Celery Health Benefits and Nutrition Values

Celery HEALTH Benefits Side Effects
and Nutrition Values

Celery is a remedy to lower blood pressure and aid in the fight against cancer in Asia. People just boil or stir-fry
the celery and eat it.

Celery; Apium graveolens

The word celery probably comes from the French celeri. Celery is a biennial
plant, belongs to the Umbelliferae family. Carrots, fennel, parsley and dill are
also members in this family. Celery is about 12 to 16 inches tall and is
composed of leaf-topped stalks arranged in a conical shape and joined at a
common base. The stalks is crunchy but mildly salty.

CELERY NUTRITION VALUES Celery is a rich source of vitamin C, phalides
and coumarins. These are the important active ingredients for celery.
Because of these ingredients, celery can offer us multiple unique health
benefits. It also contains a variety of various minerals and nutrients such as
tryptophan, folate, dietary fiber, molybdenum, manganese, phosphorus,
calcium, magnesium, iron, and vitamins B6 (pyridoxine), B1 (thiamin), B2
(riboflavin) A. [1]

Traditionally, people believe that celery seeds can treat bladder and kidney
diseases. Some people also extract the celery components to relieve the
pain from gout attacks; gout is a joint condition caused by high uric acid
levels. It is also believed that celery juice may help rheumatism and other
ailments.

CELERY HEALTH BENEFITS

INFLAMMATION
Celery contains a large amount of vitamin C. Vitamin C functions as a anti-
oxidant to prevent the free radical damage that triggers the inflammatory
cascade. Thus, it helps reduce the severity of inflammatory conditions, such
as asthma, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis. It also helps prevent
cholesterol oxidation to form plaques that may rupture causing heart attacks
or stroke. Vitamin C also helps support the immune system. Vitamin C-rich
foods like celery may help reduce cold symptoms or severity of cold
symptoms; people commonly use vitamin C as a cold-fighter.

BLOOD PRESSURE
Though there is not much scientific evidence to support celeryÂ’s blood
pressure-lowering effects. Celery has long been recognized in Chinese
herbal medicine as a blood pressure-lowering remedy.
Luteolin occurs as glycosylated forms in celery and some other green plants.
[8] Recently, researchers discovered that luteolin extracted from celery
inhibited the secretion and gene expression of endothelin-1 (ET-1), a potent
vasoconstrictor regulating blood pressure, in porcine aortic endothelial cells.
[6]

CHOLESTEROL
Celery extract was found to be effective in lowering cholesterol in
hypercholesterolaemic rats. Aqueous celery extract was administered
intraperitoneally to genetically hypercholesterolaemic and
normocholesterolaemic rats via Alzet osmotic pumps over a 13-day period.
The serum cholesterol concentration of the celery extract-treated
hypercholesterolaemic rats was found to be significantly lower than the
control rats. The serum triglyceride level was unchanged in both strains of
rats. [2]

ANTI-CANCER
Celery extracts have been shown to help prevent tumor cell growth in various
animal studies.

Researchers from State University of New York examined the nutritional
epidemiology of gastric cancer in 293 cases. They found that sodium, fat,
and retinol enhanced the risk of stomach cancer, while carotene, especially
raw vegetables (including celery, cucumbers, carrots, green peppers,
tomatoes, and onions) reduced the risk. [3] Scientists from Harbin Medical
College, China, assessed the role of diet (336 cases) in the causes of
colorectal cancer. They found that green vegetables, chives and celery,
have a strong protective effect against colorectal cancer. [4] Investigators
from LKT Laboratories MN isolated 5 phthalides from celery seed oil and
studied their abilities to inhibit benzo[a]pyrene- (BP) induced tumorigenesis
in mice. They showed that 3-n-butyl phthalide and sedanolide were active in
tumor inhibition. [5] Besides, another group showed that luteolin induced
apoptosis in various cancer cells. [7]

Celery Side Effects
Some people are allergic to celery. [9]

REFERENCE:
[1] George Matelian FoundationÂ’s the worldÂ’s healthiest foods (online publication, August 30, 2005)
[2] Tsi D et al, Effects of celery extract and 3-N-butylphthalide on lipid levels in genetically
hypercholesterolaemic (RICO) rats. Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 1996 Mar;23(3):214-7. [3] Graham S
et al., Diet in the epidemiology of gastric cancer. Nutr Cancer. 1990;13(1-2):19-34. [4] Hu JF et al, Diet
and cancer of the colon and rectum: a case-control study in China. Int J Epidemiol. 1991 Jun;20(2):
362-7. [5] Zheng GQ et al, Chemoprevention of benzo[a]pyrene-induced forestomach cancer in mice
by natural phthalides from celery seed oil. Nutr Cancer. 1993;19(1):77-86. [6] Kozakai T et al, Luteolin
inhibits endothelin-1 secretion in cultured endothelial cells. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2005 Aug;69
(8):1613-5. [7] Horinaka M et al, Luteolin induces apoptosis via death receptor 5 upregulation in
human malignant tumor cells. Oncogene. 2005 Jul 11. [8] Kim JH et al, Luteolin prevents PDGF-BB-
induced proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells by inhibition of PDGF beta-receptor
phosphorylation. Biochem Pharmacol. 2005 Jun 15;69(12):1715-21. [9] Luttkopf D et al. Celery
allergens in patients with positive double-blind placebo-controlled food challenge. J Allergy Clin
Immunol. 2000 Aug;106(2):390-9.

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