Celery Juice: Miracle Elixir Or Over-Hyped Green Snake Oil?
Imagine a medicine so powerful it could restore health in people suffering from virtually every affliction, including autoimmune disorders, Lyme disease, ALS, and even cancer. And not only could this medicine help eradicate these serious diseases, it could do so without causing any harmful side effects.
The cherry on top: this remedy can also help you look your best, by ridding your skin of acne and shedding extra belly fat.
Now what if you were told that this panacea comes from the same plant that’s perhaps best known as a garnish in Bloody Marys and for the ingredient that gives the popular kids’ snack, ants on a log, its crunchiness: celery?
Really? Celery?
Believe it or not, juicing celery stalks is one of the biggest health trends of the last few years. Celery juice, thanks to a small army of celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow, has become as big a health trend as turmeric, CBD, adaptogenic herbs, bone broth and vegan burgers.
Why Is Celery Juice Popular?
Celery juice has been touted as a cure-all by tens of thousands of people around the world. Not even ubiquitous kale, with its diverse iterations from baked kale chips to kale wraps, enjoyed the cult-like status that’s been bestowed on celery juice. With kale, we never witnessed a 300% price markup, as was the case with celery stalks last year in Australia, where stalks were selling for as high as $7 a bunch. If kale was a trend, celery juice has become for many people an obsession.
Juicing celery owes its popularity not to a legion of bloggers and amateur chefs but rather to just one individual, Anthony William. William is better known as a medical intuitive who goes by the alias, “The Medical Medium.”
Would you pay somebody $500 for a 30-minute phone consultation to someone who has never received any formal medical training? And would you trust this person to diagnosing your condition without seeing you in person, knowing this person is neither a medical doctor, nor naturopathic doctor, nor chiropractor, nor any other kind of medical professional?
While it sounds incredulous that anybody in their right mind would seek health advice at such a steep price from somebody with no formal medical training, this is precisely what thousands of people around the world have been doing, including those who have symptoms that lie outside the scope of official medical diagnoses, or those who are unsatisfied with the diagnosis they have received.
Are the people who put their faith and trust in The Medical Medium fools? Or, is the Medical Medium really the Nostradamus of healing intuitives? And is his prescription for health—juicing fresh celery stalks—really the cure for whatever ails you?
The Benefits of Celery Juice
Suppose your diet is mostly comprised of highly-processed food. Instead of drinking pure, structured water, the beverages you consume include copious amounts of high-sugar fruit juice and soda. Now suppose you heard about the celery juice fad and you read the Medical Medium’s book, Celery Juice: The Most Powerful Medicine Of Our Time Healing Millions Worldwide. And reading the book convinced you to ditch the soda and fruit juice and instead drink nothing but water and celery juice…
...Well, of course, you’re going to reap some major health benefits from drinking celery juice. Juicing low-sugar veggies of any type is much healthier than drinking soda.
But here’s why the Medical Medium believes celery juice is a bonafide elixir. For starters, the bitter green juice contains sodium cluster salts, which, according to William, have immense detoxifying capabilities.
Other trace minerals in celery juice, says William, have yet to be discovered by mainstream medicine; these trace minerals help restore digestive enzymes and stomach acid levels.
Celery Juice For Undiagnosed Conditions
If you have mysterious symptoms that doctors have been unable to diagnose, William believes the culprit is EPV, or Epstein Barr Virus. On his website, William refers to EPV as “the mystery illness of mystery illnesses.”
Most Americans have EPV, according to William. In fact, out of 320 million Americans, over 225 million have some form of EPV. While this number may seem absurdly high, even the Centers for Disease Control refers to EPV as “One of the most common human viruses.” The CDC website states that EBV is found all over the world and most people get infected with EBV at some point in their lives.
But come on … 225 million? Wiliam claims that while mainstream medicine only recognizes one form of EBV (also known as HHV 4 or human herpesvirus 4), there are actually more than 60 forms of EBV.
William blames a laundry list of conditions on advanced-stage EBV, everything from lupus to thyroid disorders to chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, tinnitus, and an exhaustive list of symptoms, including moodiness, confusion and brain fog.
Celery juice, according to William, works to ease or even reverse EBV by nourishing the central nervous system with mineral salts.
How To Drink Celery Juice
According to William, the best way to consume celery juice is 16 ounces first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. For best results, choose organic stalks; if using conventional celery, wash it well before juicing.
But to play devil’s advocate, aren’t there other veggies, especially green leafy ones which offer numerous health benefits? Why not juice, say, spinach instead of celery?
Well, if you’re going by blind faith, it’s because William, when he was just 14 years old, received a divine message that celery juice is a healing gift from God. Like Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon religion, who also experienced revelation at age 14, William has converted scores of believers. But unlike Smith, thus far, William hasn’t been seriously persecuted for his beliefs, and has benefitted from the viral power of the Internet to spread his gospel around the world.
There are clearly worse things to drink than juiced celery stalks. Celery juice will definitely hydrate you, owing to the fact that it’s 95% water. Plus, it’s high in vitamins K and C, as well as minerals like calcium and potassium. Celery, on the whole, contains a lot of fiber. However, juicing machines often remove fiber from the end-product liquid.
Is Celery Juice Healthy? Conclusion
Low-sugar juices can contribute to optimal wellness. However, keep in mind that celery is actually not a vegetable. Rather, technically, celery is an herb. And like most other herbal medicines, there’s a lack of scientific evidence as to whether or not drinking 16 oz of celery juice every day confers any benefits.
Furthermore, as with any other herb, there may be a danger of consuming too much of celery. Perhaps for some people, drinking it every day for several years can jeopardize health.
In fact, Asa Hershoff, a naturopathic doctor (ND), who founded the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, felt compelled, due to the popularity of the celery juice craze, to write a book cautioning against putting all your healthy eggs in one basket. The title of Hershoff’s book: “The Dangers of Celery: The Toxicity & Risks of Excess Celery Juice Consumption.”
Rather than relying on celery juice as a cure-all health elixir, eat a wide variety of low-sugar fruits and vegetables. Eat low-carb pasta, rice and bread instead of starchy foods that quickly convert into sugar.
As long as you’re not overdosing on celery, you’ll probably be fine drinking a tall glass of it every day. You may even experience some health benefits because of it. However, due to its bitter taste and the expense and hassle of buying fresh stalks all the time and cleaning your juicer, there’s a chance the celery juice fad will fade away. But not to worry, there’s always kale smoothies to fall back on.
Do you drink celery juice? What’s your opinion of it? Share your thoughts below….
