Celery Juice: The Newest Trend You Can’t Escape, But Is It Worth The Hype?
Celery juice is EVERYWHERE lately. Kim Kardashian, Gwenyth Paltrow (duh), and every health and wellness influencer you follow on Instagram is currently obsessed with this stuff. I’ll be honest, I roll my eyes anytime a trend explodes in popularity as if it’s going to be the cure for all our problems. Kale had a similar halo around it when it became popular, too. It was only a matter of time before we learned that literally ALL leafy greens are incredibly good for us, and one isn’t particularly superior over any others.
With all the hype around celery juice, I had to see if there was going to be any staying power to this trend, or if it was just that: a trend.
source: https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/celery-juice
Here’s what I found out in my (sort of) deep dive into this trend (Note: these benefits are not based on my opinion. These are from different sources which I’ve noted below.):
1. People say drinking is better than eating, in this case.
When you juice celery you’re able to consume WAY more celery than you could when eating it. And supposedly, there’s a type of salt called “cluster salts” that bind well to toxins and help them flush out the liver. (source: https://goop.com/wellness/health/the-medical-medium-on-the-virtues-of-celery-juice/)
2. It may slow the growth of certain cancers.
There’s a chemical called luteolin in celery which, in lab studies on animals, showed significant reductions in the growth of breast and prostate cancers. This is one of those things though that can’t be directly translated to humans, but it IS promising. (source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27378243)
3. It promotes gut health.
Celery juice has a natural laxative effect and is extremely good at alkalizing the gut, according to Anthony Williams (The Medical Medium). When the body is more alkaline, it’s not an environment in which disease can thrive. When your gut is healthy and balanced, your body is happy. Celery juice is also said to restore hydrochloric acid levels in the stomach which allows for better breakdowns of food so they don’t rot. (source: http://www.medicalmedium.com/blog/12-reasons-to-drink-celery-juice)
4. It can help fight infection.
Celery juice is said to enhance the body’s immune system. I’m inserting my own voice here because it seemed there was some conflicting information. Some sources said celery JUICE enhanced the immune system, and others said it had to he the celery SEED. Either way, I saw most often that celery seeds have antibacterial properties that may inhibit the growth of bacteria. (source: https://askdrnandi.com/10-health-benefits-celery/)
I reached out to Dr. B, The Gut Health MD (remember him?!), to get his take on it, and here’s what he had to say:
You can follow him on IG for all sorts of tips @theguthealthmd
Allison from our team actually TRIED IT:
“If I had to give a review on my experience in an emoji, it would be 😑. Simply because that is how I felt after juicing an ENTIRE BAG of organic celery to create 16 oz of celery juice.
What did it taste like?
I know this is going to blow your mind, but it literally tasted like celery… in green water form. It wasn’t bad, it may be a bit of an acquired taste, but I’ve been known to juice in the past so celery juice is not an unfamiliar taste to me. Celery juice on its own, though… 😑What else should I know?
Honestly, that’s it. It really wasn’t life changing for me. I kind of felt like I was wasting my time, and a perfectly good bag of celery that was just begging to be a vehicle for peanut butter. Being the nerd that I am, I did my research on the benefits of celery juice, according to those who swear by it. It just didn’t have me convinced that the trouble of juicing an entire bag of celery, and then having to clean up my juicer, was worth it. It’s not even a meal. Just… super expensive celery flavored water.”
Our Conclusion:
It seems there’s no harm in incorporating this into your morning routine. After all, we could all use an extra dose of vegetables, and if this sounds good to you, go for it! But if you’re NOT doing this, as long as you’re eating a variety of other vegetables, you’re probably getting all the nutrients your body needs. I personally feel strongly that juicing and removing the fibrous content from our produce does our bodies such a disservice! Eat less of the stuff and take advantage of ALL a veggie or fruit has to offer by eating it in its natural form. There’s no single magic bullet that will reverse unhealthy eating habits or lack of regular exercise. So drink your celery juice if you feel called to, but I wouldn’t count on it to be the answer to all your prayers.
