What you need to know about celery juice!
The hottest trend in nutrition and health right now is celery juice. It is yet another health trend that is gaining popularity very fast. After the kale era, golden milk hype, matcha tea craze everybody who wants to be healthy jumps on the celery juice train.
Celebrities go on a celery juice cleanse and praise the green drink. They believe in its ability to cure any health issue.
If celery juice is the holy grail to everlasting health it is worth to take a closer look.
Let’s dive into the facts and spoiler alert … it’s not all bogus what everybody says about the trendy vegetable. It actually has some amazing nutritional benefits.
Get answers to the 10 most asked questions about celery juice!
1. Calories in a celery stalk
The calories in celery juice come almost entirely from carbs. The amount of carbs in celery juice are very much dependent on the process you use to make juice. If you blend celery all the fiber remains in the juice and therefore has more carbs. If you use a juicer the juice has fewer calories because all the fiber gets filtered out.
Whole raw celery contains a lot of vitamins and minerals. The most notable one is potassium. The primary functions of potassium in the body include regulating fluid balance and controlling the electrical activity of the heart and other muscles.
The benefits of celery juice are not proven by any studies. The Medical Medium claims his recipe for a cleanse will give you great before and after results. It also beneficial for weight loss or acne. Read the answers to the most common questions about celery juice. #celery #celeryjuice #medicalmedium #health #nutrition
2. Are celery juice detox symptoms real?
If you are looking up symptoms you can suffer from while on a celery juice cleanse you will not find any medical studies. Instead, you find a lot of personal reviews regarding celery juice.
The majority of people might not experience any negative effects of celery. But if you already have certain food sensitivities or health issues you can experience problems if you are taking blood thinners.
Medication Issues
Everyone who takes blood thinners should be careful with celery juice and consult a doctor just to be safe.
Celery contains volatile oils, coumarins, and linoleic acid. “Coumarins are in small amounts to be found in essential oils. Some coumarins may reduce clotting time if taken internally.”
“Coumarin is a colorless christalline solid, with a sweet odor resembling the sent newly mown hay. It is found in many plants, where it may serve as a chemical defense against predators.”
So, if you are taking warfarin or other blood thinners keep an eye on your celery juice intake.
Additionally, celery contains Vitamin K that is known to support your blood to clot.
Allergic reactions
It’s just juice we are talking about but even if it is something healthy some people report allergic reactions to drinking celery juice.
The reactions can be based on two things:
First – your body might be oversensitive to certain substances
Second – we don’t know what the optimal dose of celery juice is. When celery is juiced the components get very concentrated. And ingredients like phytochemicals could have a negative effect on your body in a high concentration.
3. What about the celery juice challenge?
The “inventor” of the celery juice challenge is a guy who calls himself the “Medical Medium”.
He is not a doctor or has any medical or nutritional education. He claims to have diagnosed his grandmother with lung cancer before the cancer was confirmed by doctors. And he did that at the age of 4 years. Since then Anthony, the Medical Medium, is on a mission to heal people from their illnesses.
The challenge now is to drink 16 ounces (half a liter) on an empty stomach daily. According to Anthony it is important to drink it “solo” to get the full healing potential out of it. If you mix celery juice with other vegetables like kale, spinach or whatever greens you like in your drink it loses the healing properties.
4. What does celery taste like?
Celery has a very unique taste that is not for everybody. You can describe it as:
salty
bitter
cooked celery: slightly sweet
grassy
taste like soap
Our smell senses are often connected to strong emotions. When we eat something our brain tries to connect memories with the flavors we experience from this particular food. If the flavor doesn’t fit into the pattern of flavors we have memorized the brain sends out a reaction of a potential threat to our wellbeing.
Celery is one of these foods that have a special taste that does not compare to many other food experiences you might have had before. Either you love the taste of celery or you hate it.
Cilantro is also one of these controversial foods. You love or hate the taste. The New York Times points out an interesting fact:
“The great cilantro split probably reflects the primal importance of smell and taste to survival, and the brain’s constant updating of its database of experiences.”
Don’t worry if you don’t like the taste of celery or cilantro at first you can get used to it.
5. Can you make celery juice the night before?
In general, meal prepping is a good idea. It helps you to stay on track with your food intake and not having time is no longer an excuse to not eat healthy.
