Unlike veggie favourites like carrots and cauliflower, celery is generally not a popular vegetable. It’s stringy, not particularly delicious and can’t really be enjoyed on its own unless you’re dunking it in a dip. But celebs and wellness influencers swear by celery juice to help with many health ailments.
These include reducing inflammation, acid, acne and high blood pressure, giving the immune system a boost, weight loss and even easing skin conditions like eczema. But is celery juice just a fad or is it actually good for you? Let’s investigate.
The lowdown on celery juice
The good
Celery juice is packed with vitamins A, C and K. It also contains important nutrients like folate, calcium, potassium, sodium, magnesium and phosphorous. It has electrolytes and is very hydrating. Furthermore, it contains flavonoids and phytochemicals which can boost your overall health. It’s easier to ingest a large amount of these nutrients in juice form, giving you a big intake of goodness in one go.
This green juice could make digestion easier. Why? Because when fruits or veggies are broken down during juicing, they become easier to digest. Swapping out soft drinks and fruit juices for celery juice could mean you’d lose weight as it has far fewer calories. You’ll also be more hydrated as it contains lots of water.
You can also get an antioxidant boost from celery juice as it has compounds like tannin, ferulic acid, caffeic acid, saponin and apigenin, which have antibiotic properties.
The not-so-good
Sipping on healthy juice may be a good way to get nutrients into your body, but juicing strips away
much-needed fibre. Fibre helps your bowel movements and helps feed your gut with good bacteria. Like other vegetables, important nutrients are found in the peel, pulp and other parts of the celery. When it’s juiced, you lose out on these health properties.
What’s more, micronutrients in juice are extremely concentrated and the same goes for the sugar found in juice. Juicing a vegetable like celery is also time-consuming and juice is far less filling than eating a solid meal.
Sip or pass?
While celery juice has many health benefits and is safe to drink, there isn’t much scientific or medical evidence to show that having juiced celery has life-changing benefits. Some research shows that the phytochemicals in celery can help lower high blood pressure and inflammation. Whole or juiced celery juice can help with this.
The overall nutritional value of celery juice though, isn’t unique and can be found, if not more, from eating whole celery or other whole, leafy green veggies.
If you enjoy drinking celery juice though, there’s no harm in it. But talk to your doctor before including it in your diet as certain juiced fruit and vegetables can interfere with the effects of medication. It’s best to include celery juice along with a healthy diet and remember to bulk up on fibre if you opt for juiced celery instead of whole celery.