Which is healthier? Coffee or chicory?

People who are used to starting the morning with an invigorating drink usually choose between coffee and tea. The choice between chicory and coffee arises when doctors do not recommend invigorating agents, and it is unbearable to completely give up the usual drink... Let's look for an alternative?

What is the difference between chicory and coffee?

Externally, chicory and coffee drinks are almost indistinguishable. However, they have individual properties and affect people differently. What is the difference between chicory and coffee?

Coffee is remarkable for its bouquet of flavors and specific aroma, the intensity and shade of which depend on the variety, the method of processing the beans and the preparation of the drink itself. It is rich in caffeine, which in many cases is the main disadvantage. It causes addiction and insomnia. Among the advantages, it is worth noting the preventive effect against oncological neoplasms, migraines, diabetes.

• If you compare chicory and coffee, chicory is more bitter in taste, the aroma is slightly reminiscent of coffee, and in the granulated product - stronger. Does not contain caffeine. Balances the nervous system, depending on its type: either replenishes energy activity, or relieves tension.

Chicory has a whole range of unique properties that have a beneficial effect on the most important functions of the body - digestive, metabolic, immune. In combination with milk, it enriches the body with calcium.

There are legends about the positive results of chicory in losing weight, and the plant owes such fame to the polysaccharide inulin, as well as pectins and intibin. They speed up metabolism, reduce the amount of sugar and promote the absorption of fast carbohydrates. There is also information about the benefits of caffeine, but losing weight with its help requires more physical effort, otherwise the extra pounds can again take their "native" place.

Indications for use

It is not entirely correct to talk about the indications for prescribing chicory and coffee, since coffee itself is not a medicine, and it is usually drunk taking into account taste preferences, and not medical recommendations.

Another thing is chicory, which has a complex of useful components and medicinal properties. Due to these properties and the absence of caffeine, chicory is indicated in the following cases:

• In diabetics it normalizes the activity of the pancreas and beneficial microflora.
• It invigorates hypertensive patients without increasing blood pressure.
• Drinking it at night helps relieve insomnia.
• Cleanses the body and improves its defenses.
• Promotes the absorption of beneficial components of milk.
• The best coffee substitute for children and expectant mothers.
• Supports women's youth and beauty.

Chicory instead of coffee

Is it possible to use chicory 100 percent instead of coffee? After all, it is impossible to call chicory and coffee identical products, and adherents of real coffee will never agree to such a replacement. For people who are not allowed black coffee, there is a simple way to enjoy its real aroma: add a pinch of ground beans to a chicory drink.

It is easy to reduce the amount of caffeine: pour boiling water over freshly ground coffee, bring to a boil and immediately pour into a cup. For this purpose, it is recommended to use the Arabica variety, whose beans contain a third less caffeine than Robusta. Good news for those whose body does not accept milk: the product added to chicory is perfectly absorbed, replenishing calcium reserves.

The benefit is that chicory, unlike coffee, has healing properties. Therefore, chicory is allowed to be consumed instead of coffee by children, pregnant and nursing mothers, and the elderly. The product is considered harmful for people with gastritis, varicose veins, and nervous system disorders. This category of consumers should consult a doctor about whether they can drink chicory and coffee.

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How to make coffee from chicory?

There are several ways to make chicory coffee. The easiest way is to buy ready-made instant powder and prepare it in the same way as the popular coffee drink: pour boiling water, add milk, cream, honey and/or sugar if desired. Sweet ingredients soften the bitter taste somewhat, and milk promotes absorption.

Due to the fact that chicory invigorates, a cup of the drink in the morning will replace natural coffee, and in the evening such a remedy promotes good sleep. Useful properties are also preserved in cold drinks with the addition of lemon, honey, apple juice.

• Chicory and coffee are equally tasty if prepared from freshly ground raw materials. The root can be prepared independently, the main thing is to know the places where this rather unpretentious plant grows.

The raw material is collected in autumn, after the flowers and leaves have faded. Small and diseased roots are removed, washed and dried in the sun for 5 days. The condition is checked by breaking the root: a specific crunch should be heard.

Dry raw materials are roasted until light brown, ground in a coffee grinder and poured with hot water. When preparing, remember that it is better to under-roast the root than to over-roast it.

It is also recommended not to pour boiling water over the ground root, so as not to destroy the vitamins remaining after burning, a whole bunch of which are contained in this root.

Chicory with coffee flavor

Undeservedly forgotten chicory with coffee flavor is gaining popularity, and even claims independence among other hot drinks. So instead of choosing - "chicory or coffee?", perhaps soon there will be a cheerful answer: both chicory and coffee!

