So what is the big deal about celery juice?
I asked my vegan friend Raquel Souza, who began juicing celery two months ago and says the benefits are many.
“Celery juice is extremely detoxifying. It flushes out old toxins and waste that have built up over time. It can help kill viruses, bad bacteria, fungi and parasites in your body — helping to maintain a healthy gut, improve digestion and reduce bloating.”
Reduce bloating and kills viruses? That caught my attention, #COVID-19, and I have suffered with stomach issues for years. I have done food allergy testing, bombed my system with probiotic and reduced my acid intake. Still bloated.
So I asked Raquel, an extremely busy entrepreneur who owns and operates five Sweet Peach Wax & Sugaring Studios in Atlanta, how do you have time to make the juice every day?
Raquel says it’s easy. She takes 2.5 pounds of organic celery (bagged from Costco), rinses it and juices it with a Breville Juice Fountain Plus (about $125) to make four 16 oz. bottles. She drinks one bottle on an empty stomach every morning, and stores the other three in the fridge.
“Right away I noticed a change in bowel movements. I became much more regular, like after every meal,” says Souza, “I lost weight, my skin is glowing, I have more energy and my brain is clear.”
She’s not crazy about the taste, so she downs eight ounces fast, and then consumes the rest while getting ready for work.
When Raquel travels, she turns to super food cafe Kale Me Crazy that makes freshly juiced celery every morning.
She offers these tips to get you started:
- Replace higher-calorie beverages, such as sugary coffee drinks or soft drinks, with celery juice. It’s a great way to lose weight.
- Drink celery juice before meals, as it promotes fullness to help you eat fewer overall calories.
- If you really don’t like taste of plain celery juice, you can add a juiced cucumber or apple to the celery.
- If you’re unable to consume your celery juice first thing in the morning before food, then the next-best option is to drink it 15 to 30 minutes before or after eating something anytime during the day.
I decided to try it for 10 days, by making my own and trying out the juices on the market. I also decided to give up coffee, my only source of caffeine, at the same time. The first two days were rough. I missed coffee and substituting it with a cold, somewhat naturally salty beverage in its place wasn’t’ very appealing. It took a while for me to feel awake, but by day four, I noticed that I did feel alert, and even energetic.
While I can’t say I love the taste, I’ve grown used to it and it’s much easier to get down. I prefer my homemade freshly-juiced celery to those I bought at the store, but the Kale Me Crazy celery juice is the closest to homemade. It doesn’t sit in a cooler for a week, but made fresh daily.
The biggest takeaways from my 10 days on celery juice:
- No more bloat. I can’t believe it, but the painful bloating is gone. Which raises a few more questions, like: Is it the celery juice or the absence of coffee (with creamer)? Do I have to drink celery juice every morning for the rest of my life? Once a week? Never again?
- Like Raquel, the juice helps make you regular, which could be tied to the no more bloat benefit.
- I still miss coffee, but I don’t need it to wake up.
- This could be a coincidence, but this time of year is my nemesis, as I have bad spring allergies. I’ve been panicked that I’ll need a steroid shot and won’t be able to get one, #SocialDistancing, but so far, so good. Crossing my fingers.
I believe I’ll keep juicing and drinking celery.