Voluntary liquorice ingestion increases blood pressure via increased volume load, elevated peripheral arterial resistance, and decreased aortic compliance

Figure 1. Radial systolic blood pressure (a,b) and diastolic blood pressure (c,d) before and after two weeks of control and liquorice diet. Haemodynamic data was captured continuously during the 10-min recordings, and passive head-up tilt was performed from 5 to 10 min. The graphs depict mean and standard error of the mean, and the statistical analyses are for the changes in the liquorice group versus controls from week 0 to week 2.

Figure 2. Stroke volume (a,b) and heart rate (c,d) before and after two weeks of control and liquorice diet. Mean and standard error of the mean, statistical analyses are for the changes in the liquorice group versus controls from week 0 to week 2.

Figure 3. Aortic pulse pressure (a,b), augmentation index (c,d), and aortic characteristic impedance (e,f) before and after two weeks of control and liquorice diet. Mean and standard error of the mean, statistical analyses are for the changes in the liquorice group versus controls from week 0 to week 2.

Figure 4. Cardiac index (a,b) and systolic vascular resistance index (c,d) before and after two weeks of control and liquorice diet. Mean and standard error of the mean, statistical analyses are for the changes in the liquorice group versus controls from week 0 to week 2.

Figure 5. Low frequency power (a,b), high frequency power (c,d) and low to high frequency power ratio (e,f) before and after two weeks of control and liquorice diet in the supine and upright position. Mean and 95% confidence interval depicted, *p = 0.034 for the change within the liquorice group, **p = 0.008 for the difference in mean values at week 2 between the groups; analysis of variance for repeated measurements, post-hoc t-tests were adjusted with Bonferroni corrections for multiple comparisons.