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What is this bright green "miracle elixir" in the hands of countless smiling Instagrammers? It's celery juice. The more the wallflower crust, the buffalo wing pal, the ants backbone on a log, the celery has reached the status of gastronomic celebrity. Could celery be the new kale? What's behind the hype?
History of origin and health claims
Anthony William, nicknamed the "Medical Medium", is the self-proclaimed father of the celery juice trend. Without any medical or scientific evidence, William says he communicates with Spirit of Compassion for "extremely accurate health information, often well ahead of his time." William writes on Gwyneth Paltrow's website, Goop: "Celery juice is a wonder juice. It's one of the greatest healing tonics of all time. I've seen thousands of people with chronic and mysterious illnesses recover by drinking 16 ounces of celery juice daily on an empty stomach. "
If it sounds too good to be true, that's it. "Unfortunately, there is no quick fix, and in this case," miracle food "capable of meeting such extraordinary demands," said Debbie Petitpain, Registered Dietitian based in Charleston, Calif., Spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. "There is not a single" superfood "that can meet all our daily needs and, in fact, research consistently demonstrates that the best nutrition is to consume various food groups and foods within each group."
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Of the many claims of William – largely unsupported by scientific research or basic physiology – celery juice reverses inflammation by releasing pathogenic bacteria and viruses. He also said that celery contains "an undiscovered subgroup of sodium that I call" cluster salts "that attack pathogens and rebuilds hydrochloric acid in your stomach so that It can degrade protein, thus preventing "bowel rot and bloating". no more than cluster salts, but a weak stomach acid can be – and this requires medical treatment to prevent potentially serious nutrient deficiencies.
Nutritional contributions
William's pseudoscientific claims are repeated on the Internet, and some bloggers even advocate drinking celery juice instead of chemotherapy for breast cancer. Seattle-based licensed dietician Ginger Hultin, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, said it's potentially dangerous to fight cancer with food – or with a food or a supplement in particular. "Cancer is a complicated disease that often requires a multi-faceted therapeutic approach," she said.
To be honest, celery contains certain phytochemicals, including apigenin and luteolin, which may have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties, but research in this area is not yet ready for prime time. The majority of research uses apigenin and luteolin alone, and not the foods containing these compounds, and most research focuses on rodents or cancer cells isolated in a petri dish.
"Many foods have anticancer effects in a lab," said Hultin. "But it's hard to translate that into what food does in the body. What happens to compounds in foods during the digestive process? Do these compounds reach the tumor site? How aggressive or aggressive is cancer? What kind of cells are they? Because of the complex nature of cancer, it makes sense that there is not a single food, supplement, or antioxidant that can cure it alone. "
Many phytochemicals are also promising for the prevention and even the treatment of cancer – one of the reasons the American Cancer Society recommends eating 2 1/2 cups of fruits and vegetables every day – so it's unwise to rely on celery as an anti-cancer miracle food. Hultin points out that we can also get apigenin from parsley and lettuce, and luteolin from beets and cabbage. "You get a wonderful collection of antioxidant nutrients from a variety of foods, but there is no evidence that any of them in particular will cure the disease," she said. "Human bodies are more complicated than that."
Petitpain suggests considering the color of each vegetable as its "publicity" for a nutrient that the body needs. "For example, red tomatoes are rich in lycopene, which can prevent heart disease," she said. "Sweet potatoes are rich in beta-carotene, which promotes healthy eyes. Both are high in fiber, which is essential for the health of the intestines. "
Fiber is something that celery misses if it is eaten, as William suggests – in the form of juice rather than whole food. But you will have a lot of sodium. A bunch of celery, the amount needed to get 16 ounces of celery juice, contains about 800 mg of sodium. "It's more than what you get with two orders of French fries," said Petitpain.
The bottom line
Celery juice contains water and some nutrients – but not as much as, for example, kale – so if you like the taste and you have a generous drink budget, enjoy it. "Celery juice can be a healthy and refreshing drink to include in a balanced diet," said Petitpain. "It's a much better choice than sweet drinks like sweet tea, regular sodas and sports drinks, which Americans are absorbing at an alarming rate."
Hultin says that celery goes well with carrots, beets and ginger. Of course, chewing food is more satisfying than drinking it, so it would be better to eat some ants on a log.
Dennett is a nutritionist and dietitian and owns Nutrition by Carrie.
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