Celery juice benefits are wide-ranging, underrated and a bit of a mystery in the sense that celery is so popular and yet, so many people don’t know about its myriad benefits.
Because if you’ve been juicing for awhile, you’ve definitely had plenty of celery juice – maybe not in the form of a straight up celery juice recipe, but these fibrous stalks tend to sneak themselves into huge variety of juicing recipes.
Which is no surprise, considering this is one of the most popular juicing ingredients there is and for good reason – these crunchy sticks come packed with health benefits that benefit everything from your nerves to your blood. Here’s exactly why you should keep on adding celery into your juice recipes!
11 Insane Celery Juice Benefits
Here’s a fun fact for you: Early Romans wore wreaths of celery on their heads to deter hangovers (we don’t think this actually works, by the way :)). So whereas there are much better juice remedies for hangovers, celery comes with a whole lot of health perks that you can get without having to don a celery wreath, like…
Extremely heart healthy
Even the ancient peoples knew about celery’s blood benefits – traditional Chinese scrolls that stretch back to the Han Dynasty suggested that eating four celery stalks daily helped boost blood flow to the heart. Yup, celery has been used for its anti-hypertensive properties for centuries and now modern medicine continues to prove that this fibrous stalk is packing tons of cardiovascular benefits.
For starters, celery stalks are rich in phthalides, an organic compound that has been found to help improve overall circulatory health and prevent problems like hypertension and hypotension.
Plus, celery helps maintain the overall strength and flexibility of blood vessels, thanks to its phenolic compounds that prevent the formation of plaque in the arteries and veins that can lead to conditions like heart attack, aneurysm and stroke.
Flushes out bad cholesterol
One of the greatest benefits of celery is its effect on lowering cholesterol, thanks to a unique phytochemical called 3-n-butylphthalide (BuPh), which is also the compound that gives celery its unique smell and taste.
Laboratory tests show that 3-n-butylphthalide has the ability to trap low-density lipoproteins (LDL) or bad cholesterol in the bloodstream and flush them out of the body. Pretty cool, eh?
An ideal weight loss food
There’s good reason why so many juice recipes for weight loss contain celery – it’s one of the best foods to juice, blend and eat for weight loss. Why? It’s incredibly nutrient-dense, providing tons of antioxidants, electrolytes, vitamins and minerals – and all for a very low caloric cost.
Boosts the body’s resiliency to inflammation and disease
Celery is chockfull of anti-inflammatory flavonoid and polyphenol antioxidants that help protect against the oxidative damage caused by free radicals and toxins that can lead to inflammation and the many diseases that inflammation in the body leads to, like cancer, heart disease, arthritis and IBS.
Enhances sex drive
This is probably one of the best celery juice benefits. If you’re looking for an all-natural aphrodisiac, celery’s got your back. Its role as a bedroom aid goes way back – in fact, the ancient Greeks used celery as a a passion promoter, lust enhancer and sexual stamina aid.
The famed Italian lover, Casanova, revealed that he consumed a handful of celery stalks every day to keep his sexual stamina levels up. The mistress of Louis XV, Madame de Pompadour, was also said to have constantly fed the king lots of celery for the same purpose.
Turns out these lovers of yore knew what they were doing – modern research shows that celery stalks contain pheromones called androstenol and androstenone, which are also found in human sweat and urine.
But what does that have to do with sex? Well, androsterone is thought to make males that exude it more attractive to females. On an interesting, related note – it’s also the scent of androsterone that attracts pigs to buried truffles.
Protects against cancer
You already know that celery is full of anti-inflammatory antioxidants in celery, but a few of them bear particular mention, like psoralen, bergapten and lunularin, which are found to inhibit the growth and development of cancer cells.
These antioxidants also boost the flow of oxygen and essential nutrients in the bloodstream to help cells and tissues repair and rejuvenate themselves faster.
Apigenin, another antioxidant found in celery (as well as parsley) bears mention – apigenin was shown to dramatically inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells, even shrinking a particular breast cancer tumor!
