Can celery juice provide real health benefits?

HOUSTON – Many people have been turning to celery juice in hopes of losing weight, but according to one doctor, it’s just a fad.

While celery has vitamins and minerals, it’s lacking a lot of other nutritional needs. Dr. Steffanie Campbell, with the Kelsey-Seybold Clinic said that means it could cause deficiencies if you’re limiting your meals to one food.

Campbell said there isn’t any research that shows drinking celery juice every day will benefit your health, but most people drink it in the morning on an empty stomach. Dietitians with the Cleveland Clinic said that by not eating for an hour or two in the morning, people are extending their fast from overnight, and research shows this can lead to reduced blood sugar.

Campbell said that she does not recommend celery juicing because it is too limiting.

“I don’t like diets in general,” Campbell said. “If you’re going to train for a marathon, and you can run every day and you run the marathon and stop running, a year from now you’re not going to be able to run that same marathon. So, that’s often what I see with diets is people will get to their goal weight and then go back to their old habits.

Celery juice is high in vitamins A and K, which help with blood clotting, vision and oxidative damage to cells, so it does provide some benefits.

One thing that is missing from celery juice that’s found in actual celery is the fiber. Most dietitians tend to dislike juicing of all kinds because you’re throwing away the fiber.

Celery also lacks protein, so you’ll still be hungry after drinking the juice.

Campbell said the key to weight loss is limiting processed food and eating small, frequent meals that are high in fiber and protein.