Chicory (useful properties are multifaceted) is a herbaceous perennial plant with a fleshy long root and a branched stem. The flowers of the plant are blue, less common are white or pink, collected in a neat basket. Chicory fruits are small achenes. The plant begins to bloom in late July and ends in September. In folk medicine, chicory shows beneficial properties through its root. To prepare the medicine, the roots are dug up only when this plant develops well. They are thoroughly washed from the ground cover and cut. Raw materials are dried in special dryers that are ventilated in furnaces and rooms. So is chicory good?
Chicory: useful properties
Healthy chicory root contains insulin - a polysaccharide that is used as a substitute for starch and sugar for diabetics. Other properties of chicory are also known in the pharmaceutical art. Here it is used because of the high content of glycoside in the root of intibin. Thanks to him, such drugs are used as central nervous system calming drugs that dilate blood vessels and relieve tachycardia. In addition, chicory roots contain up to 17% sugars, tannins, useful vitamins of groups B and C, natural organic acids, bitter and resinous substances, carotene. Seeds and leaves are rich in milk juice, there is insulin, bitter substances (lactucin, taraxasterol), protocatechin aldehyde. Ground chicory also has other beneficial properties - antimicrobial and astringent. In folk medicine, decoctions and tinctures of roots are used that improve the digestion and heart function, increase appetite, and have the ability to calm NS well. Chicory is recommended for people suffering from kidney, liver, and spleen diseases. A decoction of the roots or a regular alcohol tincture will help with any non-healing wounds, eczema and tumors. In general, this therapeutic assistant is known as a rather effective and reliable restorative remedy.
Chicory is also good for the heart. So from the inflorescences of this plant make effective drugs that have a beneficial effect on the normal functioning of the heart. Use chicory for diabetes. And, in addition, as a vasodilator and antipyretic. Drugs that are based on it have a diuretic and choleretic, stimulating appetite, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and soothing effects. Chicory is also used in the treatment of liver and gastrointestinal diseases.
In folk medicine, root tinctures and decoctions are used to raise the tone in the body, improve blood composition, with dyspepsia and hysteria. It is very useful for rashes, acne, furunculosis and skin diseases, it is able to improve an upset metabolism in the body.
Chicory during pregnancy
Ground chicory drink - cyclic coffee - should be drunk by pregnant women. After all, it has an exclusively beneficial effect on the liver, which often suffers during pregnancy and promotes the removal of toxins from the female body. In addition, the great benefits of chicory for pregnant women are also due to the fact that it easily relieves heartburn, helps the stomach and intestines, and improves appetite. It is important for pregnant women that chicory promotes an active increase in red bodies in the blood. And this is invaluable help to both the body of the expectant mother and the body of the baby.
Chicory: contraindications
Contraindications for chicory are: it is forbidden to take it with varicose veins, it is not recommended for hemorrhoids, vascular diseases.
The usefulness of chicory is proven by many years of practice. An amazing plant of chicory ... Its useful properties are used both in medicine and in cooking (added in the preparation of cakes and other desserts).