Celery: Nutritional Value & Benefits

Celery: Nutritional value

Celery Benefits

• Anti-Cancer
• Anti-Inflammatory
• Antioxidant
• Detoxifying
• Good for the Heart
• Good for the Skin
• Immunity-Boosting

The amazing Celery: A superfood.

Possessing concentrates of a number of therapeutic compounds, ingesting just three celery sticks makes up one of the “Five a Day” daily recommended amount of fruit and vegetables. Not only that, but with its high concentration of water, potassium and natural sodium, Celery can help replacing the loss of minerals after exercise, or during a fever. It works by hydrating the body and also restoring electrolyte balance.

Since pure Celery juice might have a very strong flavour, we recommend using it in juice recipes that have a variety of flavours. Some of our favorite ones to use Celery are the V28 Juice Recipe and the Seven Wonders Juice Recipe. Click on the links to know more about our experience making these recipes.

Fighting Stress with Food

Bearing rich mineral content, Celery aids in the normalisation of the body’s acid-alkaline balance. An unbalance in this equation can lead to a more acidic state. This could be caused by stress, or by eating harmful foods, and it can lead to a number of health problems. Celery works counteracting this acidity, thus improving many conditions such as rheumatism, joint pain and fatigue.

Celery is great as a snack, on its own or with “add-ons”. A good idea is to cut it into bite size, then mix some cottage cheese, chopped pecan nuts, chives (or other herb), and fill the ribs in the celery with this mix. You can add some ground pepper, sea salt and olive oil to taste. The leaves can also be used to give flavour to soups and salads.

Helping the Blood Pressure

Celery is a natural diuretic. Not only that, it has also been linked to lowering high blood pressure. Compounds present in it called Pthalides help relax the muscles around the arteries. This allows blood vessels to dilate, providing more space for the blood flow and hence lowering the blood pressure altogether.

Other compounds included in Celery that also posses healing capabilities are Coumarins, which enhance the immune system, and Acetylenics, which posses cancer-fighting properties.

We learned about Celery mostly on the book The Top 100 Healing Foods: 100 Foods to Relieve Common Ailments and Enhance Health and Vitality (The Top 100 Recipes Series), by Paula Bartimeus. We got ours as a gift from a friend, but it’s also available on Amazon!