The composition speaks in favor of chicory - inulin, vitamins, mineral complex. The taste, reminiscent of black coffee, some like even more. And the excess bitterness can be easily softened by adding milk.

• Chicory as an alternative to coffee is used to reduce body weight. The drink is prepared with or without ground beans, as desired, but necessarily without cream and sugar or honey, since these ingredients not only improve the taste, but also increase the caloric content.

To prepare chicory with coffee flavor, buy powder or liquid soluble product, but the drink from home-roasted root is much tastier. The recipe is as follows:

The washed roots are dried in the air, cut into pieces and fried at 180 degrees, in the oven or in a frying pan. Roasting gives a dark color and removes bitterness. Grind in a coffee grinder, store in a closed container.

For a serving of hot chicory coffee, take 1–2 teaspoons of the raw material, brew for several minutes, let it steep, strain – and drink to your health.

Connoisseurs of taste have come up with a variety of recipes for delicious cold drinks, for example, using chicory extract, orange syrup and apple juice. The extract is also added to flavor fruit teas.

Green coffee with chicory

The chicory root contains many useful elements that are important for the human body. It is no coincidence that the plant is actively used by pharmacists, confectioners, and folk healers. Chicory and coffee (green) are two in one, a combination of the positive qualities of two components: unroasted coffee beans and crushed root.

Today you can buy different varieties of green coffee with chicory. They have a rich taste and aroma, contain vitamins that are lost during roasting, polysaccharides, tannins. As a result of constant consumption of these drinks, the following results are observed:

• replenishment of energy, tone, improvement of performance;
• decreased appetite, normalization of digestion, weight control;
• cleansing from toxins and poisons;
• improving mood and well-being.

The drink prevents the development of cardiovascular problems and diabetes, reduces the amount of fat deposits, and has a general tonic effect on the entire body.

Contraindications include pregnancy, hypersensitivity, and the drink is also not recommended for hypertensive patients and patients with vegetative-vascular dystonia.

Coffee from chicory roots

It is known that chicory does not contain caffeine, and coffee and tea do not contain inulin. Is it equivalent to replace a drink made from ground coffee beans with coffee made from chicory roots?

People who have medical contraindications for blood pressure are recommended to use chicory, and it will replace coffee in many ways - taste, aroma, and effect on well-being. Those who prefer instant drinks will like chicory powder. It is better not to use chicory if you have low blood pressure.

The medicinal qualities are varied: chicory reduces fever, soothes, has a choleretic, hypnotic and diuretic effect. The active ingredient inulin, as a sugar substitute, is useful for diabetics. Potassium has a positive effect on the heart, B vitamins on the nervous system, iron on the hematopoietic organs.

Vasodilator action is used for arrhythmia, tachycardia, atherosclerosis. Traditional recipes use chicory for preventive purposes and in the treatment of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, spleen, kidneys. In order not to self-medicate, before taking the drug, you should consult a doctor.

Coffee, decoction, tincture, juice from chicory roots are effective for skin diseases, as well as for the treatment of obesity, toothache, scurvy, gout, to improve overall immunity. The classic recipe for the drink: a teaspoon of raw material is poured with cold water, heated to boiling and boiled. Then the liquid is filtered and sweetened to taste.

Green coffee with goji berries and chicory

Before we understand what green coffee with goji berries and chicory is, let's look at goji separately. These berries are known under various names - wolfberry, lycaenid, wolfberry.

Despite the scary name, these are actually very nutritious and vitamin-rich fruits, natural antioxidants. According to some studies, they stimulate mental activity, improve mood and sleep, rejuvenate, prevent cancer and other diseases. Goji is used in folk medicine, in particular, by the Chinese.

What does this product have to do with chicory and coffee? The ready-made drink called "Green Coffee" combines the unique properties of coffee, goji, and stevia. The bouquet of components contained in the listed plants has a beneficial effect on metabolism, beneficial microorganisms, burns fat, reduces appetite, which is successfully used for weight loss. Caffeine, antioxidants, and vitamins in such a drink are not destroyed by high temperatures.

Green coffee stimulates brain function and motor activity, allows you to do more work and feel more energetic. This is important for people who do both mental and physical work. The main thing is not to overdo it and not to overload the body.

Can pregnant women drink chicory instead of coffee?

Chicory and coffee, tea and cocoa – every person drinks one of these drinks at least once a day. And if the body is in order, then good health! Doubts about whether pregnant women can drink chicory instead of coffee arise in expectant mothers who are used to starting the morning with a black drink. But having heard about the possible harm to the child, they are looking for a replacement for their favorite drink.

