4. Curb Inflammation
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease associated with painful joints. There is no effective cure available, and patients have to learn to deal with the pain symptoms using medication to relieve pain and inflammation. RA surfaces from chronic joint inflammation, which causes structural damage to cartilage, bone, and ligaments.
RA is treatable with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, immunosuppressive disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, and corticosteroids, which normalize the immune system. It also helps to reduce the expression of inflammatory mediators. However, these drugs are not suitable for long-term use as they may cause liver damage.
Chinese traditional medicine practitioners have used licorice to treat various ailments ranging from tuberculosis to peptic ulcers, the roasted form of licorice has been reported to possess anti-allergic, neuroprotective, antioxidative, and anti-inflammatory activities.
In a recent study, researchers found that roasted licorice extract was more potent than unroasted licorice extract in its medicinal properties at relieving the symptoms of inflammatory disease.