The dangers of herbal teas: hypertension and weakness caused by liquorice‐induced apparent mineralocorticoid excess

A 51‐year‐old post menopausal woman presented to our emergency department with a 6‐week history of headaches, nausea and vomiting, and mild lower limb oedema. She was not taking any prescribed medications but had been consuming a naturopath‐prescribed herbal tea containing liquorice root, reportedly to assist with fertility. She consumed 800–1000 mL of the self‐formulated tea 6 days a week for 3 months, averaging 60 g of liquorice root per serve. Other ingredients of the tea included cinnamon bark, ginger, codonopsis, red date and morinda root.