Chicory prevents muscle cramps in antacid users

Three million Dutch people use antacids on a daily basis. Some of these users experience painful muscle cramps due to a magnesium deficiency, and they may even experience arrhythmia. From research carried out by Mark Hess from Radboud University Medical Center, this deficiency can be prevented by inulin fiber, which is found in chicory. This could help thousands of people. Hess received his PhD for this research on December 8th.

Chicory

Hess looked at a potential treatment for patients with impaired management for minerals through the use of omeprazole. In a mouse study he showed that the dietary fiber inuline, which is found in chicory, lowers the acidity in the intestines, which allows magnesium to be better absorbed. He also studied the effect of inuline on ten patients with a magnesium deficiency. They took inuline with food. It took 14 days of taking inuline for the concentration of magnesium in the blood to recover, during this time the patients continued taking antacids. The patients reported fewer incidents of fatigue and muscle cramps. In the future, inuline will be tested on larger groups, "The patients who participated in the study are still taking the dietary fiber inuline."

Source: Radboud Universiteit