Tag: celery

Celery Juice Cleanse Experiment – What Happened

Chef V

celery on side saying I drank celery juice for 3 weeks and here's what happened

I’m all about trying new things that can potentially contribute to health, even if celery stalks are my competition.

So for 3 weeks, I gave celery juice a try. In order to better notice any possible effects from drinking 16 oz. of celery juice, I didn’t have any Green Drink during the entire 21 days.

(Not familiar with my famous Green Drink? It’s a certified organic cold-blend of the following 7 leafy green veggies: Black Kale, Green Kale, Collard Greens, Green Leaf Lettuce, Curly Parsley, Green Chard, Dandelion Greens, sweetened with a little apple and apple juice.)

woman wearing Chef V t-shirt holding stomach

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The Results

The results? Before I reveal how juicing celery stalks made me feel, let me say that if I had noticed great results, I would be recommending it whole-heartedly. I’d even consider adding it in my Green Drink recipe.

However, after 3 weeks the celery juice experiment, I only felt a couple key differences, neither of them good. First of all, immediately after drinking it, I had to pee. Truth be told, that’s also the case with my Green Drink. So that’s not a bad side effect; it means that there’s a detoxifying process.

Here’s what I didn’t like about my experimentation with juicing a small forest’s-worth of celery stalks…

One of the celery juice side effects I experienced was severe bloating the entire time. I also had a lot of gas. If I continued for another week, my husband, Brandon, would have made me sleep on the couch.

Within two days after stopping this celery juicing madness, I’ve already lost all the bloat and gas. Brandon couldn’t be happier.

The happiest part of my experiment being over was the dreadful cleaning of my juicer each morning. I really wanted the celery juice to do something magical, but for me it just didn’t have a noticeable positive effect. So back to my daily Green Drink—No shopping, washing, juicing, and worst of all cleaning up the damn juicer!

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many bunches of celery stalks

Green Drink vs Celery Juice

If your diet consists of lots of processed foods and sugar, I have no doubt that drinking celery juice will make you profoundly healthier. (Although keep reading because one expert, whose book I just finished, thinks drinking lots of celery juice is toxic.)

Here’s the nutritional data for a 16 oz. serving of celery juice, according to MyFitnessPal:

  • Carbs: 18 grams
  • Sugar: 11 g
  • Sodium: 430 mg
  • Vitamin A: 54%
  • Vitamin C: 20%

Now let’s see how just an 8-ounce serving of Chef V’s Green Drink compares. (For optimal health, I recommend consuming 16 oz a day.)

  • Carbs: 6 grams
  • Sugar: 3 g
  • Sodium: 24 mg
  • Vitamin A: 76%
  • Vitamin C: 44%

As you can see, Chef V Green Drink is much lower in sugar and sodium and higher in vitamins A & C. Plus, my Green Drink also contains an incredible 263% daily recommended value of vitamin K.

If MyFitnessPal’s info is correct, to be honest, celery juice does have a decent amount of calcium, iron and fiber. But my Green Drink naturally contains these nutrients as well.

I agree with William, aka The Medical Medium, that there probably are micronutrients that have yet to be discovered. And even the ones that have been identified, we’re really not entirely sure how they contribute to health.

But if you’re comparing apples to oranges, the 7 leafy greens in my Green Drink are collectively more nutrient dense than celery stalks.

Plus, there’s no concern about toxicity with Green Drink, as there is with celery.

Speaking of which, let’s take a look at some of the unknown dangers of celery…

The Risk of Drinking Celery Juice

It goes without saying that there are a lot of people who think the Medical Medium is a quack. I’m not judging William. If juicing celery has helped improve the lives and health of his followers, all the better.

But there’s at least one person who has done the research on the potential dangers and side effects  of celery juice cleanses.

Asa Hershoff is a naturopathic doctor (ND) and expert herbalist, who founded the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in 1978. In the world of natural healing, Hershoff has been around the block several times.

At the same time I ordered William’s book, “Celery Juice,” I also came across Hershoff’s book, “The Dangers of Celery: The Toxicity & Risks of Excess Celery Juice Consumption,” and ordered it as well.

In the preface of Hershoff’s book, he claims that he has studied the plant family that celery is in (Umbelliferae) extensively; he didn’t just start researching celery recently because it’s hip.

