Celery Juice – Discover the benefits celebrities are touting…

Celery Juice Benefits and Cautions

The celery juice phenomenon is sweeping the world and is attributed to Anthony Williams, who calls herself the founder of the Global Celery Juice Movement. Everywhere I go people are talking to me about their celery juice benefits—like detox, healing pain and more energy. Many celebrities and influencers are now touting the many benefits of celery juice. They note benefits that include lowered blood pressure, improved gut health and decreased inflammation. Is it life changing? Many people believe it is. It is said that drinking straight celery juice first thing in the morning each day can transform your health and digestion in as little as one week.

There is science supporting this grassroots movement.

Cancer Fighter

Celery juice is a super cancer fighter. This humble vegetable contains apigenin and luteolin—compounds are bioactive flavonoids that fight cancer cells. Flavonoids are occur naturally in plant pigments that work as antioxidants and have the capacity to combat free radicals in the body.

The apigenin compound in celery fights cancer cells by inducing apoptosis (programmed cell death), which causes the cancer cells to self-destruct. In addition to apigenin’s antioxidant and anti-tumor properties, it is traditionally used in Chinese medicine for its capacity to treat gout and some arthritic conditions. It is also a powerful anti-inflammatory compound.

Luteolin has the capacity to disrupt the replication cycle of cancer cells. A study published in the BioMed Central Gastroenterology journal discovered that luteolin is able to block the signal pathways (IGF and PI3K) which are necessary for the growth of cancer cells, specifically colorectal cancers.

Luteolin may also be effective in reducing women’s’ risk of developing metastasis from triple-negative breast cancer. Salman Hyder, professor in tumor angiogenesis and biomedical sciences at the College of Veterinary Medicine and Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, tested cells in petri dishes and explained:

“Triple-negative breast cancers are cancer cells that lack three receptors targeted by current chemotherapy regimens. Because of this lack of receptors, common cancer drugs can’t ‘find’ the cells, and doctors must treat the cancer with extremely aggressive and highly toxic treatment strategies.

Women with this type of breast cancer also frequently develop metastatic lesions that originate from drug-resistant cells … (They’re) highly mobile in the body, which helps them metastasize to other organs throughout the body. We found that luteolin inhibits that migration and also can kill cancer cells.” (University of Missouri News Bureau January 20, 2017)

One Word of Caution

Only buy organic celery. I was shopping for celery this last week. A woman near me looking at the celery didn’t like how the organic celery looked and went to the conventional bunches. Conventional celery should not be an option. Celery is number 11 on the 2019 Dirty Dozen List. That means it has a large number of pesticide residues—like 64 pesticide residues according to USDA Pesticide Data Program.1 Ten of those pesticides are known or probable carcinogens (2), twenty-seven are suspected hormone disruptors, twelve are neurotoxins, twelve are developmental or reproductive toxins, and sixteen are honeybee toxins.

Notes

1 (Punzi, JS, Lamont, M, Haynes, D, Epstein, RL, USDA Pesticide Data Program: Pesticide Residues on Fresh and Processed Fruit and Vegetables, Grains, Meats, Milk, and Drinking Water, Outlooks on Pesticide Management, June, 2005)

2 All toxicological data was from U.S. EPA reregistration eligibility decisions; http://whatsonmyfood.org/food.jsp?food=CE