Vegetarian Capsules

Starwest Herb Capsules 100 count are packaged in a light and moisture-resistant white bottle, with a tamper-evident, pressure-sealed lid.

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Our superior quality herbs are captured in 100% natural and Certified Kosher size 0 vegetarian capsules. Derived from naturally occurring vegetable cellulose and 100% preservative free, vegetarian capsules do not interfere with the digestive process. Most, but not all herbs, are also certified kosher.

These capsules do not have additives or filler.

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We select our herbs and spices from natural renewable sources and are irradiation-free. We begin with carefully selected whole herbs (when possible) from reputable growers around the world. Followed with numerous quality control inspections before and after processing in which we adhere to our strict quality control standards.

Starwest encapsulates only superior quality herb powder and strives to consistently capture and maintain the purest and highest quality botanicals and their natural benefits.

Famous for its pungent, sweet flavor, licorice is essential in innumerable candy, confection, beverage and sauce recipes, and makes an estimable liqueur.

Licorice is also a traditional herbal remedy.

The sweet saponin glycyrrhizin occurs in the roots of Glycyrrhiza glabra, the original European source, and in Glycyrrhiza uralensis, Chinese licorice. Authorities treat the two as chemically and medicinally identical. As Grieve puts it, 'The Liquorice of medicine and commerce is derived from the sweet root of various species of Glycyrrhiza, a genus which contains about fourteen species, natives of warmer temperate countries in both the New and Old Worlds...'

The 1997 Commission E on Phytotherapy and Herbal Substances of the German Federal Institute for Drugs recommends Licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra) 'For catarrhs of the upper respiratory tract and gastric/duodenal ulcers.'

'Side Effects: On prolonged use and with higher doses, mineralocorticoid effects may occur in the form of sodium and water retention and potassium loss, accompanied by hypertension, edema, and hypokalemia, and, in rare cases, myoglobinuria.'

'Average daily dosage: About 5 - 15 g of root, equivalent to 200 - 600 mg of glycyrrhizin; As Succus liquiritiae: 0.5 - 1 g for catarrhs of the upper respiratory tract, 1.5 - 3 g for gastric/duodenal ulcers;
equivalent preparations.'

'Mode of Administration: Powdered root, finely cut root or dry extracts for infusions, decoctions, liquid or solid dosage forms for internal use (Succus liquiritiae). Duration of Administration: Not longer than 4 - 6 weeks without medical advice. There is no objection to using licorice root as a flavoring agent up to a maximum daily dosage equivalent to 100 mg glycyrrhizin.'

'Actions: According to controlled clinical studies, glycyrrhizic acid and the aglycone of glycyrrhizic acid accelerate the healing of gastric ulcers. Secretolytic and expectorant effects have been confirmed in tests on rabbits. In the isolated rabbit ileum, an antispasmodic action has been observed at concentrations of 1:2500 - 1:5000.'

Although the Commission E lists severe liver disease as a contraindication, less severe liver disease can be helped by the use of licorice. Hepatoprotective licorice tea is widely used as a liver tonic in Japan.

Licorice's triterpene glycyrrhizin has been shown to prevent liver injury from such agents as carbon tetrachloride, benzene hexachloride and PCB. Glycyrrhizin aids antibody production and inhibits the growth of several DNA and RNA viruses, irreversibly inactivating the Herpes simplex virus.

Grieve's classic 'A Modern Herbal': 'The chief constituent of Liquorice root [Glycyrrhiza glabra], to which its sweet taste is due, is Glycyrrhizin (6 to 8 per cent), obtainable in the form of a sweet, white crystalline powder, consisting of the calcium and potassium salts of glycyrrhizic acid. The drug also contains sugar, starch (29 per cent), gum, protein, fat (0.8 per cent), resin, asparagin (2 to 4 per cent), a trace of tannin in the outer bark of the root, yellow colouring matter, and 0.03 of volatile oil.'

'The action of Liquorice is demulcent, moderately pectoral and emollient.'

'It is a popular and well-known remedy for coughs, consumption and chest complaints generally, notably bronchitis, and is an ingredient in almost all popular cough medicines on account of its valuable soothing properties.'