Here are some warnings Hershoff lists about excess celery consumption:

  • It’s more of a medicine than a food. “It has powerful biological effects and using it in large doses as if it were a harmless everyday food is simply following bad advice.”
  • It can potentially cause headaches, insomnia, fetal abnormalities, seizures, miscarriage, allergies, heavy metal poisoning, and increased cancer risk.
  • In terms of nutrient density, it’s in the bottom tier of over 700 vegetables; green leafy veggies, such as those in Green Drink are 500 times more nutrient rich.
  • Contains small amounts of neurotoxins.
  • One of the world’s most allergenic plants and may cause deadly anaphylactic shock.
  • May cause premature aging of the skin, including wrinkles and loss of skin elasticity.

Hershoff goes on to list more dangers. Perhaps Hershoff’s clarion call to avoid juicing celery in large amounts sounds just as exaggerated as William’s claim that the pale green liquid can cure virtually anything that ails you. (Can you really die from drinking copious amounts of celery juice?)

But Hershoff’s warnings seem to be a necessary, balancing counterpoint to the Medical Medium’s gospel that celery juice can cure all.

With millions of people blindly following the advice of untrained medical professionals, it’s only natural that an expert on herbal medicine would seek to discredit William’s work.

Conclusion

I wake up every morning stoked that Chef V has made a positive difference in people’s lives. If a  celery juice cleanse has helped even just one person with their health, then hallelujah.

But hands down, getting a delivery of health-supporting nutrients in my Green Drink is way easier and more nutritious in comparison to the medicically-dubious and messy enterprise that is the celery juicing fad.

What do you think of celery juice? Shoot me an email at chefv@chefv.com.

Veronica Wheat, Chef V in urban street holding green drink


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Green Soup with Lemon Basil Pesto

Chef V

Green veggies are central to this recipe, full of vitamins. Cannellini beans add fiber and richness. A lovely soup for celebrating the end of winter, the bounty of summer crops, or anytime you crave something super fresh and seasonal.

green soup

Ingredients

  • 1 to 2 tablespoons cold-pressed olive oil
  • 1 cup celery, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup leeks, thinly slicec
  • 2 teaspoons garlic, minced or pressed
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 3 cups vegetable stock
  • 1 cup filtered water
  • 7 thyme sprigs, divide use
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen peas
  • 1 cup fresh green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained
  • 1 cup baby spinach leaves

BASIL PESTO

  • 1 cup baby spinach leaves
  • 1 cup fresh basil
  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon garlic, minced or pressed
  • 2 teaspoons cold-pressed olive oil

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the celery, leeks, garlic, and sea salt. Sauté for 5 minutes. Add the stock, water, and 3 thyme sprigs.

Cover and bring the mixture to a boil. Add the peas, green beans, and cannellini beans. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Discard the thyme sprigs. Stir in the spinach.

Make the basil pesto sauce. Process all of the pesto ingredients in a Vitamix until smooth.

Ladle the soup into 4 bowls. Top each with the pesto and thyme sprigs and serve.

Celery Juice Part 1 – Miracle, Hype, or Both?

Chef V

Chef V, Veronica Wheat

Quirky fads come. Quirky fads go. Remember shake weights? You see anybody doing that lately?

How about snail facials?

Yes, believe it or not, some people are willing to pay 250 bucks or so to have live snails applied to their face for younger-looking skin. Um, no thanks. I’ll stick with my chemical-free sunscreen and eating lots of green leafy veggies like the 7 different ones in my Organic Green Drink.

One health trend that doesn’t seem as outlandish as snail facials but nonetheless had me very intrigued to try is drinking celery juice.

In this article, I’ll tell you how the seemingly bland celery plant, has transformed from an underdog ants-on-a-log snack (celery, peanut butter and raisins) and soup and salad garnish, into one of the biggest health trends, praised by several celebrities.

In part 2 of this article, I shared with you my personal results after drinking celery juice every day for 3 weeks, and how it compares nutritiously to my Green Drink. In addition, I’ll tell you what one influential naturopathic doctor thinks about the drinking celery juice fad.

Lemon juice detox

What's Behind the Celery Juice Trend?

Suppose you have one or more health concerns, be it cosmetic such as acne, or a life-threatening condition such as cancer.

Would you seek advice and treatment from a doctor or other health professional?

