Celery is one of the most included vegetables in food preparations , due to the peculiar flavor that it gives to food, although it can also be eaten alone.
On the other hand, celery is a very nutritious food since it has a high content of potassium and fiber, compounds that give it therapeutic properties to alleviate or prevent some of your diseases.
In the following article, we give you all the information you need to know about this food, its properties and benefits for your health.
What is celery?
Celery, whose scientific name is Apium graveolens , is a vegetable from the Mediterranean and Middle East areas, green in color and with a grooved stem that forms a thick stalk with wedge-shaped leaves.
Note: Thanks to its vitamin and mineral content, this plant is a very healthy food, which brings many benefits to people’s health.
In addition, this vegetable can easily be included in various recipes for your diet, since it has appetizer properties and stimulates the secretion of saliva and gastric juices.
What benefits does celery have for health?
Due to its nutritional and chemical components, this vegetable provides wonderful benefits to people’s health, which we mention below:
1. Promotes cardiovascular health
The first reason why celery favors cardiovascular health is that it does not contain cholesterol or the presence of fat, making it an ideal food to prevent cardiovascular diseases.
Another of the benefits of celery is its fiber content that favors digestion and intestinal transit, limiting the absorption of fats and sugars through the intestine, benefiting the health of your heart . In addition, it contains apigenin , a component with vasodilator properties to regulate arterial hypertension. (1)
To highlight: Celery is a vegetable with a high content of vitamin A and vitamin C, flavonoids and glycosides with a powerful antioxidant effect.
2. Helps eliminate fluid retention
Celery, despite not standing out in its micronutrient content, stands out in the components of its essential oil together with the chemical relationship between sodium and potassium, making it an effective natural diuretic.
It also contains a substance called apigenin , with vasodilator properties that favors the dilation of veins and arteries, helping to eliminate excess fluids and toxins such as uric acid from the body , through increased diuresis (urine excretion). ).
You should know: 95% of the weight of celery is occupied by water, helping to purify the body.
3. Fight free radicals
Another of the properties of this vegetable is that, as previously mentioned, it represents a good source of antioxidants , including vitamins A and C, and phenolic compounds with the ability to prevent oxidative stress, eliminating excess free radicals . (two)
This excess of free radicals attack healthy cells, causing their premature aging and promoting the appearance of degenerative diseases. The antioxidants present in this vegetable prevent cell damage.
4. Improves digestive functions
Thanks to its contribution of dietary fiber, both soluble and insoluble, and water, celery is an ally to improve digestive functions.
On the one hand, it improves the absorption of nutrients in the intestines and facilitates the transit of food through the small intestine, and on the other, it improves the consistency of the stool as it passes through the colon, avoiding symptoms such as constipation.
Note: In your daily diet, it is recommended to include this vegetable to benefit your digestive system.
5. Controls menstruation and improves symptoms of menopause
Traditional medicine has used celery to mitigate the annoying effects in the stages of menstruation or menopause in women. This property of celery is given to its content of vitamin C and folic acid, micronutrients that are involved in the regulation of these periods.
Important: Despite this use, there is still not enough scientific evidence to support this property.
6. Contributes to weight loss
Another of the properties and benefits of raw or cooked celery is that its consumption favors the loss of body weight.
This is achieved through the control and regulation of the absorption of fats and sugars, the diuretic and cleansing effect of its components and the action of antioxidants in the body , factors that generally contribute to weight loss.
Also its contribution of fiber and water, generate that feeling of satiety so important in weight loss regimes.
To highlight: Celery is edible from the stem, the leaves and even the seeds and it is a vegetable with low caloric intake.
7. Increases the quality of sleep
Undoubtedly, a healthy diet brings great benefits to people’s sleep quality . Obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular and joint diseases negatively affect sleep.
Note: Most sleep disorders result from the presence of these pathologies, affecting the sleep-wake cycle (alternation between the states of being awake and being asleep).
Obesity causes snoring and sleep apnea , high and low blood glucose levels can interrupt the sleep period, high blood pressure negatively affects the sleep period, and joint pain at night interrupts the night’s rest.
To highlight: The chemical and nutritional components of celery and its periodic consumption can mitigate the negative effects of these pathologies on the quality of sleep.
Celery properties
The previously described benefits of this vegetable are possible since they come from its nutritional and chemical components. Here we mention the micronutrients present in celery:
1. Vitamins and minerals
Celery has vitamins such as retinol, ascorbic acid, vitamin K, folic acid. The vitamin with the highest presence is vitamin K with 37% of the recommended daily value for an adult. (3)
Regarding minerals, celery contains calcium, potassium, magnesium and phosphorus , all in discrete amounts but in combination with the rest of the micronutrients, they help the body’s health.
2. Other compounds
Celery is a source of fiber (soluble and insoluble), contains vegetable proteins as well as carbohydrates. It has a low caloric intake and its water content is very high.
It also contains flavonoids, including myricetin, quercetin and kaempferol, luteolin and apigenin. All these chemical compounds have antioxidant properties. (4)
Note: This food contains apiol, an essential oil with many benefits on the gastric mucosa.
How can you consume celery?
In the kitchen, this food can participate in various recipes , raw or cooked . If you decide to prepare it raw, it is convenient to cut its stems and leaves into small pieces and combine them with other vegetables to prepare salads, green juices, soups and meats.
Tip: You can also use it to spread it with creams or to accompany dips and you can even eat it raw with a little salt. If you prefer to prepare it cooked, you can use its stem to accompany soups, stews and roasts.
In the same way, it is also used to garnish drinks and even accompany other fruits in the preparation of energy drinks.
Important: It is advisable not to consume this raw vegetable in excess, since it can cause indigestion.
Key Findings
- Celery is a vegetable that offers great nutritional and medicinal benefits.
- Celery contributes to cardiovascular health, promotes digestive functions and helps people lose body weight.
- Celery consumption decreases the negative effects of uric acid in the body.
- Celery can be included in the daily diet, participating in many recipes, either raw or cooked.
- Contains antioxidant compounds that prevent oxidative damage from free radicals.
- Celery is one of the vegetables that provide very little amount of calories and a good amount of water and fiber.
University Professional in the area of Human Resources, Postgraduate in Occupational Health and Hygiene of the Work Environment, 14 years of experience in the area of health. Interested in topics of Psychology, Occupational Health, and General Medicine.