The Pros & Cons to Celery Juice

For over a year, celery juice has been named the “miracle juice” trending all over the internet. From the news to celebrities like Kylie Jenner, to even doctor endorsements. Many of these sources claim that by drinking 16 oz of pure celery juice a day, you will clear up any issues with your gut, skin, or deeper inflammatory issues. Some have even attested to no longer needing to use certain medications since they started drinking celery juice daily.

So out of curiosity and wanting to set new health goals for myself, I thought, why not try this for 1 week?! Another friend of mine who is also a popular Media Personality for Stylemagazine.com and Instagram – @totallyrandie decided to give it a try as well!

For one week straight, we shared our daily highs and lows on this journey via Instagram, and decided to collaborate together on this post to spill the beans on “The Celery Juice Challenge”. For this challenge, I decided to drink my juice every morning on an empty stomach, and @totallyrandie decided to drink hers in the evening before heading to bed. We thought it would be interesting to compare the results from two different women, who consumed 16 oz of juice at different points throughout the day. What did we learn and are the claims really true? Continue reading as we share our results:

Disclosure: The expressions within this post are our own personal, yet honest opinions. We are not licensed medical professionals.

Let thy food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food‘

– Hippocrates 400 BC

Tips for Celery Juice Cleansing:

As part of this challenge, we consumed celery juice as a one-ingredient drink. Some doctors claim that by adding apples, lemons, cucumber, apple cider vinegar, or any other mixtures to the juice will destroy its beneficial properties such as sodium cluster salts, vitamin C, and digestive enzymes. If you’re thinking of trying this challenge, here are some tips from Anthony William and our own personal learnings:

• Every morning or evening, drink 16 ounces of celery juice on an empty stomach
• If possible, try to purchase organic celery
• Before juicing, wash your celery with vinegar & water, or a safe vegetable cleaner
• Do not add any other fruits, vegetables, or powders to make the juice taste better
• Do not dilute the celery juice by adding water or ice
• Make your celery juice fresh! Do not buy pre-bottled celery juice since it is made through a high-pressure pasteurization process. You will render the raw benefits useless
• If you’re sensitive to bitter taste like me, do not blend/juice the leaves. I did this on day 3 and it made the juice taste more bitter
• Wait at least 30 minutes after drinking celery juice before consuming a meal or another drink. This will give your system time to absorb the nutrients
• If you want to buy enough celery to last for a few days, I would estimate around 1 bunch per day. This may vary depending on the power of your blender or juicer.
• I learned the fatter the celery stalk, the “sweeter” the taste. The skinny stalks taste more salty
• Try to stay hydrated throughout the day with plenty of water

How to Make Celery Juice for a 7 Day Celery Juice Cleanse

For 7 days, @totallyrandie and I crafted our celery juice using two different methods: (1) Using a blender OR (2) Using a Juicer. After some discussion, we found that both were just as effective. Personally, I felt that @totallyrandie ‘s method of using a blender was better since it led for a faster cleanup! Juicers take forever to clean due to their different machine parts.

How to Make Celery Juice with a Blender:

1. Cut off and discard the celery root. Wash and clean each stem.
2. Cut each celery stem into smaller portions (3-4 inches) and add these to a blender.
3. Place the lid on tight and purée on high until you see a smooth mush consistency.
4. Take a fine mesh strainer and place it over a glass. Pour the celery pulp into the strainer and wait for the juice to separate. To assist with the straining process you could also use a spoon and press against the pulp.
5. A second option to strain the celery pulp is to pour the mixture into a cheese cloth of some sort and squeeze the juice into a serving glass.
6. Once strained, you can discard the pulp.

How to Make Celery Juice with a Juicer:

1. Cut off and discard the celery root. Wash and clean each stem.
2. Cut each celery stem into smaller portions (3-4 inches) and feed these through the mouth of the juicer.
3. Run your celery stalks through the juicer until you have 16 oz of juice.
4. Once juiced, you can discard the pulp.

