Why is Celery so hot right now?

Okay, maybe hot isn't the best way to describe it, it's usually pretty cold BUT Celery, and especially Celery juice, are becoming more and more popular in online health and nutrition communities. This plant has been very underrated, and I'm so happy to see it now getting the praise it deserves. You may have heard of the Medical Medium, you may have also heard of his Celery juice cleanse, you may have heard of neither, that's cool, I'm here to share with you why you need to know more about this magical herbaceous plant.

*Note* If you can, please try and eat Organic Celery, conventional celery can contain up to 19 different pesticides - "crazy, I know!"

For some background on this natural wonder, Celery belongs to the Apiaceae family, which includes other vegetables such as carrots, parsley, parsnips, and celeriac. Just cut up the celery stalks and store in a lunch box with some hummus or nut butter for an easy to travel with and tasty low-calorie snack. It's not only refreshing and satisfying to eat, but it also contains a wide range of health benefits.

This is due to the fact that Celery contains an active ingredient called 3-n-butyl phthalide. That compound may sound a little complex, but it holds a lot of power. This active ingredient can:

- Lower cholesterol

- Lower blood pressure

- Decrease muscle spasms

- Decrease fluid retention

- Reduce intestinal gas and constipation

- Increase testosterone

- Help you to relax and improve your sleep

- Help dissolve gallstones and kidney stones

- Improves arthritis, ulcers, and gastritis

- Promote weight loss

Celery is high in Vitamin K, Folate, Potassium, Manganese, Calcium, Riboflavin, Magnesium, and so much more. All of these nutritious vitamins and minerals make celery a powerful plant to use for detoxification. Celery is widely known for its liver cleansing properties. Studies show that celery alone is a very effective food to consume to reduce dangerous fat build up within the liver.

One more major benefit that Celery contains is fibre. The fibre, alongside the high water content within Celery, help promote a healthy digestive and cardiovascular system. Naturally occurring antioxidants within Celery also help to prevent a range of diseases.

Celery also contains a compound called Apigenin. This compound is popular within Chinese Medicine due to it's anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antiviral properties. One study has shown that Celery helps facilitate a process within the body called apoptosis, which essentially destroys certain cells and could make it very useful for cancer treatments. Apigenin is also known to reduce certain inflammatory proteins in the body, which in turn help promote a healthy immune system.

Another fascinating benefit is Neurogenesis, which is the growth and development of nerve cells in the body. A 2009 study involving rats, showed that apigenin consumption not only promoted the development of nerve cells, it also improved memory and the ability to learn new information.

As previously mentioned, antioxidant content within Celery adds to its long array of benefits. These come from compounds such as selinene, limonene, kaepferol, and p-coumaric acid (just in case you wanted to learn some fancy words to whip out next time you see someone eating celery). The antioxidants from these plant compounds help prevent cellular damage which are caused by those annoying free radicals. Free radicals are unavoidable, however, we can do ourselves a favour by consuming as many antioxidant-rich foods as we can to help neutralise the free-radicals before they cause too much trouble which may lead to the development of disease.

The health benefits really do go on and on (seriously, I might actually write a second blog about this beauty), but for now I strongly suggest checking out the Celery Juice cleanse results as they are truly impressive. Now get crunching!