You don't have to go far for an alternative. A drink made from chicory root has a similar taste. It has a beneficial effect on the organs and systems of a pregnant woman, which are subject to double loads, especially the cardiovascular and hematopoietic systems. Chicory helps the heart work, cleanses the blood, increases hemoglobin and renews red blood cells. And the juice from the root, diluted in milk, is recommended as a medicine for anemia.

Chicory calms the nerves of a pregnant woman, improves intestinal activity, stimulates the stomach, eliminates nausea and heartburn that bother many women. The drink removes toxins, improves liver function. In folk medicine, it is used to treat the spleen, kidneys, gallstone disease, diabetes, wounds and tumors.

However, there are some warnings. Sometimes chicory can increase coughing and overstimulate appetite. Contraindications for pregnant women also exist in case of varicose veins, gastritis, and hemorrhoids.

Can you mix coffee with chicory?

Chicory's path to recognition was not easy, and for a long time it had only the unflattering status of coffee counterfeit. Sources describe that at one time there were specialists who produced chicory in the form of beans and sold it as the original fruits of coffee trees. Buyers sometimes had a hard time distinguishing such chicory from coffee beans.

• Over time, gourmets became convinced that adding chicory does not spoil, but improves the aroma and brings interesting notes to the taste of the drink from coffee beans. Thus, doubts about whether it is possible to mix coffee with chicory were rejected experimentally.

Today, the mixed product is of interest to two categories of consumers: coffee lovers who have decided to reduce their consumption of black coffee, and people who know about the medicinal properties of chicory.

To prepare a mixed drink, you should take fresh ground ingredients. Processed in various ways and instant products are not so tasty. The proportions are 2 teaspoons of coffee to 1 teaspoon of chicory. A full teaspoon of the first and half of the second ingredient is enough for a serving.

If you are preparing the drink in a Turk, then the mixture, poured with a glass of water, is heated until it boils and removed from the fire. After adding milk and sugar, the Turk is put back on the fire and removed when foam forms. The drink is ready.

The advantage of a mixed drink is that it has less impact on the nervous system and is therefore less addictive.

Benefits of chicory

The taste of the chicory drink resembles coffee, which is why the topic "Chicory and coffee" is so relevant. And if almost everything is known about the qualities of coffee, then when changing one drink for another, it is worth inquiring about the benefits of chicory. So as not to change the delicious original for a less delicious surrogate.

The benefits of chicory are varied. Like coffee, it invigorates and improves mood. Some people like it sweet, with cow, soy, coconut milk, others like it black and unsweetened. In moderate quantities, the drink is not harmful, including during pregnancy.

The B vitamins that chicory root is rich in have a positive effect on the nervous system, which it, unlike coffee, calms rather than excites. Thanks to iron, chicory serves to prevent and treat anemia.

• Those who want to lose weight with the help of this plant can lose weight without giving up baked goods and sweets. This happens thanks to inulin, which reduces the harm from such products and sugar levels, as well as pectin, which suppresses the feeling of hunger. These properties are especially useful for diabetics, so doctors use them as an additional therapy.

Inulin is very useful for the intestines. It is to the taste of bifidobacteria, so it prevents dysbacteriosis and constipation. And the cleansing effect and vitamins in the composition increase immunity. Special chicory acid also helps to strengthen the defenses.

The vitamin set and minerals are best reflected on the skin, as they promote collagen restoration and tone the dermis. Tinctures of the root, when applied externally, are able to heal wounds, cleanse the skin with psoriasis, eczema, dermatitis.

The same properties of chicory are useful for hair: they improve the structure and stimulate growth. The effect occurs when rinsing the hair with chicory tincture.

The drink not only cleanses the kidneys and liver of toxins, but also the entire body of parasites.

And if heart patients are forced to give up coffee because of caffeine, then chicory does not contain it, but it is rich in substances necessary for the heart. It dilates blood vessels, reduces "bad" cholesterol, so it is recommended for hypertension and other vascular problems.

Chicory or coffee - which is healthier?

Not all people know the difference between chicory and coffee. It seems that only true gourmets can distinguish the taste, but the debate on the topic: "Chicory or coffee, which is healthier?" does not subside. Supporters and opponents of the drinks put forward new arguments for the benefits and harm of black drinks.

Coffee does its job well when we want to "wake up" in the morning or shake ourselves up at other times of the day. This is due to the presence of caffeine in the composition. For some patients, it relieves migraines.

At the same time, the substance in large doses has a strange, at first glance, property: it depresses the psyche and activity. Which allows it to be used for sleep disorders.

