Chicory coffee and blood clotting markers in 27 healthy volunteers
What it found
Drinking chicory coffee for one week lowered blood thickness and an inflammation marker in 27 healthy people.
Effects on platelet clumping were mixed.
What they found
Studies in people
Blood thickness decreased
After one week of daily chicory coffee, both whole blood and plasma became less thick. This change was significant compared to the start of the study.
Red blood cell flexibility
Red blood cells bent more easily after one week of drinking chicory coffee. Greater flexibility helps blood flow through tiny vessels.
Inflammation marker dropped
Levels of MIF, a protein linked to inflammation, fell significantly after one week of daily chicory coffee.
Mixed platelet clumping results
The effect on how quickly platelets stuck together depended on the test chemical used. Some tests showed more clumping while others showed less or no change.
Studies in people and animals
Caffeic acid in lab tests
In lab tests, caffeic acid, a compound found in chicory, cut collagen-triggered platelet clumping by half. However, the actual effect seen in the volunteers was much weaker than expected from these lab tests.
What the authors conclude
- They describe their findings as an encouraging starting point for studying the anti-clotting and anti-inflammatory effects of plant compounds in chicory coffee.
- They suggest that daily chicory coffee might help prevent problems in tiny blood vessels, based on the improved blood flow measures they observed.
- They call for further studies to identify exactly which compounds in chicory coffee cause these changes.
How it was done
Plant compounds called polyphenols are linked to better heart health, and caffeine-free chicory coffee is rich in these compounds. The authors wanted to see if drinking chicory coffee could offer heart-related benefits.
Twenty-seven healthy volunteers drank 300 mL of chicory coffee every morning for one week. Blood samples were taken before the first cup, two hours after it, and again after seven days. Participants avoided regular coffee, tea, alcohol, vitamins and medicines during the study.
What it can’t tell you
- This trial lasted only one week, so it cannot show what happens with longer use.
- It involved just 27 young, healthy people, so the results may not apply to older adults or those with existing health conditions.
- Because there was no comparison group drinking something else, some changes might reflect normal variation over time rather than the chicory coffee itself.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- University of Pécs, Hungary
The paper
- Title
- Thrombosis preventive potential of chicory coffee consumption: a clinical study
- Type
- Clinical trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Schumacher E, Vigh E, Molnár V, et al (2011). Thrombosis preventive potential of chicory coffee consumption: a clinical study. Phytotherapy research. doi:10.1002/ptr.3481Free full textPubMed 21425378DOI
Summary written 1 Oct 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error