If you’ve never tried celery juice, you will have seen it before – bright green in colour, often dubbed as a weight-loss elixir, and slurped by impossibly fit women with a hundred-thousand-strong following on Instagram.
The concoction has been trending for a while now and even featured in a Celery Juice Challenge, created by a bestselling author, that encouraged people to drink one glass of celery juice every day for an entire week.
It’s quite clear that celery juice is something of a thing – and you’re probably wondering whether it’s really worth the hype. What are the supposed benefits of celery juice, and how much research is there to back it up?
While celery juice might not be a miracle cure against disease or a weight-loss phenomenon, it can be used effectively as a health-booster alongside other healthy diet and lifestyle habits. Stay tuned to learn everything you need to know about the green beverage.
Celery juice is made by blending and straining celery, so its nutritional benefits come from the celery itself. It’s a potent source of vitamins and minerals, namely vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, calcium, potassium, sodium, magnesium, phosphorus, electrolytes, water, and smaller amounts of other vitamins and minerals.
It also contains flavonoids, which are powerful antioxidants with anti-inflammatory and immune system benefits, and other phytochemicals, although some of them are lost when the celery’s fibre is removed during juicing. Celery is also low in calories and sugar, making it a popular choice for a quick and relatively filling snack.
Eating celery stalks, while still very good for you, isn’t the same as drinking pure celery juice, according to the experts. When celery is juiced, the pulp is removed, which enables its healing benefits to be all the more powerful.
You’ll also be able to consume far more celery as juice than you would by eating it, thus taking in a larger combination of nutrients in one go.
You can enjoy a broad range of health benefits from regularly drinking celery juice. These include:
The main role of biotin is to assist in healthy metabolism functioning, which enables metabolised fats, proteins, and carbohydrates to effectively produce the energy our bodies need to survive. This is essential for the breakdown of fatty acids and the release of insulin, as well as a process in which glucose is produced from non-carbohydrates.
A good way to prevent constipation and to improve digestion is to make juice using celery and cabbage. The minerals found in these vegetables, along with their wide range of acids and phytonutrients, are effective digestive tonics that can also alleviate intestinal gas.
Celery’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrients protect the entire digestive tract. Celery also contains pectin-based polysaccharides, such as a compound called apiuman, which has been shown in studies to decrease occurrences of stomach ulcers, as well as improve the lining of the stomach, and control stomach secretions.
The magnesium content in celery has been proven to help ease stress and calm the body. Magnesium can relax the nervous system, and many people supplement with the mineral as a natural stress reduction treatment.
Research has found that magnesium can stimulate the brain functions that we need to reduce stress and anxiety. Experts think that the mineral affects a part of the brain called the hypothalamus, which helps regulate the pituitary and adrenal glands, both of which respond to stress.
When we lead such busy lives, it’s common to feel stressed from work and experience an energy shortage on a regular basis. You may also lose energy from exercising, which also results in water loss, preventing your body from functioning properly.
Celery juice contains a number of skin-enhancing vitamins and minerals. It’s high in vitamins A, B, and C, which are essential for the production of healthy skin, and prevent free radical damage. These minerals also help your skin combat against acne, regulating sebum production, and improving the overall condition of the skin.
Additionally, celery juice contains vitamin K, which is especially effective in conserving the skin’s constancy and elastic quality. As vitamin K is essential in aiding the body's process of blood clotting, it can also help the body in faster wound and bruise healing, and healing of areas affected by surgery.
As a natural cleanser, celery juice promotes the removal of toxic substances from your body. It’s packed with essential nutrients, which make it effective in detoxifying the kidneys. Unsurprisingly, celery juice is often a key element in many detox drink recipes, thanks to its diuretic properties that can help you to get rid of excess water.
You won’t lose weight by drinking celery juice as a detox drink, but there are certainly cleansing and detoxifying benefits to adding it to your diet. Studies have found that celery can reduce fat build-up in the liver, as well as protect the liver and help the liver produce enzymes that flush fat and toxins out.
It’s also thought that celery juice improves digestion by increasing circulation in the intestines, getting things moving.
While there’s no real way to completely avoid cancer, studies have found that the ingredients found in celery juice might have anti-carcinogenic properties. Celery contains two types of flavonoids: apigenin and luteolin. Both of these flavonoids have antioxidant benefits, which fight against cancer cells.
