What is Chicory Coffee?

– A Healthy Alternative to Coffee or Not –

Coffee is one of the most popular beverages in the world.

There are endless coffee creations for us to try and explore.

Have you ever heard of chicory coffee? Or, maybe you are one of the coffee lovers who enjoy this drink for quite some time already.

Actually, chicory coffee has already been around for over two centuries. But, it is just recently that the exciting drink gained popularity.

Interestingly, this hot drink tastes like coffee. However, it is made of roasted chicory root instead of the usual coffee beans.

Several people like to drink it when trying to reduce their caffeine intake. Indeed, health experts link chicory to various health benefits.

These are including reduced inflammation, decreased blood sugar and improved digestive health.

However, some people may also experience side effects.

Here is everything you need to know about chicory coffee.

After, we can better determine whether the drink is a healthy alternative to coffee or not.

So, What is Chicory Coffee?

In short, people are making chicory coffee by using the roots of the chicory plant.

First, you are roasting, then grinding it. And, finally you are brewing everything into a coffee-like drink.

Naturally, chicory is a flowering plant in the dandelion family. The plant type is typically characterized by a tough and hairy stem. Furthermore, it blossoms purple flowers. And, people commonly like to use its leaves in salads.

Chicory coffee tastes remarkably similar to coffee. However, it also comes with some slight flavor notes of its own. People often describe these as mildly woody and nutty.

Chicory coffee drinkers either like to consume the beverage just by itself. Or, you can also find it mixed with regular coffee to complement its flavor.

Where does the drink come from?

The history of chicory coffee is not entirely clear.

There are quite different stories of origin. In general, it is mostly believed that the drink is the result of a massive coffee shortage in France in the 1800s.

Back then, many people were quite desperate for some sort of coffee replacement. So, some creative minds began mixing chicory roots into their coffee.

It turned out not to be as bad as some people might maybe think.

Time passed by and around the American Civil War. The empowering dark mix became particularly popular in the area of New Orleans.

This was when the city experienced a coffee shortage itself.

During that time, New Orleans suffered from Union naval blockades. These blockades were cutting off their sea ports from its usual trade routes.

To this day, you can still find chicory in many parts of the world. In fact, it is even becoming more and more popular again, lately.

People often like to use chicory coffee as a caffeine-free alternative to regular coffee.

A Breakdown of Chicory Root

The chicory root contains various nutrients.

As we learned already, the plant is the primary ingredient for our chicory coffee.

In general, it is recommended to use about 2 tablespoons (11 grams) of ground chicory root for 1 cup (235 milliliters) of water.

Below overview will show you what kind of nutrients one raw chicory root (60 grams) naturally contains.

• 44 Calories
• 8 grams of Protein
• 1 grams of Fat
• 9 grams of Fiber
• 7% of the RDI of Manganese
• 7% of the RDI of Vitamin B6
• 5% of the RDI of Potassium
• 5% of the RDI of Vitamin C
• 4% of the RDI of Phosphorus
• 3% of the RDI of Folate

By the way, RDI stands for Recommended Daily Intake.

Additionally, the chicory root is also a good source of inulin. This is a type of prebiotic fiber. Health experts are associating it with increased weight loss and improved gut health.

Furthermore, we already pointed out that it also contains manganese and vitamin B6. These two nutrients are especially linked to brain health.

However, when considering all of this. Please keep one thing in mind.

All of these amounts of nutrients in chicory coffee are fairly low. Because, you are essentially only using and brewing a small amount of chicory root into your coffee.

What Are The Main Health Benefits of Chicory Coffee?

1. Digestive Health

As highlighted already, chicory root is a good source of fiber. It may help improving several aspects of our digestive health.

For instance, health experts link it to help improving the health of the gut microbiome. This is believed to have a strong influence on our overall health.

The reason is because chicory contains the inulin fiber. It promotes the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut.

Additionally, various studies show that the consumption of inulin has further benefits. Inulin may also increase the concentration of certain strains of healthy bacteria in the colon.

Other studies suggest that chicory also helps improving our bowel function. And, the plant can reduce constipation the same time.

