The Underrated Root Vegetable That Can Prevent Cancer And Help You Poop

For centuries, people turned to plants for their medicinal properties. They would dry certain leaves or flowers and put them into their teas to soothe their throats or ease digestion. Bulbs of some plants were used as diuretics, and seeds were crushed to relieve insomnia, dermatitis, or hemorrhoids.

One plant with both health and flavor benefits is chicory. People in the Deep South, particularly New Orleans, add chicory to their coffee. All parts of the chicory plant have nutritional benefits, making this underrated plant worth adding to some of your favorite dishes.

One of the healthiest compounds in chicory is inulin, which is a prebiotic that's rich in fiber that can feed your gut bacteria. A healthy gut can help regulate your poop schedule. According to a 2024 review in the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, inulin might also play a multifaceted role in assisting cancer therapies, supporting immune function, and fighting cancer.

Adding a little chicory to your salads or coffee probably won't be enough to have a pronounced effect on your digestive system. A half cup of raw chicory root has less than a gram of fiber. However, a chicory inulin powder (like this one from Nutricost) can have 7 grams of fiber and 8 grams of inulin.

People having some poop troubles might turn to a chicory-based inulin supplement to improve their bowel movements. A 2019 study in Food Hydrocolloids used a chicory root powder containing 5 grams of inulin fiber for people to drink twice a day for five weeks. The inulin helped people poop more often every week, and it also made their stools softer.

People with chronic constipation might need a bit more inulin fiber to help their symptoms. In a 2016 study in the International Journal of Food Sciences in Nutrition, 44 healthy people who had between two and three bowel movements a week took a 4-gram chicory-based inulin supplement three times a day for two weeks. Compared to a placebo, the inulin supplement improved their bowel frequency.

Because chicory helps to keep your gut microbiome healthy, you're also supporting your immune system. A 2023 article in Frontiers in Immunology states that adding inulin fiber through sources like chicory activates immune cells that fight cancer. These immune cells also turn on other cancer-fighting cells that slow the growth of tumors. Inulin can work well with traditional cancer treatments to improve anti-cancer outcomes. However, these studies were conducted with mice.

Inulin fiber might also reduce your risk of colon cancer, according to a 2024 article in Gastroenterology Report. Inulin stimulates the growth of beneficial bacteria in your gut and suppresses unhealthy bacteria that produce cancer-linked enzymes. When inulin is fermented by your gut bacteria, they produce the short-chain fatty acid called butyrate that may protect against colon cancer, reduce inflammation, and improve recovery after colon cancer surgery. However, inulin fiber may aggravate colitis if it remains unfermented in the gut. Even though butyrate is a "good" gut metabolite, too much can cause harm to inflamed colon tissue. Human clinical studies on inulin supplementation haven't found much of a preventative effect against the risk of colon cancer.