'The Extract enters into the composition of cough lozenges and pastilles, with sedatives and expectorants. It is largely used in conjunction with infusion of linseed in the treatment of irritable cough, sore throat and laryngitis, and an infusion made by boiling 1 oz. of the bruised root deprived of its bark, with 1 pint of water for a few minutes, may be employed in the treatment of sore throat and in catarrhal conditions of the urinary intestinal tracts.'

'Fluid Extract of Liquorice is employed almost exclusively as a vehicle for disguising the taste of nauseous medicines, having a remarkable power of converting the flavour of acrid or bitter drugs, such as Mezereon, Quinine or Cascara.'

'The powdered root is useful in pill-making on account of its absorbent qualities, being used to impart stiffness to pill masses and to prevent the adhesion of pills.'

'As a remedial agent, powdered Liquorice root has been almost entirely replaced by the extract, though it is used in the well-known Compound Liquorice Powder, the mild laxative in which Senna and Fennel are the other ingredients. It is added mainly on account of its sweetness and emollient qualities, the action of the powder being mainly due to the Senna contained.'

'The sugar of Liquorice may safely be taken by diabetic patients.'

'On the whole, Liquorice as a domestic medicine is far more largely used on the Continent than in Great Britain. It is much used in China and largely produced (both G. glabra and G. echinata) in some of the northern provinces, a variety of medicinal preparations being employed, not only as possessing tonic, alterative and expectorant properties, but also for the rejuvenating and highly nutritive qualities attributed to it.'

'Preparations and Dosages: Powdered root, ½ to 1 drachm. Fluid extract, 1 to 4 drachms. Comp. powder, B.P., 1 to 2 drachms. Solid extract, 1 drachm. Comp. lozenges, U.S.P. Solid extract in stick form, known as Liquorice Juice.'

'Liquorice is also largely used by brewers, being added to porter and stout to give thickness and blackness.'

American Materia Medica, 1919 (Ellingwood): 'The agreeable taste of liquorice in any form covers to a practical extent the taste of very many disagreeable remedies. Acrid and bitter tastes are well disguised by it. A syrup made by adding two parts of the fluid extract to fourteen parts of simple syrup, will disguise the bitter or otherwise unpleasant taste of a large proportion of the fluid extracts. The taste of quinine can be concealed by it to a considerable extent.'

'Its demulcent properties render it useful in inflammation, or irritation of the mucous membranes of the lungs and bronchi. In combination with ipecac, lobelia, squill, sanguinaria, or ammonium chloride, an excellent expectorant mixture or cough syrup may be extemporized, as this agent modifies any acrid or irritating influence the other agents may exhibit.'

www.herbmed.org/Herbs/Herb101.htm#Category1Herb101:

Clinical Trials

Review of treating hepatitis in Japan for 2 decades with glycyrrhizin finds reduction of serum aminotransferases, improvement in liver histology and prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma: van Rossum 1998

84 hepatitis C patients treated with SNMC (glycyrrhizin, L-cystein, aminoacetic acid, and sodium sulfite), 100 mL/d for 8 weeks, then 2-7 times a week for 2-16 years, had half the rate of hepatocellular carcinoma as 109 untreated patients: Arase 1997

54 TB patiends getting Urtica, Glycyrrhiza, Tanacetum, Mentha had improvement over the 58 controls getting essentiale, legilon, Liv-52, hemodez: Galitskii 1997

Hepatitis treatment with daily 80 mg intravenous (i.v.) glycyrrhizin for 2 weeks indicates restoration of AST and ALT require plasma concentration near 5 micrograms/ml Yamamura 1997

Efficacy of interferon combined glycyrrhizin therapy in patients with interferon-resistant chronic hepatitis C [Article in Japanese] Okuno 1995

Normalization of serum ALT and disappearance of serum hepatitis C RNA improved when Stronger Neominophagen C was added to interferon in a small trial of 28 patients [Article in Japanese] Abe 1994