Or, would you take advice from someone with absolutely no medical training at all, someone who charges $500 for a 30-minute phone consultation and who recommends across the board, regardless of symptoms, drinking 16 oz. of celery juice every morning on an empty stomach?

Although it sounds crazy, for thousands of people, the choice is the latter, thanks to Anthony William, aka “The Medical Medium,” and the person single-handedly responsible for the celery juice craze.

Who is the Medical Medium?

If you’ve never heard of William, here’s a brief bio on him. William claims to have innate healing intuition.  On his website, William says that when he was 4 years old, he announced to his family that his symptom-free grandmother had lung cancer, which medical tests later confirmed (or so he claims).

In William’s book, “Celery Juice: The Most Powerful Medicine Of Our Time, Healing Millions Worldwide,” he says, “The first time that God led me to recommend celery juice was in 1975, to bring down the inflammation of a family member’s back injury after she fell down a staircase.”

William says he also distinctly remembers in 1977 recommending celery juice it to a family friend who had a severe case of acid reflux. Later, when he was a teenager, working as a stock boy in the local supermarket, he persuaded his boss to buy a juicer and give people samples of celery juice. “By the time customers left the store, some of them would already feel relief from their various ailments,” William claims.

By the late 1990s, William says in his book that celery juice had helped thousands of people. “There wasn’t a symptom. Condition, illness, disorder, or disease that I didn’t see benefit from celery juice. It never disappointed.”

(Interestingly, if you Google, “How old is The Medical Medium,” Google answers that William is 29 years old, born in 1990, well after William claims to have first recommended celery juice as a panacea.)

What Conditions Does Celery Juice Help With?

It would be easier to list things it doesn’t help with, according to William, who to reiterate, has no medical training whatsoever and seems proud of this fact.

From acid reflux to Alzheimer’s and anxiety, to vertigo and vitiligo, the Medical Medium has convinced a significant number of people—he has over 1 million Instagram followers—that celery juice is an “unparalleled healing weapon.”

And he has an army of celebrities to back his claim. Just a sample of the A-listers that have glowingly endorsed William’s healing intuitive powers include: Robert De Niro; Sylvester Stallone; Liv Tyler; Novak Djokovic (the #1-ranked male tennis player in the world); Rashida Jones; Naomi Campell; Courtney Cox; and Gwyneth Paltrow.

In an age when many people take medical advice from celebrities instead of trained professionals, these endorsements are perhaps more influential than one from your own family doctor.

How Does Celery Juice Work?

At least in this regard, William admits, “there is not yet enough research about what consuming celery regularly can do for us to reveal all of its benefits…” William continues, “The world is still waiting for a rigorous, peer-reviewed study on the effects of drinking 16 ounces of fresh celery juice daily on an empty stomach.”

Until then, here’s the magic behind celery juice, according to William. Celery juice, he says, contain something called sodium cluster salts. Unlike regular table salt or even healthier salts like Celtic sea salt, the salt in celery juice removes crystallized toxic salts “that have been in your organs for years.”

Celery juice also contains “undiscovered” trace minerals that “help restore a dimension of hydrochloric acid [digestive acid in your stomach] that medical research and science haven’t yet realized is lacking.”

William says that acid in your gut that helps you digest food is actually a complex seven-acid blend. Celery juice, he says, helps bring acids back when they’ve diminished, doing so via micro trace minerals that rejuvenate stomach gland tissue.

Leptin function

How Many Stalks of Celery to Make 16 OZ of Juice?

William explains in more detail in his book how celery juice works. But enough with that. I’m ready to compare apples to oranges, or more accurately celery juice vs. Chef V Organic Green Drink.

If you want to give celery juice a try, don’t let me dissuade you. However, keep in mind that in order to drink 16 ounces of it, you’ll need to juice about 10-12 stalks.

As I learned over the course of 3 weeks giving it a try, it’s a giant pain in the behind to clean your juicer every morning.

So if you’re keeping score at home, with the ease of having nutrient-dense Green Drink delivered to your home, no messy clean-up required, so far it’s Chef V 1, Celery Juice 0.

In Part 2 – Chef V tries Celery Juice for 3 weeks

Better than Celery Juice for Headaches

Chef V

headaches and celery juice

A More Affordable And Less Messy Alternative to Celery Juice For Headaches

Some health trends come and go. And some stick around. A couple years after writing about the celery juice bandwagon here and here, it seems like going to the store and stocking up on stalks of fresh celery and making an absolute mess in your kitchen juicing it, shows no signs of slowing down. 

The reason why the celery juice trend is evergreen (no pun intended) is thanks to Anthony William, aka “The Medical Medium,” who I detailed in my article, “Celery Juice Part 1 – Miracle, Hype, or Both?”

The more I’ve read in The Medical Medium’s books, the more I am convinced that he is some sort of natural health savant. And the reason why I wanted to revisit the topic of celery juice is that many people are using it as of late to prevent or cure headaches. And keeping your electrolytes in balance is a better way to keep headaches away.

celery juice and headaches

What Causes Headaches?

You’re not normal if you don’t ever get headaches or migraines. But there’s the thing about these nuisances, which can actually be so intense, they become debilitating conditions…

Headaches and migraines might be common, but they are not normal. If your body is functioning in a state of homeostasis (perfect balance), it’s impossible to get a headache.

The Medical Medium says that there are many causes of headaches. 

That analysis doesn’t exactly make him a genius; almost everybody knows that. 

But there are a few root causes that William offers that your doctor won’t tell you about. Even a functional medicine doctor or naturopathic/alternative/holistic health practitioner may not be familiar with William’s explanations. 

One of the root causes of headaches, according to William, is neurotoxins caused by the shingles virus. Or more accurately, viruses. William claims there are more than 30 types of shingles (who knew?), which itself is caused by inflammation of three nerves in the body: phrenic, vagus, and trigeminal. 

Another reason headaches are a frequent occurrence these days isn’t just because stress has gotten worse. 

William says the reason headaches are common stems from toxic heavy metals in brain cells. Mercury and aluminum impede the brain’s circuitry flow. This inefficient electrical impulse firing causes the brain to heat up, which requires you to use more energy to process information: “How do I use this damn TIVO? Frickin’ A … my head is killing me.” 

Yet another cause of headaches William alludes to is no shocking revelation: dehydration. A lack of oxygen from “dirty blood” causes the liver to become sluggish, William says. Despite the popularity of keto diets, William says that high-fat diets, coupled with a sluggish liver lowers oxygen levels in vital organs such as the brain. 


shingles, celery juice, and headaches

Can Celery Juice Cure Headaches?

The Medical Medium doesn’t outright say that celery juice is a cure for headaches. If he did say that on his website, he would likely get a warning letter from the Food & Drug Administration (FDA). But William—or his attorneys—is expert at dancing around health claims. The Medical Medium website has a disclaimer that’s over 300 words long, or six times longer than the preamble of the U.S. Constitution. 

“Drinking celery juice daily in the way I recommend … is so important for these health problems and so many other chronic illnesses and symptoms for these undiscovered reasons and many more,” William says. Notice he doesn’t say that celery juice can cure headaches or chronic diseases. If he could, he would, but he can’t so he smartly tiptoes around the health claim. 

But you have to be careful drinking celery juice. People tend to go overboard with things, even when it’s something healthy. Drinking a lot of celery juice, some people report, actually may cause headaches. How much is too much celery juice? It’s hard to say, but let’s just say several stalks a day may not keep the doctor away. 

Blending For Headaches

If you’re not stoked about how expensive celery juice has gotten (thanks in big part to The Medical Medium) and how messy it is, there’s a far easier solution. 

The Chef V Organic Green Drink Plan delivers directly to your front door a weekly supply of cold-blended juice, consisting of 7 leafy greens.

Imagine getting your daily dose of antioxidants and not having to go to the supermarket every other day and worrying about using all your produce before it goes bad. And just picture all the time and energy you’ll save by not having to wash your veggies, chop them up, blend them and clean them. 

And don’t get me started about cleaning your juicer after juicing celery! That itself will cause a headache!

Many juice cleanses are just high-sugar fruit juices in disguise. All that fructose spikes your blood sugar. And when your blood sugar levels are all over the place, guess what happens? 

That’s right, you get a headache!

But my Green Drink contains only 3 grams of naturally-occurring sugar per 8 oz. serving. 

So save yourself the headache of juicing celery everyday. Instead of supporting your health with just one veggie, get 7 nutrient-dense greens per serving. 

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Chef V and kale

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