When most of us think of food, especially licorice, our thoughts on it rarely stray further than how it can best be used to satiate our hunger. And of course, which foods taste good to us while doing so. We don’t usually concern ourselves with its potential for healing; well, exterior healing, anyway. We suppose there are a few of you who can still recall how frequently movie and TV characters, in decades past, would slap a raw steak over their eye to reduce the swelling from a shiner they got from some villain or another. But that’s not quite what we mean.
It’s truly extraordinary how often medical science is able to find a way to harvest certain properties from all types of common foodstuffs, in an effort to help create treatments and cures for some of humanity’s countless diseases. We found one such example highlighted in an article posted on the website skininc.com. In it, they discuss research that indicates licorice extract may be able to help our body’s own skin cells shore up their defense against the sun’s harmful UV rays.* And that that, in conjunction with a strong sunscreen, can offer up an even stronger sun shield than was previously possible.*
Skininc.com provided a very interesting quote on the subject from Gitta Nefang, who has been studying the results. Here is that direct quote: “We found out that the antioxidant active Licochalcone A, which is the main component of the root extract of the plant Glycyrrhiza inflata (Chinese Licorice), is able to protect the skin from subsequent UV irradiation damage from within by strengthening the skin’s own defense systems, thus plant extracts with the described profile are able to provide a protective shield from sun exposure supporting and going beyond the action of sunscreens regarding sun protection.”*
Pretty amazing stuff, we think. The possibilities for these types of discoveries are endless, and we can’t wait to hear more about this and the others that are certain to follow.
*Source: Skininc.com
Sundicators: The Best Skin-surance Under the Sun!