Further studies showed that consuming chicory can decrease defecation difficulties.

To sum up, drinking chicory coffee may help our digestive system to be less stressed in several regards.

2. Low Blood Sugar

The special type of fiber, called inulin, is furthermore associated with more health benefits.

For instance, it helps to manage blood sugar levels. In specific, inulin helps controlling blood sugar by improving the way that carbohydrates are metabolized.

However, the amount of overall research on the chicory’s inulin and its effects on blood is still rather limited. More studies have to be done.

Nonetheless, some studies already show that inulin may have a beneficial effect on blood sugar and insulin resistance.

Insulin is a hormone. And, it transports sugar from the blood to our muscles and tissues. Here, the body uses it as fuel.

However, some people may suffer from insulin resistance.

The health risk occurs when high levels of insulin take place over long periods. This condition can eventually decrease the effectiveness of this hormone. As a result, it will lead to high blood sugar.

To sum up, recent studies show that inulin may decrease insulin resistance and lower blood sugar.

However, the majority of current studies has its focus on inulin rather than chicory.

Therefore, it is still difficult to specifically determine the effects that chicory coffee itself may have on blood sugar.

3. Decrease Inflammation

Overall, the health condition, inflammation, is actually a normal response of our immune system.

Occasionally, it is not a big issue for most people. However, chronic inflammation is thought to increase risks of several conditions. These include heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

Some animal studies suggest that chicory root may contain anti-inflammatory properties. There are several other studies going into the same direction.

But, most of the research is still however limited to animal studies at this stage. More studies are needed. Also, to exactly determine whether chicory root may affect inflammation in humans or not.

Chicory Coffee And Caffeine

Naturally, chicory coffee is caffeine-free.

Therefore, the drink can be a great alternative to reduce your caffeine intake. Not every person likes or is able to consume caffeine.

Typically, regular coffee naturally contains caffeine. In order to prepare common coffee, you need to roast, grind and brew your coffee beans, first.

On average, a typical cup of coffee contains about 95 milligrams of caffeine. Although, the exact amount of caffeine depends on a number of factors.

For example, these decisive factors are the kind of coffee beans. As well as, the serving size and type of coffee roast.

Overall, consuming too much caffeine is thought to cause several side effects. In fact, a caffeine overdose can lead to nausea, anxiety, heart palpitations, restlessness and insomnia.

As already mentioned, chicory root is naturally caffeine-free. That’s why some people like to use it to cut down their overall caffeine intake.

Alternatively, some people may mix it with a small amount of regular coffee. So, they can enjoy a lower-caffeine beverage.

Other people however only use chicory root and add hot water to it. The result would be a totally caffeine-free beverage.

Is Chicory Coffee For Everyone?

Even though chicory coffee may come with several health benefits. The drink is not necessarily for everyone.

Chicory can trigger allergic reactions in some people. For example, these can be symptoms like pain, swelling and tingling of the mouth.

Furthermore, health experts also advice people with an allergy to ragweed or birch pollen to avoid chicory. This is to limit any potential, negative side effects.

In case you experience any negative symptoms after drinking chicory coffee. Please, immediately stop consuming and see a doctor for advice.

Moreover, health experts also do not recommend pregnant women to drink chicory coffee. Studies showed that it may encourage miscarriage and menstrual bleeding.

You can always check with your doctor, first. In order to prevent any of these potentially, harmful side effects.

Final Thoughts – Chicory Coffee

Overall, health experts associate chicory coffee with numerous health benefits.

Hence, it can be a good substitute for coffee. Especially, if you are looking for ways to cut down your caffeine consumption.

However, there is still rather limited research on chicory coffee’s side effects. And, there is also not clear evidence that it may be any better than regular coffee.

In fact, also regular coffee comes with a lot of great health benefits. Some coffee lovers even say that it makes us happier and live longer.

At the end of the day, it all depends on us and our own preferences.

If you like the taste and are able to tolerate chicory coffee. Maybe, you can try it and see if this is something for you.

So, how about you? Have you actually tried the coffee alternative already? How do you like the taste?

Feel free to share your chicory coffee experiences with us.

Until then, stay healthy and safe.

Cheers!