Celery juice – is it worth the hype?

Celery juice drunk first thing in the morning. If you haven’t heard of it, where have you been? As of this week, #celeryjuice is tagged more than 100,000 times on Instagram and #celeryjuicechallenge is verging on 9,000 tags.

Anthony Williams (@medicalmedium on Instagram) is the self-proclaimed “Originator of Global Celery Juice Movement” and touts celery juice as “the most powerful medicine of our time”. Williams tells his followers that celery juice heals the gut, balances blood sugar, blood pressure, weight and adrenal fatigue, assists with flushing toxins out of the body and restores health in people who suffer from a vast range of chronic illnesses. Sounds pretty amazing, but is celery juice really worth the hype?

Before we go any further, we want to let you know that we are total celery fans! Celery is full vitamins, folate, manganese, potassium and contains antioxidants out the wazoo. It’s good for you! But what we want to know is if it is the cure-all that Williams says it is. (Spoiler alert: it’s not!)

What the experts say about celery juice

Williams himself disclaims that he isn’t a health professional in any capacity on his website. So we’ve asked Head CHEFGOOD Nutritionist Caitlin Kioa what she reckons about celery juice:

“Celery juice is a healthy drink option and a way to boost your water intake, however, it’s not going to be a magic cure undoing other bad habits like drinking excessive alcohol or overeating sugar.

“I drank celery juice every morning for two weeks. Overall my energy levels improved, and I had less bloating, and brighter skin. I felt more vital and alert. However, I also found these same benefits from drinking lemon water in the morning (which tastes better than celery juice and is also cheaper)! Remember juicing decreases the fibre content and can denature nutrients, so you’re actually better off eating celery whole.

“So while drinking celery juice won’t do any harm (and like me, you may notice some benefits), there currently aren’t enough studies to show health benefits such as curing autoimmune disease and other diseases caused by chronic inflammation.”

Caitlin also notes, “If you choose to give it a go, it’s best to use organic celery as it hasn’t been treated with pesticide.”

Over to you, have your tried #celeryjuice yet? Did you notice any benefits?