TIP: I recommend using a slow masticating juicer. Slow masticating juicers grind fruits and vegetables at a slower speed and do not destroy the natural enzymes like high-speed juicers. I also found that slower juicers output more juice, which reduces waste. My juicer pictured above can be found here on Amazon. The glass jars I typically store my juices in can also be found here in Amazon.

Our 7 Day Learnings / Results

Below you will find a summary of the tangible effects @totallyrandie and I could actually measure during our 7 day challenge. As previously mentioned, I consumed my juice in the morning, and she consumed hers in the evening. Overall, we did not experience any profound benefits from drinking celery juice, but to be fair, we only conducted our study for 7 days. Both of us did notice some improvements in our digestion, and I personally found that drinking celery juice also helped to curb my appetite.

Some of the other benefits of celery juice – such as infection prevention, lowering of cholesterol, reducing our risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, or even cancer prevention could not be measured, especially within 7 days.

Conclusion and Pros / Cons to Celery Juicing

All in all, we found good and not so good benefits from celery juicing. We also received a lot of advice and encouragement to keep going along the way! A friend of mine, Temna Sturdivant who is a licensed Natural Health Practitioner with over 25 years of experience specializing in Reflexology, Iridology, BioEnergy and Nutrition helped me understand the mineral content of fruits and vegetables for natural remedies during my challenge. In speaking with her, she encouraged me to view celery and other organic foods as medicine for my body. During the challenge Temna also informed me that “celery’s nutritional components act as an anti-inflammatory source … helping with conditions caused by inflammation such as joint pain, gout, or GI tract issues. Drinking a lot of celery juice also acts as a natural diuretic and sometimes laxative.” You can learn more from her by visiting: https://relax-rebuild.com/. So after listening to our bodies, seeking advice from others and sharing our own learnings along the way, here is a summary of some of the pros and cons:

PROS:

• Great nutritional value – It contains vitamins — A, C, E, and K, folate and choline — minerals — calcium, iron (in trace amounts), magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, and sodium.
• Improved digestion (a great way to naturally detox your gut).
• Helps to alkaline your body.
• If you’re looking to make a health change, celery juicing is a great way to reset your body to jumpstart your weight-loss goals.

CONS:

• As some of you may know, we were not crazy about the taste. Not being able to mix it with other fruits and veggies was a challenge.
• If you replace your morning coffee with celery juice, you may experience a decrease in energy or maybe even a caffeine withdrawal since your body will begin to flush itself of toxins.
• Prep and clean-up. Whether you use a blender or juicer, the process from beginning to end can be around 15 minutes or more. Therefore, we recommend preparing ahead of time by pre-washing your celery for the next few days and storing these in an airtight container for faster preparation.
• As previously mentioned, try to buy organic celery if possible to avoid chemicals and pesticides. However, organic vegetables are more expensive. Each glass may cost around $4 or more to make depending on how large your celery stalks are.

CONCLUSION:

Celery juice seems to be a great habit to jumpstart any of your health and wellness goals. Both @totallyrandie and I experienced digestive improvements to some extent. Whenever we consumed a meal that was “acidic” such as dairy, grains, or any processed food, the celery juice acted as a defense to rid our systems of these foods immediately. I would note however, that my body was personally most effective at doing this when I stayed fully hydrated. I tried to make sure I consumed water throughout the day. What @totallyrandie and I could not prove were all of the additional benefits such as an increase in energy, glowing skin, and improved mind clarity. To see if these findings are true, we would need to extend our challenge, or ask someone who has. In my next article, I will share some of the testimonials of those who also just started the celery juice challenge this week, and I will also share the story of someone who’s juiced celery for months and disclose what their results were. I hope you enjoyed our journey and learnings! Feel free to send us any questions or feedback in the comments below!

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My Favorite Tools From This Recipe: