Fresh, crispy celery sticks consist of almost 95% water, yet when it comes to its effects on the body, it can be life-changing. Perhaps it’s time to introduce this vegetable into your diet.
We at Bright Side always promote maintaining a healthy lifestyle and we’d love to give you a deeper look into the health properties of foods like celery. Let’s take a look!
As we’ve mentioned, celery consists mainly of water, yet it is rich in vitamin K and several other great minerals. However, for weight control, the main thing to remember about celery is its “negative calorie count”. This means it takes your body more calories to digest celery than the celery actually has in it. For weight loss, you can eat celery straight or in the form of juice, which only has 16 calories per 1.5 cups of celery juice.
Acid reflux or heartburn is a condition people with poor dietary choices or bad digestion systems have. But our little green friend can help you with this! Celery juice calms down heartburn right away, regulating the acidity in your stomach. But we have to say, it is a rather temporary solution — if heartburn persists, you need to change your diet or see a doctor.
In a study done in 2010 published by Journal of Pharmaceutical Biology, it was determined that celery contains a certain type of ethanol extract that protects the lining of the digestive tract from ulcers. Other things celery contains are flavonoids, tannins, volatile oils, and alkaloids, which spike up the production of protective mucus inside your intestines.
Inflammation in a body is an immune system response to an infection or irritation and it’s not necessarily bad since that’s how your body protects you from an infection spreading. Yet, sometimes you need to regulate swelling and other effects of it and celery can help you with it as it has both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory abilities. It could be very visible on your skin, gums, and eyes. Also, it may help your teeth look brighter thanks to the increase in calcium.
It kind of goes without saying, that products high in water content are going to sustain your body with water, thus preventing dehydration. Food products that are rich in water content are cucumber (98%) and of course, celery (95%).
Along with high water content, celery is rich in fiber. The natural fiber and phytochemicals stimulate the walls of the stomach and small intestines, preventing constipation by helping the peristalsis process. This makes the food coming into the big intestine mixed and churn better. It helps enzymes to break down nutrients and absorb them into the bloodstream.
And last but not least, celery has anti-cholesterol properties which help prevent high blood pressure by basically “cleaning out” your cholesterol levels. Celery has smooth muscle relaxant properties, improving the flow of calcium and potassium inside and outside the cells.
As you can see, celery has a lot of amazing properties for your health that can occur in a short time span or even immediately. Would you try eating more celery? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
Please note: This article was updated in March 2022 to correct source material and factual inaccuracies.
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