Great for your gut
Celery is full of antioxidants and beneficial enzymes, including flavonoids, tannins and alkaloids that help control gastric acid levels and boost the level of protective mucus in the gut. This makes celery one of the best foods to juice for gut health.
Oh, and if you’ve ever endured an ulcer, you’ll be happy to know that celery juice is one of the best foods to protect against the formation of painful ulcers. It’s all thanks to a special type of ethanol extract found in celery that protects the lining of the digestive tract from ulcers.
Celery extract has also been found to replenish depleted levels of gastric mucus, which is crucial to prevent ulcers from occurring in the stomach lining.
Told you celery juice benefits are underrated.
Aids gentle detox
Celery is a natural diuretic, which means that you’ll be visiting the bathroom a little more frequently when you start drinking celery juice. This is great news for those struggling to drop excess water weight and get rid of bloating and puffiness.
A natural remedy for UTI
If you’re juicing for a UTI, celery is one veggie you definitely want to stock up on – these fibrous stalks help to reduce uric acid and thanks to its role as a natural diuretic, celery also increases urine production, helping to flush out bacterial infections more quickly.
And it’s not just that – celery also has antibacterial and anti-microbial properties that can further boost immunity to bacterial infections.
Cleanses the liver
As the second largest organ of your body and one of the hardest working organs in the body, the liver is pretty darn important. It produces the bile needed to break down fats and produce energy. It filters the blood coming from your digestive tract before sending it off to the rest of your body. It detoxifies the body of toxins.
And a whole lot more.
So you want to make darn sure that you’re giving your liver a whole lot of TLC. And celery is one of the best ways to do that. Researchers from the Helwan University’s Department of Nutrition and Food Science found that rats who were fed high-cholesterol diets saw a reduction in the dangerous fat buildup in the liver when they were supplemented with celery, chicory and barley.
This combination was able to improve liver enzyme function as well as blood lipid levels. The more celery, chicory and barley the rats received, the better their liver health became.
A darn good brain food
A 2010 study at the University of Illinois found that luteolin, a nutrient in celery, protected mice against the brain inflammation and subsequent memory loss usually found in older mice. Interestingly, these elderly mice were able to perform learning and memory tasks better than younger mice!
Thanks to this data, scientists believe that celery’s rich luteolin content can protect against age-related brain inflammation, leading to better memory and cognitive health.
What’s the Best Celery Juice Recipe?
Celery juice is not the sort of thing you want to drink by itself unless you absolutely love the taste of celery – or you just really want all the celery juice benefits. Many of us don’t and lucky for us, celery plays very nicely with a huge array of fruits and veggies.
In fact, I’d go as far to say that celery is one of the most versatile juicing ingredients there is, blending nicely with everything from savory tomatoes to sweet pears. In case you don’t feel like mixing and matching today, here’s a few great celery juice recipes to get you started!
Heart Healthy Celery Juice Recipe
This is the perfect juice recipe to give your heart a boost:
- 1 medium cucumber
- 3 celery stalks
- 1 ½ medium pears
- 3 kale leaves
It’s loaded with nutrients to improve cardiovascular health, like celery with its blood flow-improving, anti-hypertensive properties and pear with its cholesterol-busting soluble fiber.
Not to mention the rich minerals and antioxidants it’s packing. Oh, it’s even great for detox, as celery and cucumber are both about 95% water content.
Hydrating Celery Green Juice Recipe
Here’s a delicious green juice recipe for those days when you know you need to get some green goodness in you, pronto:
- 1 cup Swiss chard
- 1 cucumber
- 3 celery stalks
- 2 green apples
- 1 inch ginger
It’s not the sweetest green juice, but it’s the perfect recipe for when you’ve fallen off your healthy eating horse and want to cleanse your system of that hamburger you just couldn’t resist (we’ve all been there ;))
Clean Sweep Detox Juice Recipe
This is perfect juice to drink when you feel a UTI coming or just want to give your bladder, kidneys and urethra a good, thorough cleanse:
- 1.5 cups cranberries
- 1 apple
- 3 celery stalks
- 3 leaves of romaine lettuce
- 1/2 thumb of ginger
- 1/2 lemon, peeled
Happy juicing!
