Mysteries Revealed! Unlocking the Healthy Powers of Celery
Admit it: celery is not one of those vegetables that you eat to impress people! It’s not exactly sexy. Carrots and asparagus probably fit that description a little better. And as far as a color scheme goes, sweet peppers have it in spades with their yellows and reds and greens.
No, celery is kind of like someone’s annoying younger sibling. But the fact is, if you can make it past its somewhat stringy and lackluster appearance, celery really does cut a profile of being the wonder-drug of vegetables. So why not slice up a few stalks and consider the following:
In the bigger scheme of things, celery is almost like Mother Nature’s medicine cabinet. Recent studies have shown that celery has natural anti-inflammatory benefits, in particular fighting off the effects of bursitis. Celery and celery seeds contains COX-2 inhibitors which are natural anti-inflammatory agents, and counter the effects of many aches and pains. Additionally, celery is stock-full of antioxidants like vitamin C and flavonoids. Without getting too technical, the antioxidant support we get from celery help protect against oxygen damage to the body’s cells, blood vessels, and organ systems. That right there is probably enough to convince you to start crunching away on a stalk or two but wait that’s not all!
Better Than a Toothbrush
It’s a given that bad breath (otherwise known as halitosis) is a by-product of poor dental hygiene. You can overcome the lack of brushing and flossing by munching on some celery! Eating celery not only helps scrub bacteria from the back of the tongue (this, courtesy of celery’s course composition) but all that stringy fiber assists in cleaning the teeth. This is not to say you should start packing celery in your overnight bag instead of a toothbrush, but in the absence of same, chomping on a celery stick after a meal or first thing in the morning will do wonder for your teeth and breath (especially in the morning).
Keeping the Lid on Circulation and Indigestion
Celery, if eaten regularly, adds in conditioning of your vascular system and circulation. Thanks to the presence of the chemical coumarin, a regular diet of celery can actually help keep your blood pressure in check. Many European countries (Italy and Hungary come to mind) have long ingested celery after a meal to aide in digestion. The presence of all that fiber is put to good use and once again, munching on celery helps clean the teeth.
This is just the tip of the iceberg as celery is now being touted to fight off certain forms of cancer and even protect against memory loss. Like we said earlier, celery may not win any popularity contests based on appearance, but in terms of performance, celery comes out a winner and sits at the top of the list!
Used under Creative Commons Licensing courtesy of Health Gauge