You can make celery juice the night before but it will not have the same nutritional value as fresh celery juice. The problem is oxidation. If you cut an apple and leave it for a few minutes it will get brown very fast.
What is oxidation?
The oxidation process starts when oxygen from the air comes upon the sliced pieces of fruit or vegetables. Phenols and the enzyme phenolase are found in the cells of the foods. When they are exposed to oxygen in the air after slicing, the oxygen causes a reaction.
Does celery juice lose nutrients when it is refrigerated?
The longer your juice sits around the more oxidation will occur. Oxidation already starts with the juicing process as it breaks down the cell wall and exposes your food to air. There is no way to juice without oxidation happening.
Vitamins are sensitive and to get the most nutritional value out of your celery juice drink it as soon as possible.
6. Celery juice vs. eating celery – does it make a difference?
My advice is … don’t stress about it. Consume celery the way you like best. It’s all about making healthy choices and including nutritious foods regularly.
The Medical Medium claims consuming celery as a juice is the only way to experience all the healing benefits from the vegetable.
The juice is more nutrient-dense because you squeeze a lot more celery into your glass than you would actually eat.
According to a CNN article about the health benefits of celery juice, a cup of juiced celery is higher in calories than the celery stick.
“Anytime you concentrate a vegetable or a fruit, it’s going to be higher in sugars and carbohydrates.”
“Juicing strips away the beneficial fiber that helps you feel fuller longer, improves intestinal health and feeds the healthy bacteria in your gut.”
7. Celery juice and diarrhea
Some people report about side effects like diarrhea from drinking celery juice on an empty stomach. Allegedly this is a normal detox reaction that individuals can experience when they have a higher level of toxins in their body.
Another assumption is that you will suffer from diarrhea when your liver is very toxic. Celery juice then binds the toxins and flushes them out.
Mamamia.com.au says about the health benefits of celery juice:
“Celery is quite high in FODMAPs*, in those who have FODMAP sensitivities, what’s going to happen is that drinking celery juice is going to draw water into the bowel to essentially act as a diuretic in your bowel. It’ll flush everything through and give people bloating and diarrhea potentially.”
(* FODMAPs: “fermentable oligo-, di-, mono-saccharides and polyols” – they are short-chain carbohydrates, which are hard to digest. They don’t get absorbed into your bloodstream. Instead, they reach the end of your intestine undamaged. These intact carbohydrates are here used by the gut bacteria for fuel. As a result, gas is produced. Additionally, FODMAPs draw liquid into your intestine, which can add to a diarrhea incident.)
These statements are swirling around the internet and are personal reports about how celery juice affected them.
There are no studies right now available that underline these statements. The majority of people who drink celery juice will be just fine and not experience any negative effects.
8. Can you freeze celery stalks?
Yes, you can freeze your leftovers to save them for later.
But you have to consider that it will lose its crunch. And the crispiness is the best part when you eat raw celery sticks, right?!
There are still other options for a sagged celery stalk. Use it for juicing or in stir-fry dishes as thespruceeats.com recommends.
Frozen celery does lose some of its flavor and a few vitamins. The initial quality and the time between harvesting and freezing is important. The longer the stalks hit the shelf the more they lose vitamins and flavor.
Always prefer to buy organic food, it is grown in a high-quality way and has a higher level of freshness to offer before freezing.
9. How much water is in celery?
There is not much explanation needed.
According to Berkeley Wellness, the water content is 95%.
10. Is celery a fruit or a vegetable?
“Celery is cultivated as a vegetable.”
What is the difference between a fruit and a vegetable?
The fruit vs. vegetable discussion can be blurry. The scientific classification can be very different from how you are used to categorize foods.
From a botanical standpoint, a fruit is a seed-bearing plant that grows from the ovary of a flowering plant. Vegetables are all other plant parts such as roots, leaves, and stems.
Conclusion
Is celery healthy? Yes!
Will everybody experience the same benefits? No!
Everybody is different and handles food differently.
Everybody should include more greens and healthy food in general in their lives. But there are no medical proven studies out there that celery juice is a miracle cure to your health problems.
I am convinced you will have the same positive effects on your health when you include other healthy foods like spinach or kale in your diet. Try it for yourself and see if it makes a difference to drink kale juice or celery juice in the morning.
