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Something that is trending right now is celery juice! Have you seen it on social media or read about it in a book? In a simple answer, yes, celery juice is awesome and if you can add it to your regimen, add it in! But, a lot of people (myself included) likes to know if there is science that supports the theory and if it’s actually studied to be helpful with certain diseases/disorders. I’m here to help break it down for you.
Juicing in general can be so helpful for the body – to flood it with nutrition and not let the fiber slow it down. It’s also important to have juices that are mainly vegetables with a hint of fruit. Juice made just of fruit can be pretty taxing on your liver from the fructose content, so make sure juices are tons of vegetables with some fruit. Celery is a great vegetable to juice with because you can get lots of juice from a stalk compared to trying to juice leafy greens (good luck with that!). Celery is loaded with….
Celery has been known as a “cooling” vegetable, which is helpful for the liver, kidney, stomach, and bladder. It contains coumarin, which is a phytochemical that helps with reducing headaches/migraines, cancer prevention, and improving the cardiovascular system (especially with blood pressure by relaxing the walls!).
Celery also holds 3-n-butyl phthalide, which has been studied to help lower blood pressure by researchers at the University of Chicago Medical Center. It was the amount of 4 celery ribs.
Celery also holds more phytochemicals, such as flavonoids, which are very protective to our body to combat oxidative stress. Oxidative stress leads to cellular and DNA damage increasing your risk of many chronic diseases. In the Journal of Human + Experiemental Toxicology, rats saw on a decrease in their antioxidants, such as glutathione and superoxide dismutase, when treated with an insecticide. Rats that had flavonoid extracts from celery minimized the harmful effects of the insecticide and reduced the loss of our body’s natural antioxidants!
Apigenin,(ah-pee-gen-in) another phytochemical, in celery has been studied to help reduce the risk of gastric cancer and inflammation in the stomach. Celery also contains luteolin (lute-tee-o-lin)
Since luteolin and quercetin were able to target CSC (cancer stem cells) and prevent cancer cell invasiveness, may serve as potential anti-angiogenesis (preventing new blood vessel growth) and anti-metastasis(preventing cancer from spreading) agents.
ANTICANCER RESEARCH
There aren’t many human studies on what celery and celery can do for your health. Most of the studies are done with rats, but that’s only because there isn’t a lot of funding to look deeper into celery. Celery is loaded with nutrition and water to help hydrate you, which a lot of us are dehydrated and not drinking enough water.
Is it a cure-all? I can’t say scientifically because there isn’t really anything behind it to claim that. But from common sense and as a nutritionist, celery can definitely serve your body with the phytochemicals and nutrients that your body deserves (and wants!) to have! I can honestly say the same about carrot juice or turmeric juice or ginger juice. All of these plants have a purpose and can load up our body with nutrients that will better your health regardless.
If you are struggling with something health wise, I do think it’s wise to be working with a functional medicine doctor and a nutritionist to help provide a whole body approach for you. While people continue to look for a magic bullet, we need to address our diet, environment, stress, and exercise in our life as well for complete healing!
You can drink all the celery juice you want, but if your stress levels are through the roof, you won’t reach optimal health! We still need to focus in on a whole body approach.
LAHANA VIGLIANO, CCN
Make sure to book your free 15 minute appointment to see how we can help you to get you feeling better with food as medicine. (Yes, we can incorporate celery juice if you want! )
Celery is a food that I always opt to buy organic. Conventionally grown celery can be full of pesticides, along with ethylene gas (which helps reduce the bitter flavor). Celery used to be a very bitter vegetable, but as time went on, it became more sweet, but with that comes less nutrition compared to our ancestral celery. It’s still nutritious though, don’t get me wrong!