Celery Juice

Celery, one of the more ‘boring’, less eaten and often overlooked ‘non-exciting’ vegetables actually deserves a little bit of love and a lot more limelight on its health benefits.

Celery belongs to the Apiaceae family and is a marshland plant that has been around since, well, forever – by which I mean earliest reports of celery coming in around the middle ages.

So what are the benefits of celery?

Research has shown that celery has been known to help with weight loss, lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels, reducing arthritic pain, detoxifying benefits, gut health, eczema, autoimmune disorders, IBS, vertigo, cancer, and heart disease. 2019 seems to be not only the year of the pig but the year of celery juicing.

Here’s why. Celery is rich in Vitamins (including B Vitamins, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Thiamin, B6 & B12, A, C, D, E & K), Minerals ( Potassium, Zinc, Copper, Iron, Zinc, Calcium, and Sodium)  and fiber according to the USDA National Nutrient Database.

Who started the celery juice movement?

The Medical Medium Anthony William swears by celery juicing as a medicinal drink and has been drinking it straight on an empty stomach as a child since 1975. He is responsible for the Global Celery Juice Movement which is showing up all over social media and being supported by sports people, musicians, models and actors including Novak Djokovic, Pharrell, Miranda Kerr, Debra Messing & Jenna Dewan.

Why did I give celery juicing a go?

As someone who has IBS symptoms, bloating and eczema – possibly autoimmune related I decided to give celery juicing a go. It seemed like a healthy and natural possible solution to the other treatment options I had previously tried. Let’s face it leafy green vegetables are a winner either way and are obviously a lot less harmful than steroids, lotions, potions, and tablets.

So I tried out the Medical Medium’s recipe, bearing in mind this is a one ingredient juice/medicine not some fancy green smoothie with all the extras. I found it surprisingly delicious, easy to drink, especially over ice and psychologically I felt like I was treating my body more kindly than the usual strong coffee first thing in the morning. But that still followed… just a little later.

And the verdict….

The benefits of this green tonic became apparent very quickly, alleviating bloating symptoms, helping with my digestion and relieving me of the fatigue I often felt over the course of the day. My skin, chronically covered in eczema started to clear, felt less itchy and irritated. It’s now become part of the daily routine. With a little prep, I wash and chop the celery the night before for quicker blending in my Nutribullet to make the mornings a little bit less chaotic. One thing I can say about celery juice is that it hasn’t improved my ‘I’m not a morning person’ persona. Sorry, husband.

It has also created a lot of celery remnants in my house from the leaves to the juice pulp which has spurred on my zero food waste mission. More on that later.

Celery Juice Recipe

Ingredients

1 bunch of celery (organic wherever possible) well washed.

Equipment

Juicer

Or

High Speed Blender with strainer (fine mesh bag/ cheesecloth or duh a MISA Reusable Produce Bag).

Method

I prefer the high speed blender option because the clean up is SO EASY – juicers are way too much of a hassle to clean for a lazybones like me. Just throw the celery in and blitz to a pulp. Literally squeeze the juice from the pulp through a MISA Mesh bag.

Aim for 16oz/473 mls every morning, drink immediately on an empty stomach.

 

 

Don’t forget to scoop out the pulp and keep it for making celery crackers – recipe to follow. Meanwhile, turn the MISA Produce Bag inside out, rinse and chuck into your next cold machine wash. Sometimes if I’m in a hurry I just turn the bag inside out and let it sit in a jug of cold water – all the pulp settles at the bottom for an easy rinse out and clean up later.

 

 

Stay tuned for what to do with all that leftover pulpy goodness soon….recipes to come!