Survival of 18 viral hepatitis patients given an interferon stimulator derived from G. glabra was 72% compared with only 31% of 98 patients getting supportive therapy Acharya 1993

200 precancerous patients treated with Hua-sheng-ping (Chrysanthemum morifolium, Glycyrrhiza uralensis, Panax notoginseng) had 95.5% effective rate compared with 57% in the control group: Yu 1993

Topical anesthesia by 10% lidocaine was improved by 3% glycyrrhetinic acid. Pain score was reduced from 2.5 to 1.3 in a double blind trial with 24 patients [Article in Japanese] Hashiguchi 1990

Immune response was improved by Ma-Xin-Shi-Gan tang (Ephedra, Semen Armeniacae Amarum, Glycyrrhizae and Gypsum) in 64 children with respiratory tract infection [Article in Chinese] Yue 1990

Aphthous ulcers were improved 50-75% in 1 day in 15 out of 20 patients followed by complete healing of the ulcers by third day Das 1989

Mouth rinse with glycyrrhizin resulted in less dental plaque after 3 days in a preliminary trial with 21 people Steinberg 1989

47% of gastric ulcers were healed after 20-days and 32% were reduced in size but the difference from the control placebo group was statistically insignificant [Article in Bulgarian] Brailski 1987

0.2% IDU in glycyrrhizin gel was more effective than 0.5% IDU ointment for herpes of the face Segal 1987

SNMC alleviated uncomfortable side effects of cancer chemotherapy mix of mitomycin, methotrexate and futraful, in a trial with 117 patients [Article in Japanese] Akimoto 1986

Preliminary observation on hypoglycemic responses in 214 diabetes mellitus patients treated with ganshao jiangtang tablets [Article in Chinese] Wang 1986

Carbenoxolone-treated patients with reflux oesophagitis had an 82% improvement in 8 weeks and improved 50% faster than controls, who showed a 63% improvement. Side effects were minimized by small frequent doses (5 X 20 mg daily) Young 1986

Gastric ulcer treatment with carbenoxolone (glycyrrhetinic acid derivative) at 300 mg/d or pirenzepine at 150 mg/d had similar modest benefit but differences in side effects, in a study with 66 patients Bianchi Porro 1985

Triletide (1.5 g/day) was more effective than carbenoxolone (0.3 g/day) against benign gastric ulcer in a trial with 20 patients Campisi 1985

Cicloxolone was more effective than carbenoxolone against herpes genitalis in a trial with 79 patients Csonka 1984

Duodenal ulcer healed in 61% of the carbenoxolone group and 72% of the cimetidine group (difference not statistically significant) in a trial with 60 patients Cook 1980

Gastric mucosal damage induced by 60 mg aspirin to rats was reduced by deglycyrrhizinated liquorice. Human faecal blood loss induced by 975 mg aspirin orally 3 times a day was less when 350 mg deglycyrrhizinated liquorice was added Rees 1979

Improved treatment of chronic pyelonephritis with nitrofurantoin in combination with deglycyrrhizinated liquorice. Gromotka 1972

Observational Studies/Case Reports

Liver dysfunction in patients with cytomegalovirus was improved by glycyrrhizin Numazaki 1993

Hepatitis treatment for 12 months (three times a week, short infusions) with Remefa S (glycyrrhizinic acid) appeared to provide benefit for 7 patients [Article in German] Eisenburg 1992

Pharmacokinetic profile of glycyrrhizin in humans found that oral glycyrrhizin (100 mg) results in plasma glycyrrhetic acid at 200 ng/mL. Glycyrrhizin was in urine but not plasma Yamamura 1992

17 chronic hepatitis B patients appeared to benefit from 4-weeks of glycyrrhizin followed by 4-weeks of interferon Hayashi 1991

Acyclovir is more effective than glycyrrhizin for herpes zoster Aikawa 1990

Traditional and Folk Use

Liver disorders in traditional Chinese medicine are in three groups: (i) hepatic qi stasis; (ii) hepatic yang excess with yin deficiency; and (iii) hepatic yin insufficiency; treatable with acupuncture, moxibustion and herbs, including licorice Chen 1998