Over to you! I’d LOVE to hear your thoughts on this! Have you tried it? What do you think about the celery juice trend? Is it here to stay or is it another flash in the pan?
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14 Comments
Lindsey
January 14, 2019 at 8:29 pmI’ve been drinking celery juice every morning for the last 1.5 years ago. I actually love it and it has helped my acne and disgetive issues. I eat lots of fruits and veggies too , but I really do think the celery juice makes a difference for me. Medical Medium has been talking about celery juice for years, long before it became a ‘fad’. He’s kind of out there, but following some of his advice has really helped me when nothing else did. My sinus issues have started to improve too. I feel like if you like celery juice and it helps you…great!! However – will adding celery juice to your diet alone, without changing any other habits, be a miracle, ‘cure all’?? Absolutely not. Nothing is ever that simple!
Lindsey
January 14, 2019 at 8:30 pmOops! Found a typo: **For the last 1.5 years**
EC
January 15, 2019 at 10:33 amThe Medical Medium guy gets his information from hearing the voice of God in his head, so I would not cite him as if he’s a reliable source.
Isabelle
January 16, 2019 at 9:11 amEven if it wasn’t contradictory to imagine celery simulaneously “restoring” hydrochloric acid to your stomach and then alkalinizing the gut, the general concept of alkalinizing your body with various foods to prevent diseases is nonsense. You can’t drink celery and then have it travel with its alkalinity intact directly to any mutagenic cells. Your body also has an incredibly tight control of its pH to keep you alive, and eating food doesn’t distort that—and thank goodness, or we wouldn’t survive. https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alkaline_diet
That being said, drinking celery juice won’t hurt people. I’d also prefer generally to eat the fiber included in whole fruits and veggies, but I have juice sometimes as a treat. I can’t stand pseudoscience claims giving people false ideas to sell stuff though. My grandmother bought into a very expensive alkaline protocol peddled by a doctor (since discredited) when she had terminal lung cancer. It’s important to remember that people can suffer from faith in these types of misconceptions.
Melanie Gibson
January 16, 2019 at 9:22 amWow, i didn’t know this had become a thing! It smacks of being yet another trendy habit among those who are privileged enough to afford to buy entire bags of celery and juice the whole thing, every morning, and feel superior to the little people who can’t do that. It does make more sense to just drink plain water and eat the vegetable so you get the fiber that your body needs. This sounds a bit like a lot of the fads that are promised to be so wonderful they can almost clean the kitchen floor for you. It’s kind of a fun game to try to guess what they might come up with next, just keep doing my own yoga in my apartment by myself, and learning about my own body, both inside and out.
Erin Motz
January 17, 2019 at 1:52 pmI like that plan.
elsa gonzalez
January 16, 2019 at 5:25 pmI have survived so far thyroid and breast cancer at Stage 2 in both cases. That being said in the past 9 years on/off I made my own celery juice. Did it help? I think it did.
Erin Motz
January 17, 2019 at 1:51 pmThat’s amazing!!!! There could be some merit to it then!!
Knit Spirit
January 17, 2019 at 4:54 amThank you for this review on this new weard trend. I ended to the same conclusion!
Erin Motz
January 17, 2019 at 1:50 pmThat’s what we do!! You’re not bad yogi if you’re not against at least one weird trend! 😉
Kiki
February 11, 2019 at 7:02 amI had been looking for a cure for my acne for YEARS and celery juice finally did the trick. For anyone experiencing skin issues it is sooo worth trying! I saw results within a few days and I’m on the celery juice train for life! Such a confidence boost to have clear skin. Adds 15 minutes to my morning routine and is so worth it in my opinion.
Marie Halsey
September 9, 2020 at 7:58 amThe aim of juicing celery is to get most amount of nutrition. Also, if you are drinking this daily, you want to do it in the most convenient way possible. Celery as you know is a tough and stringy vegetable which is extremely difficult to juice.
lisa
December 18, 2020 at 3:13 pmThanks for the new juice combo! My go to lately has been pineapple, mint, spinach and celery, it’s to die for! Never thought to include grapes, next week I’ll have to make a big batch of this to try out!best citrus juicer
lisa
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