Celery Juice: Is it Legit? A Dietitian’s Perspective

In case you haven’t seen a sea of green all over your Instagram feed the past few months, here’s me letting you know that celery juice is now a HUGE trend.

Celery juice?? You mean from the vegetable that’s basically air and water, annoyingly fibrous, and perceived as having no benefits for the longest time (and even negative calories – lol not a thing)?

Are you sure???

Yes, it’s true. And people are no longer slathering it with peanut butter and topping with raisins (#tbt to the Ants on a Log days) – they’re juicing up 16 ounces each morning and drinking it on an empty stomach.

But why?

Because some dude on the internet who calls himself the “Medical Medium” claims it:

• “Has an incredible ability to create sweeping improvements for all kinds of health issues”
• Calms inflammation
• “Contains a multitude of undiscovered mineral salts that act together as an antiseptic”
• Can break down and flush out viruses that cause autoimmune disease
• Balances your body’s pH

… just to name a few (1). Sounds miraculous huh?

But, is celery juice legit?

Sam the Dietitian says…

Long story short, there’s not a lot of research out there to back up most of the claims made about celery juice.

Here’s what we know:

• Celery is rich in phytonutrients and antioxidants such as vitamins A and C that have long been associated with reducing inflammation, which may reduce autoimmune symptoms and disease risk. (2) However, these phytonutrients and antioxidants can be found in a whole host of other fruits and veggies as well.

• Since the Medical Medium says the mineral salts in celery juice are undiscovered by science, there’s (obviously) no research to support his claims. Celery does contain minerals that have known health benefits, such as potassium and folate, but since those aren’t the ones he’s referring to, the point is moot and cannot be verified by actual research.

• The cause of many of the autoimmune diseases Medical Medium claims to cure with celery juice are multifactorial and, in many cases, unknown or not completely understood. Because he doesn’t offer a cited explanation for how exactly celery juice “starves” these viruses, it’s impossible to evaluate any research he may use to support his claim (and I wasn’t able to find any that offered a mechanistic explanation).

• Foods don’t change your body’s pH. Your body has a very, very narrow window for blood pH that it will tolerate, but luckily it does a fantastic job of maintaining that pH all on its own. If it isn’t, you’re likely reading this from the hospital.

There are a few red flags.

It’s always good to question your source, and the person who began the celery juice trend and touts it as a miracle cure, Anthony William (aka Medical Medium), has no formal training in nutrition, medicine, or science in general (major red flag). He claims to get his information from “the Spirit” that only he can communicate with, who tells him things science hasn’t discovered yet. Yea… I’m a spiritual person, but I put my faith in science when it comes to nutrition.

Another red flag to look out for is any claims about one food (or beverage in this case) being a miracle cure. Claiming that a single food can cure multifactorial and complicated diseases is a stretch and pretty implausible. As I always say, no single food is going to make or break your health. It’s all about the combination of your health-promoting behaviors and other contributing factors (e.g. environment, socioeconomic status, genetics, etc.).

But people SWEAR this cured them of [insert disease, condition, etc. here]!

In both my personal and professional opinion, a lot of the benefits people are seeing can likely be attributed to four things:

1. Better hydration. The vast majority of us are perpetually dehydrated, so it’s likely that simply drinking more liquid is helping to improve skin and digestion (3). Your gut works better when it’s well hydrated, and your skin loves moisture!
2. Consuming more antioxidants. Research has shown that consuming a diet rich in antioxidants can help reduce inflammation (4). Antioxidants and other phytochemicals are also abundant in all fruits and vegetables, so you can get the benefits from more than just celery.
3. Participating in more health promoting behaviors. It’s likely that if you’re juicing celery daily, you’re also trying to improve your health in other ways such as eating more fruits and veggies, drinking more water, participating in more physical activity, not smoking, and reducing alcohol consumption. You also probably have more money to invest in other ways to improve your health (juicers aren’t cheap!). If that’s the case, it’s likely that the combination of everything else you’re doing has more of an effect than juice.
4. Placebo effect. The mind is a very powerful thing.

For these reasons, making sure you’re drinking enough water and eating at least 5-7 servings of fruits and vegetables per day is a better place to start when it comes to improving your health.

That being said, I’m never one to tell someone not to do something that they feel works for them, makes them happy, and doesn’t hinder their life in any way (as long as it’s not dangerous). The benefits of consuming celery juice may come from what I said above, it may just be the placebo effect, or it may be legit – even I’ll admit science doesn’t know everything when it comes to nutrition yet (though I’m HIGHLY doubtful this is legit).

If you like celery juice (personally I think anything with celery juice in it tastes awful) and it isn’t costing you tons of money or creating anxiety around food, then you can go for it if you want. Your body, your choice. It’s not going to harm you (unless you have a bleeding disorder, low blood pressure, and kidney problems or are taking lithium or blood thinning medications, plus some other contraindications – talk to your doctor). If anything, you’ll be more hydrated and get in an extra serving of veg (though I’d rather you just eat celery because fiber is super important).

Just keep in mind that celery juice isn’t a magical cure. And it’s disgusting.

Mindfully yours,
Sam

Ps. If you want to share your thoughts or if you have further questions, feel free to drop them in the comments below! If you are rude, trolling, and offensive, I reserve the right to delete your comment – please be respectful 🙂

Sources:

1. http://www.medicalmedium.com/blog/celery-juice
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5871295/
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2908954/
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5075620/