Chicory, a healthy alternative to coffee and a great remedy for the liver and kidneys

You may be familiar with chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) for its use as an alternative to coffee. It is a traditional use, because in times of scarcity in which coffee was difficult to find, the bitter taste of its root made it possible to make a drink that resembled it. Today this use is common among those who want to avoid coffee because it excites them too much.

But chicory is much more than an alternative to coffee. is also a medicinal plant with many properties and applications in phytotherapy. Chicory remedies provide great benefits for liver and kidney health, in addition to controlling blood pressure, improving digestion and relieving urinary disorders.

You may have ever seen the chicory plant (Cichorium intybus L.). It is what is known as a ruderal plant, which grows in habitats that have been greatly altered by humans, such as ditches, roadsides, and fields and open fields. It is also known as chicory, wild endive, dandelion –because of its very bitter taste–, or mirron in ancient Castilian.

Chicory is a plant very common throughout Europehighly branched, with basal leaves in a rosette and highly segmented upper leaves, with flowers in head, light blue, very visible. Fit blooms during the summer or already from the end of spring and until almost autumn.

To use it for medicinal purposes the root is harvested in autumn, and the younger leavesin spring.

Chicory properties

chicory root contains abundant inulin and bitter principles, such as chlorogenic acid, intibin and lactupricin in the viscous latex that it releases. It also contains triterpene alcohols, group B vitamins and mineral saltssuch as potassium, magnesium, sodium and iron. The leaves contain chicoreside acid.

The bitter principles are what make chicory root a popular alternative to coffee and tea, with the advantage over these that, since it does not contain caffeine, does not create addiction and has little exciting power.

But chicory has also been used, in rural settings and in traditional remedies, as a excellent kidney and liver cleanser. Multiple properties are attributed to it:

Aperitif and digestive properties Moderately laxative properties, Vitamin and remineralizing properties Hepatoprotective and choleretic properties Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties Diuretic properties Bacteriostatic, antiseptic properties Moderately hypotensive properties

What is chicory used for?

In the field, chicory has been used since ancient times and It is part of the pantry and the essential first aid kit of many families, given its great abundance and a certain omnipresence in highly frequented environments. are attributed to him many medicinal uses, especially as a diuretic, liver and kidney tonicand as a digestive remedy.

FOR THE LIVER. Chicory is included in natural remedies for tone liver functionas a purifying plant to eliminate toxins and to provide relief in liver dysfunction due to mild intoxication, intoxication or food allergy. It is also used for alleviate migraine related to a liver disorder or an ailment and as a natural support in case of liver inflammation or hepatitis. Is taken in infusion or pill-based. FOR DIGESTION. As a bitter plant, chicory has proven effective as a remedy to treat whet your appetite in anorexic or inappetent people after having gone through an episode of illness. Also shown slightly laxativewhich is useful in the mild but repeated constipationwhen consumed in combination with other laxative herbs. As a plant with digestive properties, it helps to better digest food and can provide relief from heavy digestions. TO LOSE LIQUIDS AND ELIMINATE LIQUIDS. The main virtue of chicory is as kidney tonic and diuretic. It is used to promote urination, to relieve urinary tract infections, as a treatment for prevent the formation of kidney stones when there is a certain propensity that they can develop. Chicory fights urine retention and is included in natural diets to lose weight, in mixed herbalist formulations. Check with your trusted herbalist if you need a good slimming formula.

FOR TENSION. Chicory, due to its diuretic properties and its contribution of potassium, is used as support in low-salt diets for hypertensive peopleor in adjuvant treatments to try to maintain blood pressure at adequate levels. It can be made compatible with pharmacological treatment, but due to its high diuretic power, it is important to be careful that decompensation does not occur.FOR THE SKIN. Chicory has traditionally been used in home remedies for skin care. Were made poultices with chicory leaves or else it was mixed in ointments, to treat wounds, sores and even cracks in the woman’s breasts (according to Pius Font de Quer in his renewed Dioscorides, it came to be known as “herb of the breasts”).FOR DIGESTIVE INFECTIONS. Chicory has been used in natural treatments as a support against the infectious action of some bacterial strains that affect the digestive system, such as salmonella, staphylococci and Escherichia coliamong others, with modest results.

