I have spent so much of my life dieting that the idea of celery never really hit my happy spot. To me, celery was the epitome of diet food my personal stalker showing up at parties; in lunch bags; even in my Bloody Marys! You know the drill
- hungry eat celery
- craving crunchy salty chips eat celery
- want (fill in the blank) eat celery
- thinking of sex eat celery (okay, I just threw that one in there to see if youre paying attention!)
- eat celery eat celery eat celery!
The bottom line is I like celery IN things but in and of itself celery isnt much of a treat to me.
But THEN I learned about the health benefits of celery. God didnt give us celery to tease our tummies into believing we were satisfied oh no He diTnt. When you read the following info you might just be as amazed as I was at what a little miracle food celery really is!
Now, I use a whole head of celery in my green drink/smoothie (which serves two) so Im sure to get plenty of it everyday. Its THAT IMPORTANT!
Nutritional Benefits of Celery
Celery leaves have high content of vitamin A, while the stems are an excellent source of vitamins B1, B2, B6 and C with rich supplies of potassium, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, sodium and plenty essential amino acids.
Nutrients in the fiber are released during juicing, aiding bowel movements. The natural organic sodium (salt) in celery is very safe for consumption, in fact is essential for the body. Even individuals who are salt-sensitive can safely take the sodium in celery, unlike table salt (iodised sodium) which is harmful for those with high blood pressure.
While many foods lose nutrients during cooking, most of the compounds in celery hold up well during cooking.
Health Benefits of Celery
Celery has always been associated with lowering of blood pressure. When combined with other juices, it provides different formula that help other conditions.
Recent studies have shown that celery might also be effective in combating cancer. Read on.
Some of the health benefits of celery juice:
ACIDITY: The important minerals in this magical juice effectively balance the bodys blood pH, neutralizing acidity.
ATHLETES: Celery juice acts as the perfect post-workout tonic as it replaces lost electrolytes and rehydrates the body with its rich minerals.
CANCER: Celery is known to contain at least eight families of anti-cancer compounds. Among them are the acetylenics that have been shown to stop the growth of tumor cells. Phenolic acids which block the action of prostaglandins that encourage the growth of tumor cells. And coumarins which help prevent free radicals from damaging cells.
CHOLESTEROL: This humble pale juice has been shown to effectively and significantly lower total cholesterol and LDL (bad) cholesterol.
COLON and STOMACH CANCER: The phytochemical coumarins prevent the formation and development of the colon and stomach cancers.
NATURAL LAXATIVE EFFECT: Helps to relieve constipation. It also helps relax nerves that have been overworked by man-made laxatives.
COOLING: During dry and hot weather, drink a glass of celery juice two or three times a day, between meals. It wonderfully helps to normalize body temperature.
POTASSIUM and SODIUM: Helps to regulate body fluid and stimulate urine production, making it an important help to rid the body of excess fluid.
POLYACETYLENE: An amazing relief for all inflammation like rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, gout, asthma and bronchitis.
KIDNEY FUNCTION: Celery promotes healthy and normal kidney function by aiding elimination of toxins from the body. While eliminating toxins, it also prevents formation of kidney stones.
LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE: Drinking celery juice every day for a week significantly helps lower blood pressure. A compound called phtalides help relax the muscle around arteries, dilating the vessels and allowing blood to flow normally. To be effective, drink the juice for one week, stop for three weeks, and start over.
NERVOUS SYSTEM: The organic alkaline minerals in celery juice has a calming effect on the nervous system, making it a wonderful drink for insomniacs.
WEIGHT LOSS: Drink celery juice frequently throughout the day. It helps curb your cravings for sweets and rich food.
URINARY STONES (breaking of): The diuretic effect of celery juice also aids the breaking and elimination of urinary and gall bladder stones.
You can expect many more healing benefits from celery juice as you consume its natural sodium.
WOW!!!
Its quite a little miracle food, isnt it! I really encourage you to start drinking celery juice every day. I actually never enjoyed juicing because my old juicers were a pain in the ass-ola (excuse my French) to clean. I gave two away before I came upon the Breville Juice Fountain Elite! Its #3 on my Cant Live Without List! I add celery to every juice drink I make, and I also put celery in my Dr. Oz green drink every single day (I use a whole head of it just like Dr. Oz recommends!)
Happy Juicing! And be sure to include celery!
Embrace your stalker!
I love it! Im totally embracing my stalker now. I have mixed feelings about celery too, for much the same reasons, but I think I ought to give it another look now.
.-= Genevieve@Humboldt County Gardenings last blog ..How to Prune Hydrangeas (Video Tutorial) =-.
Genevieve, youre such a funny girl! Your comment is the first I read this morning and you gave me my first giggle of the day. LOL Hey, are you on Twitter? Id like to follow you
Thanks Lesli! I just followed you Im NCoastGardening on Twitter.
Thanks Genevieve, Im following you too
I just had part of my left kidney removed with a tumor i enjoy reading your articles ,i was always quite active and eat well but i think i should even eat better plus all 4 of my kids are in very conpetetive sports so because i will be home for 12 wks to recover i would like to learn and pass it down to my family
Bob
Hi Bob, Welcome! Sorry to hear about your kidney, and I wish you a speedy recovery from that. So happy to see your focus during the next 12 weeks will be towards even better wellness. Will you be blogging about your own discoveries? I believe we’re stronger together than any of us can be on our own. In any case, I hope you’ll come back often.
I eat two heads of celery per day. I use it as you might use crackerbread, that is as a crispy crunch to a flavour filled topping. I find eating celery with chicken or fish is perfect for those wanting to lose a bit of weight, whild also maintaining a healthy diet and not scrimping on flavour.
Awesome idea Colin, I’ll have to give that a try! Thanks for sharing.
excellent information. As you say I thought celery was pretty boring but I didnt realise it had such great benefits! Will definitely be including it more in my diet.
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