Chicory root benefits: stools went from 3 a week to 4 — and the researchers worked for the manufacturer

Key benefits

1. 01Moderate evidence

   One more stool a week — and the researchers worked for the manufacturer

   2017, International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition.

   Participants	44 healthy volunteers with constipation
   Design	Randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover (two-week washout)
   Intervention	12 g a day of chicory inulin (3 × 4 g) or maltodextrin
   Duration	four weeks per period, after a run-in
   Primary outcome	stool frequency

   The results:

   Outcome	Inulin	Placebo
   Stools per week	median 4.0 (IQR 2.5-4.5)	3.0 (2.5-4.0)	p=0.038
   Consistency	softened
   Satisfaction	trended higher		p=0.059 — not significant

   Start with the design's strengths. It was double-blind, and crossover, so the same people experienced both conditions. There was a washout, and the paper states it followed recent guidance for investigating bowel function. That is better than the standard commonly seen in this field.

   But two things belong alongside it.

   First, the change is one stool a week.

   The median went from 3.0 to 4.0. That means going once more per week. Look at the interquartile ranges — placebo 2.5-4.0, inulin 2.5-4.5 — and they overlap substantially.

   That does not make it meaningless. For someone with constipation, one more a week can be a felt difference. But it is a different size of thing from "constipation solved".

   And satisfaction was not significant (p=0.059). Frequency rose, but satisfaction did not clear the statistical threshold — both belong in the reading.

   Second, who the researchers work for.

   Some authors of this paper are affiliated with the BENEO-Institute, the research arm of the company that makes the Orafti® Inulin used in the trial.

   That does not mean the result is wrong. Manufacturers testing their own products is common and does not by itself invalidate a study. The double-blind placebo-controlled crossover design stands.

   But this site writes it down. That industry-funded nutrition research reports positive results more often is a pattern confirmed repeatedly across fields. Replication by an independent group would make this sturdier.

   Look at the dose too. Twelve grams a day.

   That is not an amount you get by eating chicory root. It is extracted, concentrated inulin powder, split into three doses a day.

   The honest conclusion:

   • Twelve grams a day of chicory inulin raised stool frequency by one a week in people with constipation
   • Satisfaction was not significant
   • Some of the researchers work for the maker of the product tested
   • What was used is extracted inulin, not the root
   • The grade is "moderate"

   [1]
2. 02Nutrition data

   Do not believe the 1.5 g of fibre in the table — it is a limit of the assay

   This section is about how to read a composition table.

   Per 100 g of raw chicory root:

   • 72 kcal, carbohydrate 17.5 g, sugar 8.73 g, fibre 1.5 g
   • Potassium 290 mg, phosphorus 61 mg, calcium 41 mg, magnesium 22 mg
   • Protein 1.4 g, fat 0.2 g, sodium 50 mg
   • Vitamin C 5.0 mg, iron 0.8 mg, manganese 0.233 mg, zinc 0.33 mg

   Looking at that "fibre 1.5 g" and concluding there is not much fibre here would be wrong.

   The main component of chicory root is inulin. It makes up a substantial share of the fresh root's weight, and this root is the main commercial source from which inulin is extracted.

   So why does the fibre read 1.5 g?

   Because traditional fibre assays do not capture inulin.

   The method long used as the standard treats the sample with enzymes and then precipitates the fibre with alcohol and filters it out. Fibre is caught; sugars dissolve and pass through.

   But inulin dissolves in alcohol. So it is not caught, it passes through, and it is not counted as "dietary fibre". It ends up instead inside "carbohydrate", and in some cases "sugars".

   So look again at the 17.5 g of carbohydrate and 8.73 g of sugar above. There is a good chance the inulin is in there.

   This is also why this site does not rewrite composition tables. It prints the USDA figure as given and explains in the article what that figure fails to hold. Pulling an inulin content from another source and adding it to the fibre cell would mix the table's provenance and make it incomparable with every other ingredient here.

   In practice, read it this way.

   • You will rarely eat chicory root as it is. It is roasted as a coffee substitute, or used as raw material for extracting inulin
   • Products labelled "chicory fibre", "inulin" or "prebiotic fibre" generally come from this root
   • Read the product label. Inulin products usually state the content in grams, and that is the figure you can actually use

   Note the 50 mg of sodium too. That is high for a root vegetable — cucumber is 2 mg, carrot about 69 mg.

   At 72 kcal it is also high for a root vegetable. That follows from 17.5 g of carbohydrate, and if much of that is inulin, the energy actually absorbed is lower than the figure. Inulin is not digested in the small intestine but fermented in the colon, so only part of it is recovered as fermentation products.

3. 03Not established

   Gut bacteria, weight, blood sugar — and the side effect you must know about

   Several claims attach to inulin. One at a time.

   "It increases gut bacteria."

   Inulin is classified as a prebiotic. Humans cannot digest it, so it reaches the colon and feeds bacteria such as bifidobacteria. That is well established as a mechanism.

   But "the composition of gut bacteria changes" and "therefore health improves" are different claims. This site treats the first as a fact of composition and mechanism, and for the second found no confirmed outcome beyond constipation.

   "It helps with weight loss."

   There is research on inulin producing fullness or acting on appetite hormones. But this site found no consistent evidence from trials that fed chicory inulin, measured weight and compared against a control.

   "It is good for blood sugar."

   Inulin barely raises blood glucose, because it is not absorbed in the small intestine. That is true, but it is a different statement from "it lowers blood sugar".

   Now the side effects. This is the most practical part of this entry.

   Inulin ferments quickly. So it produces a lot of gas.

   As set out in this site's psyllium entry, psyllium ferments barely at all and produces little gas. Inulin is the opposite.

   • Bloating, gas, cramping and rumbling are common
   • It is dose-related. Twelve grams a day is not a small amount
   • Start small and build up. Three to five grams a day, increasing weekly

   Take particular care if you have irritable bowel syndrome.

   Inulin is a FODMAP — specifically the "O", the oligosaccharides. It is one of the classic symptom triggers in irritable bowel syndrome and one of the things a low-FODMAP diet restricts.

   So the same compound helps one person's constipation and worsens another's symptoms. With constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome it is more confusing still. Talking to your clinician is the better course.

   Allergy is reported, rarely. Chicory is in the daisy family, and cross-reaction is reported in people allergic to ragweed, mugwort and chrysanthemum. Artichoke, lettuce and sunflower seed are in the same family.

   To summarise:

   • Confirmed: 12 g a day raised stool frequency by one a week (44 people, double-blind crossover, with manufacturer-affiliated researchers)
   • Established as mechanism: inulin ferments in the colon and feeds particular bacteria
   • Not confirmed: weight loss, lowering blood sugar
   • What you must know: gas and bloating are common, and in irritable bowel syndrome it can worsen symptoms

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