Eating a stick of celery is a great way to tide yourself over until dinner when you get hunger pangs. 100 grams of celery only contains about 16 calories, which means you’re likely to burn as many or more calories again simply by eating and digesting it. It’s a great source of roughage and though it’s an acquired taste, it’s delicious when dipped in some garlic dip or taramasalata.
But did you know that celery juice is also packed with all kinds of important nutrients? Or that it has some impressive health benefits that go beyond vitamins and minerals? Far from being an empty-negative-calorie, celery actually offers all kinds of useful additions to our diet.
Here are a few more reasons to add celery to your shopping list…
Benefits of Celery Juice
Among other things, celery juice can help you to:
- Fight cancer
- Reduce cholesterol
- Aid digestion
- Fight inflammation
- Lower blood pressure
- Calm the nervous system
Many of these benefits come from celery’s anti-inflammatory effects. Because celery contains non-starch polysaccharides like apiuman, it’s able to reduce inflammation thereby providing numerous health benefits.
As a great source of fiber, celery can comb through your system clearing out blockages and promoting healthy bowel movements. Celery is also packed with antioxidants, including vitamin C and flavonoids. There are also a ton of lesser-known antioxidants here, including dihydrostilbenoids such as lunularin and furanocoumarins like psoralen.
In terms of nutrients, celery is also high in vitamin K (33% DV), folate and potassium. There are also small amounts of a number of other vitamins and minerals including magnesium, vitamin A, vitamin B6 and vitamin C.
So next time you’re making a smoothie, add some celery sticks to bulk it out and reduce inflammation!