Chicory root has been used as a traditional medicine for centuries

Grown widely in Europe, chicory root comes from the chicory plant, which blooms with blue flowers in summer and spring. Chicory root is commonly used as a substitute for coffee, boasting a similar taste and colouring with more medicinal and healing properties.

Used in traditional medicine for thousands of years, chicory root has been used in the past for relieving ailments like swelling, fevers and inflammation, just to name a few.

Benefits of chicory root

There are many emerging benefits of chicory root, with more studies yet to be done in order for us to truly understand the extent of its health properties – but here are the ones we do know:

Improves gut health

Chicory root is one of the best whole food sources of inulin, a prebiotic fibre that feeds the good bacteria in your gut.

By feeding the good bacteria, inulin helps to keep the gut microbiome balanced and on the side of health. The inulin found in chicory root also helps your body to combat harmful bacteria and reduce inflammation.

Aids digestion

Many people now know that fibre aids the process of digestion. As a source of fibre, inulin helps the digestive process in a handful of ways.

While consuming inulin fibre from chicory root adds bulk to your stool and increases bowel movements, it also slows digestion. This allows time for the healthy nutrients in your meals to be better absorbed in the body.

Weight loss

The inulin found in chicory root is a soluble fibre, one that helps to slow down the process of digestion. By doing so, it makes you feel fuller for longer.

When the stomach takes longer to empty (which eating fibrous foods helps to do), it suppresses your appetite and prevents your brain from thinking hungry thoughts. In this sense, consuming chicory root and the inulin fibre it contains could help with weight loss.

Helps to regulate blood sugar

By slowing digestion, inulin has the power to slowly release sugars – those broken down from carbohydrates – into the body.

Chicory root has been found to increase adiponectin levels, a protein that helps to regulate blood sugar. This could potentially help with managing, or even preventing, diabetes.

Chicory root has much to offer

Chicory root is packed with many beneficial properties, and its prebiotic properties make it the main ingredient in our gut-healing Prebiotic Blend. Its power to improve the gut microbiome using the inulin component is impressive and, more importantly, scientifically proven.

As a plant-based whole food with much to offer us in the way of health, chicory root is essential to your diet. Whether with a chicory coffee or a daily dose of our Prebiotic Blend, your body will benefit from this superfood.

Our chicory root-based Prebiotic Blend improves gut health. Try it today!