interventional studies indexed under Essential Hypertension.
Browse Essential Hypertension studies →Linkoeping University is the lead sponsor of 189 studies on the registry; 40 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
This arm will be divided into the following periods: Run-in period: 7 days without any licorice intake Intervention period: 14 days with sweet licorice intake First wash-out period: 14 days without any licorice intake Control period: 14 days with salty licorice intake Second wash-out period: 14 days without any licorice intake.
Other: Sweet licorice · Other: Salty licorice
This arm will be divided into the following periods: Run-in period: 7 days without any licorice intake Control period: 14 days with salty licorice intake First wash-out period: 14 days without any licorice intake Intervention period: 14 days with sweet licorice intake Second wash-out period: 14 days without any licorice intake.
Other: Sweet licorice · Other: Salty licorice
Ecologic, vegan and gluten free, low-sodium sweet licorice pastilles made from Glycyrrhiza glabra, with a manufacturer specified content of 4% sugars, 2% glycyrrhizin and 0.03% salt, will be used as intervention. The exact glycyrrhizin content will be determined before the study begins, and participants will be instructed to consume a daily licorice dose that is equivalent to 100 mg of glycyrrhizin.
Also known as: Glycyrrhiza glabra
A vegan and gluten free salty licorice without glycyrrhizin, flavored with ammonium chloride, with a manufacturer specified content of 0% sugars and 0.05% salt, will be used as control. The amount of salty licorice will be the same as for sweet licorice, and thus determined after the glycyrrhizin content analysis of the sweet licorice.
Systolic home blood pressure (mmHg)
Systolic home blood pressure (mmHg)
Time frame: Mean at the end of 14 days of intervention compared with mean during run-in period
Diastolic home blood pressure (mmHg)
Diastolic home blood pressure (mmHg)
Time frame: Mean at the end of 14 days of intervention compared with mean during run-in period
Body weight (kg)
Body weight (kg)
Time frame: Mean at the end of 14 days of intervention compared with mean during run-in period
Plasma potassium (mmol/L)
Plasma potassium (mmol/L)
Time frame: Mean at the end of 14 days of intervention compared with mean during run-in period
Plasma sodium (mmol/L)
Plasma sodium (mmol/L)
Time frame: Mean at the end of 14 days of intervention compared with mean during run-in period
Plasma renin (mIU/L)
Plasma renin (mIU/L)
Time frame: Mean at the end of 14 days of intervention compared with mean during run-in period
Serum aldosterone (μmol/L)
Serum aldosterone (μmol/L)
Time frame: Mean at the end of 14 days of intervention compared with mean during run-in period
Plan to share: Yes — As specified below.
Supporting information: Study protocol, Sap, Icf, Analytic code
This study is completed, as verified in Aug 2023. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.
Linkoeping University