Is Celery Juice Really a Fresh-Squeezed Miracle?

Is Celery Juice Really a Fresh-Squeezed Miracle? I’m chatting about my experience with fresh squeezed celery juice, the benefits, how it tastes, and how I make it at home without a juicer!

Over a week and a half ago I decided to start something new, something I was terrified to do: drink fresh-squeezed celery juice! I had been reading about it for a while through Medical Medium, and thought why not? I have nothing to lose (celery is SO CHEAP), and I’m just going to be drinking plant juice – it’s not like it could be bad for me. I asked you guys via Instagram stories who had tried it and had a surprising number of you who said you drink it like clockwork every morning. After hearing your stories and reading about the benefits I figured it couldn’t hurt to just jump right in and try it.

 

Before I go into my experience, though, the benefits of drinking celery juice every morning are pretty amazing. I didn’t realize it’s actually an herb, not a vegetable, and has a TON of amazing things that it can do for your body! It can lower blood pressure, protect against the effects of chemotherapy, prevent chronic diseases, minimize oxidative stress, it’s anti-inflammatory, stabilizes the adrenal glands, aids in digestion, is great for gut health…the list goes on and on and one. You can read all about the ‘why’ right here, and I would highly suggest you do!

 

MY EXPERIENCE WITH CELERY JUICE

Nate laughed at me and shook his head when I told him what I was doing because I’ve never been one to shy away from trying “weird” things in the name of health. See, the thing is I don’t like the taste of celery unless it’s in a soup or stew or my mom’s Thanksgiving stuffing, so he had good reason to think I was a little crazy to be consuming the juice of an entire head of celery every morning. However, one thing that I’m becoming increasingly aware of is that I don’t have to make every meal the stuff of legend in the taste department. Sometimes (a lot of times) it’s good to just get over the taste and eat things that are good for me because they are good for me. Every morning I remind myself of the benefits because while the taste is growing on me, it’s still not my favorite.

 

That being said, after a week of drinking celery juice it has definitely gotten easier to just throw it back because I actually feel REALLY amazing! For most of this fall I’ve been stressed and tired, drinking way too much caffeine, but still wanting/needing to take a nap every afternoon. I sat back and told myself that as a grown woman I should be able to power through, and then would beat myself up when I couldn’t. I was taking (am still taking) a great probiotic, eating fermented foods, consuming cups and cups of salad a day – and none of it made me feel better. I felt bloated a LOT, and while I’ve made enormous strides in my journey with body image, it was getting hard to want to keep exercising and eating well when I wasn’t seeing or feeling the results of it.

 

I figured I had nothing to lose.

 

The first day I decided to drink celery juice I basically choked the stuff down while Nate watched with a grimace on his face. It tasted exactly like I thought – very celery-esque and slightly salty (unexpectedly so). I figured this was a good time for me to buckle down and just do the dang thing, but the next morning I was gagging a little while I chopped the celery. Down the hatch! Third day was significantly easier, as was the fourth through now. I even actually look forward to the smell a little!

 

MY CELERY JUICE RESULTS

First I want to say that outside of the tired feeling I had every day, I didn’t necessarily feel like anything was “wrong” with me. Looking back now, though, I can see how great I feel compared to what I was feeling before and there’s a sizable difference. Turns out choking down the juice has helped me in a lot of ways!

• The first day I had celery juice I was already coming down with a cold, which usually lasts about 4 weeks for me to fully get over it. Y’all, my cold lasted for a week – that’s it! Plus it was the week over Thanksgiving, one of the busiest weeks for Beautycounter in the whole year, we had family in town, and my kids were home from school. There wasn’t a lot of rest to be had, so I’m thinking it was the effects of the celery juice.
• I lost a LOT of the bloating, and it was even the week before my period which is when I’m the most bloated (sorry if that’s TMI for the dudes). Girls, you know that’s saying a lot!
• I have so much more energy. The afternoon slump doesn’t exist anymore, which is amazing. I don’t feel like I have to power through – I just have the energy to keep going. And I know this sounds really strange, but it feels like my kiddos have their mom back – the mom who wants to play and climb and be goofy.
• I feel sharper. We all know how mom brain can be, and I’ve definitely been feeling the effects of it this year. I’ve looked into adrenal fatigue and just never felt like a lot of the symptoms described me, but couldn’t quite put a finger on why I felt so fuzzy all the time. After drinking celery juice for just over a week I feel sharper and more “awake” than I have in a long time!
• I feel less stressed. Like I said, the week I started drinking this stuff was one of the most stressful weeks of the year. Leading up to it with two sick kids, a TON of work in my pipeline, and feeling myself getting sick was hard. Now I feel so much more calm – even with a ton of blogging projects, school activities, and Christmas plans.

 

EXACTLY HOW I MAKE CELERY JUICE (even without a juicer)

A few quick notes on how to consume celery juice:

• it needs to be on an empty stomach (I do mine first thing in the morning);
• it’s best to do freshly squeezed juice;
• organic celery is better, but if you can’t find it (I’ve had both), just make sure you wash it really well;
• you can juice some cucumber or apple with it if the taste is totally offensive, but the best way is just straight celery;
• 16 ounces is what Medical Medium recommends, but for those who have super sensitive stomachs it’s good to start slow with a small glass.

About 5 years ago I had a juicer, and honestly it was kind of a pain for long-term use. Hard to clean, a billion different parts, and I didn’t have the desire to do the whole shebang every morning. I got rid of it. Now we have a blender, and it’s been super easy to do my celery juice in that! Here’s what I do:

1. Chop a head of celery into 1-inch pieces (yes, even the leafy parts!). I keep it SUPER cold because that helps with the flavor!
2. Wash the celery to get rid of dirt.
3. Put it all in my blender and press the “juice” button. My blender has this function, but just a regularly blend function would work too!
4. Occasionally I’ll have to use the end of a mixing spoon to press the celery down until the juice really gets going. Just be careful if you do this!
5. Blend it until just smooth.
6. Strain. I have a really fine mesh strainer that I use, but I’ve seen people do with cheesecloth over a colander as well. Another option (if you have it) is a nut milk bag. The key is to strain it, but then make sure you press ALL the juice out of the pulp as well. You want the pulp to be almost dry by the time you’re done!
7. Drink up!

Trust me, it won’t be easy the first time, especially if you don’t love the flavor of celery. But the benefits after a week of powering through that will be SO worth it. I can’t wait to see how I’m feeling after a month!