In case you’ve missed it, Celery Juice is the current darling of the wellness world. Or at least the Instagram Wellness world. Wellness fads and Instagram trends come and go, but when it comes to superfoods and nutrition, some of these popular trends deserves their due.
Celery juice in its pure form is popping up everywhere lately. What’s up with the sudden trendiness of a vegetable that’s been for so long relegated to the unglamorous crudité cups?
To Juice or Not to Juice the Celery- That is the Question
Due to its rapid ascent to popularity, the merits of this celery juice trend and the health benefits of celery juice itself have been debated far and wide on the interwebs.
Here are some of the arguments for and against the celery juice trend.
Yay – Drink up your Celery Juice and all of its Health Benefits!
To be sure, celery (and its juice) contains a lot of health benefits, which is why it is being been promoted so widely. Namely, the Medical Medium has been touting the benefits of drinking a large glass of celery first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.
He claims this simple tonic has cured scores of people of irritating chronic conditions such as autoimmune disorders and skin irritations like eczema. Most people turn to such methods after ‘nothing else worked.’ Sure enough, there are scores of people offering anecdotal support in favor of the celery juice treatment.
The reasoning behind juicing rather than eating whole stalks boils down to quantity: you cannot eat a whole bunch of celery every day, but you can juice it (one bunch is generally equivalent to the recommended 16 ounces of juice). Juicing concentrates the nutrients for maximal healing benefits, namely by providing substantial quantities of cluster salts.
So what are the purported health benefits of celery juice?
According to the Medical Medium, celery juice provides the following benefits:
- It will quickly restore your hydrochloric acid levels so that your stomach can break down protein more efficiently. This is important because if protein isn’t fully broken down during the digestive process, it can ferment and cause ‘gut rot.’ The hydrochloric acid will also help kill pathogens that enter your mouth.
- Celery juice also increases and strengthens your bile which helps break down fats and fill pathogens that do make it into your body.
- It restores your central nervous system.
- It removes old toxins and poisons, including old pharmaceuticals, from your liver.
- It nourishes skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis,
The health benefits of celery
- Celery has proven powerful anti-inflammatory effects due in part to phytosterol, but largely due to unidentified polar substances (further evidence that there is a wealth of ‘undiscovered’ medicinal benefits in food).
- Celery to combat issues related to inflammation such as acid reflux, bloating, IBS, constipation, acne, and skin issues such as eczema
- Due to celery’s diuretic properties (high water content) and its high contents of magnesium, phthalides, and potassium, celery may help with high blood pressure.
- Celery is high in vitamin K which builds blood and boosts bone and heart health, and according to one study, it is an “anticalcification, anticancer, bone-forming and insulin-sensitising molecule.”
- Celery is high in vitamin C, which is critical for your immune system.
- Celery contains bioactive flavonoids (antioxidants) including apigenin and luteolin that help to fight and prevent cancer cells.
The Flip Side: Naysayers Against the Celery Juicing Trend
Detractors point to the superior health benefits of celery in its whole form – to be sure celery is full of health benefits, high fiber being a major health booster. Not to mention it is a very low calorie food which makes it an excellent option for many reasons, including weight management.
Strip the celery of its fiber and what is left is the nutrient-laden juice. Many suggest that the fiber itself is inherent to celery’s health benefits and the juice itself becomes a concentrated blast of sugar and calories.
This is the standard argument against juicing in general. To be sure, many juices are extremely high in sugars. However most of these are fruit juices. Celery by nature is low calorie and very low sugar, so fiber or not, it still remains low calorie and low sugar.
The best approach to Celery Juicing
Juice should never replace your servings of whole fruits and vegetables. Fruit juices in particular should be consumed with extra caution as they do contain a very high amount of sugars. You don’t actually want to consume that much fruit in one day! If you’re going to juice, stick with mostly green, and make sure it’s a supplement to your vegetable consumption, not a replacement of it.
Make your celery juice fresh first thing in the morning. Rinse it then put it through your juicer (this is the one I have). Alternatively, if you do not have a juicer, chop it up into small chunks and blend it in a high speed blender until there are no chunks remaining.
It is best to drink it first thing, but if you can’t, then drink it on an empty stomach, 15-30 minutes before or after eating.
You Are your Own Best Doctor – Try the Celery Juice and Decide for Yourself
One of the primary issues harming the reputation of celery juice is the lack of evidence backing up claims of its benefits. But there’s a reason evidence is sparse: nobody is doing these studies in the first place because the funding isn’t there. That doesn’t mean the benefits don’t exist – it just means that the higher powers that be in the world of nutrition science haven’t found their research-based evidence to officially say yay or nay.
So while there is little evidence-based proof, most nutrition professionals that I’ve spoken with do agree that there is no real harm to the celery juice trend. At worst, it doesn’t quite deliver the cure you may be hoping for. At best, who knows, it might!
When considering the health benefits of actually juicing the celery, I’d say the concentrated dose of nutrients win out. As long as the juice actually delivers on the benefits it supposedly promises. Sure, you might decide you just love the taste of celery juice and drink it whether or not it delivers some hoped-for health miracle.
The protocol suggested by the Medical Medium is to drink 16 ounces of celery juice on an empty stomach. This way the body gets a blast of nutrients without having to worry about digesting the fiber or anything else in the stomach. It’s like a straight-up nutrient shot.
A word on inflammation and chronic disease and inflammation-reducing foods
Doctors are generally pretty good at diagnosing disease (not always). They are also generally pretty good at treating disease (not always). What doctors are not necessarily good at is curing disease.
This is why so many people have taken matters into their own hands (as we should) and turned to ‘alternative’ ‘complementary’ and ‘integrative’ treatments. Pills are not a permanent solution.
What’s at the bottom of many mysterious, chronic illnesses is inflammation. What’s what of the biggest causes of inflammation? Food sensitivities. And stress. What’s one of the best ways to cure this inflammation? By following the right diet and eating the right foods – notably inflammation-reducing foods. Like celery. And turmeric, and ginger, and so on.
My Own Experiment with Celery Juice and the Liver Rescue Protocol
I’ve been drinking celery juice in non-committal, non-everyday fashion for several months. First off, not gonna lie it’s a pain in the butt cleaning a juicer – but I do have one and recommend investing one if you don’t already own a juicer.
Second, it’s a pain always having to go buy more celery! It doesn’t last forever, and if you do a full 16 ounces, you go through up to a full bunch per juice. I’ve been doing a half a bunch per juice; the amount of juice you get varies depending on the size of the stalks and how fresh they are. The fresher the juicier.
And now, I’m actually trying the Liver Rescue protocol as prescribed by the Medical Medium. It includes celery juice and TONS of apples, as well as other fruits and veggies. I will post an update with my feedback next week, so stay tuned!
In the meantime, here are some other celery recipes to keep your liver happy and your body reaping the benefits:
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