Benefits (and Risks) of Juicing Celery

Celery is a common ingredient in many green juices – and with good reason. Celery juice is packed with vitamins such as folate, vitamin C, and potassium. It also contains potent antioxidants called flavonoids.

Compounds in celery may help with inflammation and the numerous conditions that stem from inflammation. Celery juice itself is rich in nutrients and easy to absorb.

Juicing celery alone or adding it to a green juice may be the simplest way to get these nutrients into the body.

Benefits of Juicing Celery

Nutrient dense

Like many other vegetables, celery is rich in nutrients compared to how many calories it contains.

Celery juice is like a concentrated form of celery, containing higher levels of many key nutrients in the food.

The USDA Food Data Central notes that each serving of celery juice, which is about 1 cup or 236 grams, contains the following:

Water: 222 g
Calories: 23
Protein: 2 g
Fat: 0.4 g
Carbohydrate: 4 g
Sugars 5.6 g
Dietary fiber: 3.8 g

The same serving size also contains important minerals and nutrients, such as:

Potassium: 670 mg
Calcium: 99 mg
Sodium: 215 mg
Magnesium: 28 mg
Vitamin A: 61.4 ug
Vitamin C: 14.4 mg
Iron: 1 mg

Additionally, celery is a healthy source of nutrients such as folate, pantothenic acid, zinc, and vitamin K.

Keep in mind, these are the numbers for just 1 cup of juice. Larger juices will have more nutrients.

Contains potent antioxidants

Aside from its nutritional profile, much of the benefit of juicing celery comes from delivering higher doses of potent antioxidants to the body.

In addition to antioxidant nutrients such as vitamins A and C, celery also contains other helpful antioxidants, specifically luteolin and apigenin.

While all forms of celery contain some levels of antioxidants, cooking celery drastically reduces these antioxidant levels. A study posted to JOURNAL of Horticulture, Forestry and Biotechnology note that raw celery leaves have the highest antioxidant content, and have over nine times the antioxidants compared to cooked celery!

This makes juicing celery a great way to deliver these antioxidants to the body.

Benefits of celery antioxidants

Many of the proposed benefits of juicing celery come from having higher levels of these important antioxidants.

A study posted to the International Journal of Molecular Sciences notes that apigenin, an antioxidant in celery, may play a helpful role in a number of conditions, such as:

Diabetes
Alzheimer’s
Amnesia
Insomnia
Depression
Cancer

The other antioxidant of interest in celery is luteolin. A study posted to the Central European Journal of Immunology notes that early evidence suggests the compound may help reduce symptoms of allergies and asthma.

Additionally, a study posted to Frontiers in Pharmacology notes that luteolin has antioxidant, anti-tumor, and anti-inflammatory properties.

Researchers note the role the compound may play a role in protecting the heart and brain.

While these compounds come from celery, this does not mean celery or celery juice itself will automatically help with these conditions. Much of the research involves using these isolated compounds in higher concentrations to produce results, and the research is still early on.

With this said, adding higher levels of these antioxidants to the body through juicing celery can increase their levels in the bloodstream and help keep the body healthy.

May reduce blood pressure

While much of the research surrounding celery involves isolated compounds from the plant, there is some direct evidence surrounding celery juice itself. Early research shows celery juice may be a helpful complement to reduce the blood pressure.

A study posted to Journal in Physics: Conference Series notes that given the high content of apigenin, celery juice appears to help reduce the blood pressure in people with hypertension.

This is early research in a small group of people, and larger studies can help back up the claim.

Risks of juicing celery

There are some factors to keep in mind before adding celery juice to a regular dietary regimen.

Psoralen

Celery contains a compound called psoralen, which may increase the skin’s sensitivity to UV light in high doses or in people who are sensitive to it.

Sodium content

Celery juice is rather high in sodium for a plant. While it likely will not affect the average person’s sodium intake, people who need to watch or limit their sodium intake may want to choose low sodium vegetables for their next juice.

Summary

Juicing celery is a great way to deliver important antioxidants, minerals, and nutrients to the body. Early evidence suggests compounds in celery may help with inflammatory issues, and celery juice may even play a role in keeping the heart healthy.

Celery juice is not right for everyone. People who have to watch their sodium intake may want to stick to other vegetables, as celery is high in mineral salts.

For most people, juicing celery as part of a healthy diet gives them easy access to powerful antioxidants that keep the body healthy.

References

Alda, S., Maria, B. D., Bianca, V. A., Antoanela, C., Mihaela, M., Borchescu, R., & Maria, A. L. (2019). Raw and processed celery, a possible source of antioxidants. JOURNAL of Horticulture, Forestry, and Biotechnology, 23(1), 8-10. https://www.usab-tm.ro/Journal-HFB/2019/Volum%2023(1)%20-%20PDF/2_Alda_Simion.pdf

Celery juice.(2020). https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/787822/nutrients

Cholifah, N., Azizah, N., Astuti, D., Fanani, Z., Karyati, S., & Kurnia, W. (2020). The Influence of Celery Juice Against Blood Pressure Reduction in Hypertension. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 1477, p. 062009). https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/1477/6/062009/pdf

Jang, T. Y., Jung, A. Y., Kyung, T. S., Kim, D. Y., Hwang, J. H., & Kim, Y. H. (2017). Anti-allergic effect of luteolin in mice with allergic asthma and rhinitis. Central-European Journal of Immunology, 42(1), 24. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5470611/

Luo, Y., Shang, P., & Li, D. (2017). Luteolin: A flavonoid that has multiple cardioprotective effects and its molecular mechanisms. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 8, 692. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2017.00692/full

Salehi, B., Venditti, A., Sharifi-Rad, M., Kręgiel, D., Sharifi-Rad, J., Durazzo, A., … & Antolak, H. (2019). The therapeutic potential of apigenin. International journal of molecular sciences, 20(6), 1305. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6472148/