Chicory coffee, the quiet alternative to coffee

Chicory root had traditionally been harvested to be consumed, roasted and ground, as an alternative to coffee, when it was difficult to provide this resource. That is why there are those who also know it as the “coffee of the poor”.

However, today chicory root remains a valid alternative to coffee for those people who cannot or do not want to do without the taste of this stimulant, but who, for reasons of nervousness or insomnia, prefer to avoid caffeine, which is not entirely recommended. It is also a good option for hypertensive people, when they are advised to avoid exciting drinks.

Furthermore, apart from the bitter taste reminiscent of coffee, chicory It has a coloration that closely resembles.

As if that were not enough, chicory provides properties to your alternative to coffee, since it enriches it with its vitamins and mineralsand acts as a very effective diuretic.

How chicory coffee is prepared

You can find powdered chicory root in herbalists, health food or natural food stores, or supermarkets. you will find it as chicory powder or also as “soluble chicory”, alone or sometimes even mixed with cereals, to prepare your alternative drink to coffee in the morning or after eating.

However, if you feel like it, you can harvest it yourself in the field, for which you must wait until the end of the summer. To make your chicory coffee, what you must harvest is, logically, the root. Once at home, proceed as follows:

Extend the root on a drying surface and wait until it has dried well. Once you notice that it is completely dry, cut it into small pieces, less than 2 centimeters thick. Arrange the already chopped root in a frying pan and toast it over direct heat, or put it in the oven, at a temperature of around 170ºC, so that it toasts. Wait, in both cases, for the radicchio pieces to acquire a golden brown hue. You will see that they will give off an aroma that is slightly reminiscent of coffee.

How to drink chicory coffee

Chicory root, once toasted, can be taken infusion, boiling a dessert spoon per cup of water, and adding some sweetener to taste.

Another option is to mix a little with the coffee. powder when making coffee. You will still drink caffeine, but you can reduce the amount of coffee you use by substituting a portion for chicory coffee.

You can also use chicory powder and prepare it like the coffee itself in the coffee maker you normally usealone or mixed with coffee, as you prefer.

How chicory is taken for medicinal purposes

In addition to using chicory powder, to dissolve as a coffee or to mix with coffee and thus reduce the amount of caffeine, you can use chicory other ways to benefit from its properties and also take advantage of its different presentations:

The most common way of taking chicory in phytotherapy is by preparing it in root decoctiongenerally associated with other less bitter herbs, and they are usually taken up to two glasses a day.In liquid extract 30-50 drops a day are usually recommended, with water or juice. infusion of the leaves for external use It is applied to the skin or used to prepare poultices or ointments, also for topical application. tincture.As an ingredient of a digestive syrup or laxative.in capsulesin different products for sale in herbalists and pharmacies.

If you get chicory root, you can combine it with other plants to prepare your own medicinal formulas. Below we give you the recipe for a herbal tea with chicory for the liver and a diuretic decoction of chicory along with other plants with diuretic properties.

Chicory infusion for the liver

For liver disorders, after intoxications, food poisoning or allergiesyou can prepare this herbal tea with chicory root and leaves.

are taken two glasses a day. By including mint and anise, the bitterness of boldo and chicory will be attenuated.

Infusion of diuretic and antiseptic chicory

This formula can be used to potentiate urine. It also serves to relieve urinary infections, and as support in case of arterial hypertension.

2-3 cups are taken a day.

Contraindications of chicory

Chicory is generally considered a plant Very safe.

Now, in case heart disease, liver or kidney dysfunction, or high blood pressureit is prudent to consult with the doctor before starting a treatment with it.

Due to its highly bitter taste, It is not recommended taken in infusion or decoction to lactating mothersor such bitterness should be attenuated with other herbs with a milder flavor.