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Can you replace coffee with chicory?

Chicory, as a healthy drink, has been known for a long time. The merit of this plant, or rather its roots, from which the extract for drinks is made, is that the roots of the Chicory plant contain a whole set of vitamins and trace elements that are beneficial to health. Chicory root is especially rich in potassium, phosphorus, calcium, sodium, magnesium and vitamins such as vitamin C, vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin A and folic acid.

Chicory also won one of the first places among plants with medicinal properties, since the tannins and phenols contained in its roots are capable of having an antiseptic effect on the gastrointestinal mucosa. Inulin (a prebiotic), which is rich in chicory, plays the role of a stimulant for the growth of beneficial intestinal microflora, which plays an important role in maintaining immunity. The bitterness present in the chicory root drink is an excellent herbal choleretic agent for congestion in the biliary tract. And, of course, the tonic effect of the Chicory drink is akin to the effect of the drunk coffee.

But all the advantages of chicory as a medicine make it a drink hazardous to health in cases where there are a number of gastrointestinal diseases associated with inflammation of the gastric and intestinal mucosa. It is the bitterness contained in chicory drinks that can irritate the mucous layer lining the digestive organs from the inside, and create additional injuries for the stomach and intestines.

For this reason, people suffering from diseases such as gastritis, duodenitis, ulcers, intestinal polyps, intestinal and stomach erosion are not recommended to consume chicory drinks or add it to tea and coffee.

Chicory is dangerous as a choleretic agent for people suffering from cholelithiasis, as it can cause the movement of stones along the ducts and become the initiator of hepatic colic. And it is for this reason that it is not possible to replace coffee with chicory, since it will not suit all people without exception as a tonic.