A man ended up in A&E following an "overdose" of homemade liquorice tea, medics have revealed.
The 84-year-old's blood pressure soared to dangerous levels, and he was suffering chest pains during the deadly "hypertensive crisis".
The patient also experienced sensitivity to light, headache and swelling to his calves after going too far with his tea drinking.
According to the Canadian Medical Association Journal , too much liquorice tea was to blame - and he was kept in hospital for two weeks.
In large amounts, the tea can be deadly, the journal states.
It says: "On further questioning, the patient volunteered that he had been ingesting 1 to 2 glasses of homemade licorice root extract called “erk sous” daily for the 2 weeks leading up to his presentation.
"Although he knew of the potential association between licorice consumption and high blood pressure, he did not think of it when he noticed his blood pressure starting to rise."
The patient was treated at McGill University in Montreal.
Now medics have warned that too much liquorice can cause all kinds of health problems.
They wrote: "Several cases of licorice-induced hypertensive crises have been reported, with various presentations including heart failure with pulmonary edema, hypertensive encephalopathy and stroke."
