24 Apr celery juice – hype or healing?
There is no doubt you have seen posts or heard a friend talking about celery juice. If you haven’t heard about it yet, you will. Or maybe you will start to notice that the celery is low or sold out from the grocery store. Two years ago, you would have thought someone buying 6+ bundles of celery from the store was out of their mind. Now, it’s common to see someone heading out of the store with an entire bag filled with celery.
Celery juicing is in, there’s no doubt. But why? What are the benefits? And {most importantly} can it help you? In this blog, I will cover what you need to know about celery juice. Plus, I will share my own personal experience with a three-month trial of drinking it daily and my results.
First, a little background.
The Medical Medium, Anthony William, is the well-known originator of the celery juice movement. He is the author of 4 best-selling books, and celery juice is a key component to his food-as-medicine approach to healing the body. In fact, his fifth book which is coming out soon, is about all things celery juice.
The Medical Medium does have an unconventional approach, and because of that, some individuals are hesitant to embrace his theories. A lot of his work is focused on mystery conditions, including autoimmune conditions and syndromes such as chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, plus detoxification. His goal is to provide people, who are not well-understood by conventional medicine, with answers for healing.
In my training in functional nutrition, we learn to understand the body as an interconnected, web-like system. Every hormone, nutrient {or lack of nutrients}, stressor, and toxin influences several systems within the body. For example, if there is a hormonal imbalance we learn how to evaluate the many potential causes that may be creating the imbalance. Then, we understand how to use food and lifestyle practices to restore healthy hormone function back to the body. And therefore, restore balance.
Anthony’s books and theories are very much a complement a to functional medicine & nutrition. He believes in a food as medicine approach to healing the body. Some of the information he provides in his books is absolutely revolutionary, while other concepts are well understood by nutritional science and are currently used in holistic & functional practices. The power of celery juice, is one example, of a revolutionary healing theory that is not yet well-understood by scientific research. Since we don’t have the science to back it up, we only have The Medical Medium’s theories plus individual client’s experiences & testimonials. Nutrition is a field where every body responds a bit differently, therefore individual experience shouldn’t be taken lightly. And there was enough anecdotal evidence to suggest it was worth looking into further.
Celery juice: How it works.
The claimed benefits about celery juice are numerous. In Thyroid Healing, William’s states, “Celery juice on its own is an undiscovered superfood with a complex nutritional makeup. Only on its own can celery juice work its wonders. Alkalizing, enzyme-rich, electrolyte-enhancing, DNA-repairing, blood sugar-balancing, antiseptic, and more. This tonic is a simple step toward health that’s not to be overlooked.”
In addition, in William’s first book Medical Medium, he discusses the power of celery juice to completely transform gut function. He suggests it works because, “celery contains unique sodium compositions, and these mineral salts are bonded with many bioactive trace minerals and nutrients. If you drink celery juice first thing in the morning, it will strengthen your digestion of the foods you eat for the rest of the day.” He also states, “The mineral salts, minerals, and nutrients have the unique ability to completely restore your stomach’s hydrochloric acid.”
So, wow. If celery juice has the potential to improve several causes of the symptoms women commonly experience, I was interested. And I was ready to give it a try and see for myself.
My personal experience.
For better or worse, I am my own test client. It’s important to me to try everything myself first. I wouldn’t feel right recommending a lifestyle practice or diet that I wouldn’t be willing to do. Also, I feel it’s important to understand the experience first hand. As a result, I feel better informed and prepared to make recommendations on how to make things easier.
When I first started celery juicing (luckily, I already owned a juicer) I was not a fan of the taste. It was challenging to get it down. Also, cleaning the juicer daily was a bit of a pain. So, I drank it maybe 2 to 3 mornings per week. On an empty stomach. For about a month. Honestly, I didn’t notice much difference.
Then, I decided to take it to the next level.
I learned a few tricks to make it easier. First, definitely chop off the celery leaves first before juicing. Including the leaves results in a bitter tasting juice. No leaves means a less severe taste, which really helped. Second, I learned to juice for two mornings at a time. Two bunches of celery will yield 2 days worth of juice (16 oz each day). Cleaning the juicer only every other day made it much easier. Next, cold celery juice tastes better. Fresh out of the juicer has the most benefits. However, the day 2 celery juice is always easier to get down. Finally, if you rinse all the celery once you get it back from the store, it cuts out another step. That way, you are just sticking celery in the juicer in the morning and done. In about 2 minutes (plus juicer cleaning time).
The results.
Armed with a better routine, I began drinking it every morning for 3 months. This is when I started to notice the changes. For me, my number one challenge has been disrupted sleep for almost a decade. I would wake up in the middle of the night, sometimes with night sweats, and would have a terrible time falling back asleep. It could take anywhere from one and 1/2 to two and 1/2 hours to fall back asleep. Plus, I was always a wreck the next day. I tried many different remedies that helped, but it would still happen about once a week. Enter celery juice. Once I started a regular routine, my sleep issues went away. I came to realize my middle of the night waking had to do with my liver, and the celery juice helped a lot.
The temporary down side.
The first two weeks after beginning my regular morning routine of celery juice, my digestion was majorly effected – and not in a good way. I have always been regular. But this was too regular, if you know what I mean. According to William, some people may experience a change in bowel movements as a result of adding regular celery juice in the mornings. Apparently this is a normal detoxification reaction for individuals who have a very toxic liver. Well, apparently that included me and my liver. This was shocking to me since I have been eating healthfully for almost 10 years and barely drink alcohol. But, it seems my first 28 years made a lasting impact. Fortunately, my digestion returned to normal after about 2-3 weeks.
My thoughts.
I still choose to incorporate celery juice into my daily routine. In fact, I am drinking some right now! I have also introduced this healing food with a few of my clients. To date, everyone’s experience has been positive. I believe it’s due to the fact that nearly everyone has an issue with either blood sugar balance, low stomach acid (bloating), a liver that’s been overworked, or an autoimmune condition. All of which are ways that celery juice claims to support.
Please remember,
This is just one potential piece to the puzzle. Even in the The Medical Medium books, drinking celery juice isn’t the cure-all. It’s a possible solution, for the right person, who needs that form of healing. It must also be combined with other healing practices such as a whole-foods plant-based diet, staying hydrated, listening to your body, and using healing herbs & foods to support your system. We are not going to just “celery juice” our way to perfect health. But for some, it may be a start.
