11 Benefits of Chicory that You May Not Know About

Chicory is one of the vegetables that is most often processed into delicious food dishes. Please note that not only delicious, this vegetable is also a source of essential vitamins and minerals for the body. Come on, take a peek at the various nutritional content and benefits of chicory for the following body.

The nutritional content of chicory

Like most types of vegetables, chicory is a low-calorie food ingredient that is rich in nutrients and nutrients.

Chicory is also often referred to as pak choi, napa cabbage, or Chinese white cabbage.

Quoting from the Better Heart Channel, chicory is useful for maintaining a healthy body because it is a source of vitamins and fiber.

Here are the nutritional facts and the composition of the cabbage content calculated per 100 grams.

Calories: 9
Water: 96.6 grams
Protein: 1.0 gram
Carbs: 1.7 grams
Fiber: 0.8 grams
Calcium: 56 grams
Phosphorus: 42 mg
Iron: 1.1 mg
Sodium: 5 mg
Potassium: 193.1 mg
Folate: 66 mcg
Beta carotene: 862 mcg
Vitamin A: 223 mcg
Vitamin B2: 0.18 mg
Vitamin C: 45 mg
Vitamin K: 45.5 mcg

Benefits of chicory for body health

the benefits of chicory

Chicory which is also included in the cabbage group which has a Latin name Brassica rapeseed.

The appearance of this vegetable is a white stem and light green or dark green leaves of varying sizes.

Besides being delicious and easy to cook, here are the benefits and properties of chicory for health.

1. Reducing the risk of heart disease

Mineral content such as potassium is known to have benefits for lowering blood pressure so that it can help prevent heart disease.

There are also other ingredients in chicory such as vitamin C, folate, and vitamin B2 which can also help maintain heart health.

It is also important to know that the risk of heart disease can increase when you are not getting enough potassium.

Then, another benefit of B vitamins and folate is to prevent the buildup of homocysteine (a natural amino acid).

Homocysteine in high amounts can damage blood vessels and trigger heart problems.

2. Protect the body from inflammation

Similar to brightly colored fruit and green vegetables, chicory also contains antioxidants.

This content in chicory has benefits or properties to help the body fight inflammation (inflammation) as well as cell damage.

Moreover, if you choose chicory with a slightly dark leaf color because it is a good source of flavonoids for the body.

There are also choline compounds in chicory that have properties to maintain cells, help absorb fat, and reduce chronic inflammation.

3. Maintain bone health and strength

So far, maybe some of you only know that only types of minerals such as calcium are beneficial for bone health.

In chicory, there are also other ingredients such as iron, phosphorus, zinc, and vitamin K to maintain bone structure and strength.

Not only that, vitamin K also has benefits or properties to maintain calcium balance in bones.

Therefore, vitamin K also has properties to help reduce the risk of fractures.

4. Helps lower blood pressure

There are several types of minerals contained in chicory or bok choy. These minerals are potassium, calcium and magnesium.

This mineral content makes chicory has benefits to lower blood pressure naturally.

In addition, those of you who have hypertension also need to increase your potassium intake if your sodium intake is high.

Potassium also has another benefit, which is to help relieve tension in the walls of blood vessels.

5. Maintain the health of the digestive tract

Constipation is a condition that can happen to anyone, including when the body lacks fiber and fluid intake.

Therefore, you can take advantage of these two ingredients to help prevent indigestion that leads to constipation.

Don’t forget to also increase your fluid intake because fiber is absorbent in water.

6. Regulate blood sugar levels

Diabetics cannot be careless in consuming foods including vegetables and fruit. Therefore, you can make chicory as an option because it is a type of vegetable without flour.

Chicory or pak choi has a relatively low effect on blood sugar. In 1 cup of chicory, the glycemic content is 1.

In addition, vitamin C, zinc, vitamin B1, and minerals are other ingredients in chicory which are also useful for controlling blood sugar levels.

7. Prevent anemia

You need iron intake because it is an important compound in hemoglobin. In order for adequate nutrition, you can also consume chicory because it contains iron.

Then, other benefits of chicory are also to prevent anemia so that the hemoglobin in the body is fulfilled.

If you are deficient in iron, what can happen is that oxygen in the blood does not reach the rest of the body.

It should also be noted that every cell in the body also needs iron.

8. Maintain body hydration

Mustard greens also have a high enough water content so that it can be one of the fluid intake needed by the body.

When the body is well hydrated, you will not tire easily and your body can perform activities optimally.

9. Maintain eye health

Another benefit of chicory is to maintain eye health. You may already know about the content of beta carotene and vitamin A.

Well, alpha-carotene is as important as beta carotene because both are compounds of vitamin A which are important for maintaining eye health.

The best sources of alpha-carotene include pumpkin, carrots, sweet potatoes, chicory, and avocado.

10. Maintain kidney health

Most vegetables contain high amounts of potassium. In fact, people with kidney disease are generally advised to limit foods high in potassium because they can affect the balance of body fluids.

The good news is that chicory is one of the vegetables with the lowest potassium content.

In 100 grams of chicory contains 95 mg of potassium, or only about 2% of daily potassium needs. This amount is even lower than cabbage, eggplant, cucumber, and spinach.