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Psicología del Amor

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

You may know chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) for its use as an alternative to coffee. It is a traditional use, because in times of scarcity when 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. It is also a medicinal plant with many properties and applications in phytotherapy. Remedies with chicory provide great benefits for liver and kidney health, as well as for controlling blood pressure, improving digestion and relieving urinary disorders.

You may have ever seen the chicory plantCichorium 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, bitter –because of its very bitter taste–, or starch in ancient Spanish.

Loading video: How to prepare chicory coffee

How to prepare chicory coffee

Chicory is a plant very common throughout Europehighly branched, with basal leaves in a rosette and highly segmented upper leaves, with flower heads, light bluevery visible. FIt blooms during the summer or from late spring until almost fall.

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

Properties of chicory

Chicory root contains abundant inulin and bitter principles, such as chlorogenic acid, intibin and lactupricin in the viscous latex it releases. It also contains triterpene alcohols, 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, as it does not contain caffeine, It 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:

  • Aperitive 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 countryside, chicory has been used since ancient times and It is part of the pantry and essential medicine cabinet of many families.given its great abundance and a certain omnipresence in highly frequented environments. They are attributed 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 dysfunctions due to mild poisoning, a feeling of hunger or a food allergy. It is also used for relieve migraine related to liver disease or an indisposition and as a natural support in case of liver inflammation or hepatitis. It is taken in infusion or pill-based.
  • FOR DIGESTION. As a bitter plant, chicory has been shown to be effective as a remedy to treat wake up appetite in anorexic or losing appetite after having gone through an episode of illness. It is 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 digest food better and can provide relief from heavy digestion.
  • TO LOSE SLIMMING AND ELIMINATE LIQUIDS. The main virtue of chicory is as kidney tonic and diuretic. It is used to promote the emission of urine, to relieve infections in the urinary tract, as a treatment for prevent the formation of kidney stones when there is a certain propensity for them to develop. Chicory fights urine retention and is included in natural diets to lose weightin mixed herbal formulations. Consult your trusted herbalist if you need a good slimming formula.

  • FOR TENSION. Chicory, due to its diuretic properties and its potassium content, is used as support in low-salt diets for hypertensive peopleor in adjuvant treatments to try to maintain blood pressure at appropriate levels. It can be combined with pharmacological treatment, but due to its high diuretic power, care must be taken to ensure that decompensation does not occur.
  • FOR THE SKIN. Chicory has traditionally been used in home skin care remedies. They were made poultices with chicory leaves or it was mixed in ointments, to treat wounds, sores and even cracks in women’s breasts (according to Pius Font de Quer in his renewed Dioscorides, it became known as «herb of the breasts»).
  • FOR DIGESTIVE INFECTIONS. Chicory has been used in natural treatments as support against the infectious action of some bacterial strains that affect the digestive system, such as salmonella, staphylococcus and Escherichia coliamong others, with modest results.

Chicory coffee, the calm alternative to coffee

Chicory root had already been traditionally harvested to be consumed, roasted and ground, as an alternative to coffee, when there was difficulty in obtaining this resource. That’s why some people also know it as the «poor man’s coffee.»

However, currently chicory root is still 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 nerves or insomnia, prefer to avoid caffeinewhich 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 color that is very similar.

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

How to prepare chicory coffee

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 countryside, 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 home, proceed as follows:

  1. Spread the root on a drying surface and wait until it has dried well.
  2. Once you notice that it is completely dry, break it into small pieces, less than 2 centimeters thick.
  3. Place the chopped root in a frying pan and toast it over direct heat, or place it in the oven, at a temperature of about 170º C, to toast it. In both cases, wait for the chicory 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 roasted, can be eaten in infusion, boiling a tablespoon of dessert per cup of water, and adding some sweetener to taste.

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

You can also use chicory powder and prepare it like coffee itself. in the coffee maker you normally usealone or mixed with coffee, depending on your preference.

How to take chicory for medicinal purposes

In addition to using chicory powder, to dissolve like 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 to take chicory in phytotherapy is by preparing it in root decoctiongenerally associated with other less bitter herbs, and up to two glasses a day are usually taken.
  • In liquid extract About 30-50 drops a day are usually recommended, with water or juice.
  • The infusion of the leaves for external use It is applied to the skin or used to prepare poultices or ointments, also for topical application.
  • In tincture.
  • As an ingredient of a digestive syrup or laxative.
  • In capsulesin different products sold 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 nausea, poisoning or food allergiesyou can prepare this herbal tea with chicory root and leaves.

INGREDIENTS

  • Chicory root and leaves
  • I would smoke
  • Boldo
  • Rosemary
  • Peppermint
  • green anise

PREPARATION:

  1. Mix the different plants well in equal parts (for example 20 grams of each) and separate about 5 g of the mixture for each cup of water. Keep the rest in an airtight container to use.
  2. Boil the herbs in the water for 2 minutes.
  3. Let them rest for a few more minutes and strain.

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

Diuretic and antiseptic chicory infusion

This formula can be used to enhance urine. It also serves to relieve urinary infections, and as support in case of high blood pressure.

INGREDIENTS

  • Chicory
  • Brecina
  • Grama
  • Corn stigmas
  • Bearberry
  • Fennel

PREPARATION:

  1. Thoroughly mix the different herbs (for example 15 grams of each).
  2. Separate one tablespoon of the mixture per glass of water.
  3. Boil for 2-3 minutes and let it rest for another ten.
  4. You can add maple syrup or similar, to taste, to reduce the bitterness.

You drink 2-3 cups a day.

Contraindications of chicory

Chicory is generally considered a plant very safe.

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

Due to its highly bitter taste, It is not recommended to be taken as an infusion or decoction for nursing mothers.or such bitterness should be mitigated with other herbs with a milder flavor.

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