One study found that celery has produced anti-tumour activity in the destruction of cancer cells in patients with ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, breast, liver, and lung cancers. Experts think that celery’s apigenin is particularly effective in causing apoptosis, or cell suicide, in a number of cancers.
In fact, researchers in China found that eating just two celery stalks 2 to 3 times a week reduces the risk of lung cancer by a whopping 60 percent.
One of the most beneficial nutrients found in celery juice is known as phthalide, which has proven to be effective in relaxing the smooth muscles beneath your blood vessels, helping to minimize high blood pressure. Specifically, it’s thought that phthalide helps to remove lower LDL cholesterol for better health.
Another nutrient found in freshly juiced celery is coumarin, which studies have found to decrease the effect of stress hormones like cortisol in your body. As too much cortisol can retrench blood vessels, potentially leading to hypertension and putting a strain on your circulatory system, it’s always handy to be able to naturally lower your cortisol using natural means like celery juice.
Celery also contains a type of bioflavonoid called apigenin, which works as an anti-inflammatory within your cardiovascular system, helping to control blood pressure.
Inflammatory illnesses like osteoporosis, arthritis, gout, and asthma have been found in research to respond very well to the inclusion of celery juice to a diet. This most likely results from two individual compounds, luteolin and polyacetylenes, which are both present in large amounts in celery.
As a powerful antioxidant, luteolin offers anti-inflammatory benefits throughout the whole body. Polyacetylenes also reduce inflammation by lowering levels of inflammatory prostaglandins in your body. People with arthritis in particular are thought to benefit most from foods that are good sources of polyacetylenes. Raw celery juice is one of the best sources.
If you want to lose weight, celery juice isn’t some sort of magic fix, but when included as a part of your diet, it can go some way to assist with weight loss. As celery is one of the lowest-calorie vegetables you can find, you’ll be able to feel full and satisfied after a celery juice drink without worrying about weight gain.
Celery juice is also very high in water content and contains minerals like sodium, magnesium, and calcium. It contains plenty of vitamins, such as vitamins A, C, D, E, B6, B12, and K, and is full of essential fibres, oils, and antioxidants.
All of the combined elements of celery juice make it a healthy beverage to enjoy guilt-free on a daily basis.
Research shows that several compounds found in celery contain powerful antimicrobial properties that can fight infection and naturally boost immunity. Additionally, celery juice has been found to reduce uric acid and stimulate urine production, which is especially useful in fighting bacterial infections inside the digestive tract and reproductive organs. Ultimately, this prevents UTIs, bladder, and kidney disorders.
Celery juice also contains cluster salts, which bind onto neurotoxins, dermatoxins, and other viral waste, drawing them out of the liver. The white blood cells of the liver’s immune system also add the cluster salts to their cell membrane coatings, making them stronger and more toxic to viruses, warding off illness.
With only one ingredient, celery juice is one of the simpler juices to make. Simply take a bunch of celery, organic if you’re feeling fancy, and cut off the base to separate the stalks.
After washing the stalks to remove any dirt, feed the celery through your juicer. You can then either drink it immediately or store it in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to two days.
If you don’t have a juicer, you can still make celery juice, but the process will take a little longer. You’ll need to first blend the celery stalks in a blender along with a cup of purified water, then strain out the liquid into a cup using a clean nut milk bag. Again, you can keep this in the fridge for up to two days, or drink it straight down.
Celery juice doesn’t have the most interesting taste, and there are plenty of ingredients you can add to the beverage to give it a more enjoyable flavour. Ginger is a commonly added spice that can balance out the flavour a little. If you find the taste too intense, you can also try adding an apple or a cucumber to the mix for a bit of much-needed refreshment.
It’s recommended that every morning, to get the most benefits out of celery juice, you drink roughly sixteen ounces of the juice on an empty stomach. Make sure it’s fresh, plain celery juice with no other ingredients.
Keep in mind that celery juice is considered a medicinal drink and not a caloric one, so while it is quite filling, you’ll still need breakfast afterward to power you through the morning.
If you’re not a breakfast person, you can simply drink the juice 15 minutes before eating any meal during the day. While we’re yet to research extensively into the benefits of celery juice, we know that celery contains many essential nutrients that scientists believe are beneficial for people’s health. If you don’t want to make your own, you can buy celery juice from health stores or online. Just check out below.
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