Don't let your strange love for this inky black treat come between you and your new kidney. (© iStockphoto.com/ rsmseymour)

I am not a fan of licorice and, quite frankly, I’m suspicious of anyone who is. Perhaps it’s simply my upbringing. My dad’s a dentist, so we tended not to have bowls of death-black candy sitting around. In college, I was never part of the Jägermeister crowd. As it turns out I’m not the only one with an aversion to this foul candy treat. This just in: Transplanted organs hate licorice.

According to Science Daily, chemists in Taiwan have found that an ingredient in licorice blocks the absorption of cyclosporine, a drug that helps prevent organ rejection in transplant patients. So yes, that new kidney may churn out urine like a champ, but it may be one licorice wheel away from rejecting you outright.

While the prospect of licorice complicating organ transplants is new, it’s hardly the only substance transplant patients should avoid. Onions, ginger and ginkgo are all on the no-no list, just to name a few. After all, our bodies are essentially one big chemical equation, and the wrong ingredients or proportions can throw everything out of whack. If you eat a polar bear liver, your freaking skin can fall off.

As far as we know, red Twizzlers and white chocolate are still safe, which means I can rest a little easier imaging my own future transplant-related convalescence.

Candy and organ transplants for all at HowStuffWorks.com:
How Chocolate Works
How Face Transplants Work
How Organ Transplants Work
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