• It is not for nothing that coffee is served for dessert: it speeds up digestion, which is useful for healthy people. If you have gastrointestinal disorders, it is advisable to avoid coffee dessert.

The properties of chicory are somewhat different. It calms the nerves without oppression, has a positive effect on the heart, stimulates appetite. It has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, reduces sugar levels in diabetics, and promotes the development of beneficial microorganisms. Medicine uses chicory as an antihelminthic, choleretic, astringent, and diuretic. It is valued for its effectiveness by those wishing to lose extra pounds.

As we can see, both products in moderate doses have various beneficial properties. Therefore, it is impossible to give a clear answer to the question posed above. Fans should choose a suitable aromatic drink depending on their taste, health, time of day, and mood.

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The Effect of Chicory Coffee on Bowel Function

Chicory contains inulin, a type of fiber that is actively fed by beneficial intestinal bifidobacteria. The effect of chicory coffee on the intestines is that it prevents dysbacteriosis and its unpleasant consequences, such as constipation. In case of problems with defecation, the question of chicory and coffee is definitely decided in favor of the former, since coffee can only worsen the situation.

The following components provide action against intestinal disorders:

• inulin – accelerates metabolism and normalizes digestion;
• tannins – protect against infections that cause problems with stool;
• Intibin is a glycoside that has a positive effect on the nervous system, which also affects digestion.

Chicory is useful for the digestive organs in general. This is its advantage, and it is not for nothing that folk medicine has long used this property. To eliminate constipation, the drink is prepared unsweetened and without milk.

Inulin stimulates the restoration of microflora, which is very badly affected by constipation. Chicory taken internally cleanses the body of toxins, improves the absorption of vitamins and immunity.

And finally, if there are parasites in the intestines that cause constipation, the root tincture can eliminate them, as well as related problems, such as gastritis.

The procedure is performed at home. Pre-grated root in the amount of 1 teaspoon per 300 ml of boiling water is mixed with a spoon of dry yarrow, after 15 minutes the preparation is ready for use. Drink the tincture on an empty stomach.

Coffee and chicory for weight loss

Chicory and coffee are both natural products. They can be drunk by anyone who likes such drinks or is looking for an alternative to coffee. The difference is that chicory drink helps overweight people to normalize metabolism and lose weight, which cannot be said about coffee. For the result, two or three servings of chicory coffee for weight loss per day are enough.

How does weight loss occur? The process is associated with the components found in the root of this plant: inulin and intibin, as well as the specific taste of the drink prepared from it.

• Inulin promotes the rapid processing of sugar, so it does not turn into fat and does not lead to obesity.
• Intibin helps break down fats, so they are not deposited in the depot, and food is digested faster.
• The bitter taste of the plant reduces appetite. Figuratively speaking, a portion of the drink before a meal inhibits appetite, and after a meal it signals the body that the meal is over and “recommends” that the feeling of satiety be maintained longer.

Recipe for chicory coffee for weight loss: boil 1 teaspoon of crushed product in half a liter of water for about 10 minutes. Drink the strained liquid in three doses. The same effect has a ready-made instant drink, which can be easily purchased at retail outlets. To lose weight, you do not need to add sugar to drinks.

It should be remembered, however, that chicory itself is not a panacea and is not capable of rapidly reducing weight. Its role is to improve the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, and to achieve the goal, it is important to review the diet, move a lot and not get carried away with bad habits.

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Contraindications

Contraindications for chicory and coffee are different. In particular, it is not recommended to abuse chicory, so as not to provoke insomnia or increased appetite, as well as in the following cases:

• for varicose veins, hemorrhoids and other vascular problems;
• for ulcers of the digestive organs;
• for allergies;
• for chronic cough, bronchitis, asthma.

If you decide to introduce chicory into your diet for the first time, to prevent unexpected reactions, start with a small portion and monitor your body. In case of anemia, natural milk should be replaced with plant analogues.

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Reviews

Among the reviews of chicory and coffee, those concerning chicory prevail – perhaps due to the novelty of this product. They note a moderate effect on weight loss, depending on individual characteristics – by 2–5 kg per month. They talk about products from various manufacturers that they liked and, on the contrary, disappointed. Women are especially active, who are happy to share their own recipes for cooking, including chicory and coffee.

Drinking chicory and coffee or not drinking anything is a matter of taste and habit. But there are general recommendations that should not be neglected. Coffee is good for healthy people, it is advisable to drink it in the morning, the second portion, for recharging, - about 2 p.m. Chicory, on the contrary, will be useful in the afternoon and evening - to relax after a busy day.