Celery: properties, benefits and contraindications

What is celery and what is it for?

Celery belongs to a large and notable vegetable family, characterized by a marked spicy, intense, aromatic and exotic flavor: the umbelliferous or apiaceae, with plants as popular as carrots, parsnips, fennel, parsley, dill or cumin, and others as powerful as hemlock.

The benefits and properties of celery are related to purification. In the kitchen it is used above all to accompany salads and winter soups.

Celery properties

Celery is considered more of a food diet regulator and balancing than nutritious. The reason is that 92% of its weight is water, its caloric intake is very low, between 15 and 20 calories, and it has great satiating power.

Celery is not a vegetable that stands out for its macronutrient content. These are scarce, as well as their discrete amounts of vitamins (mainly C and B9), when compared with those of other vegetables.

They only reach a certain importance potassium and magnesium, sfollowed by far by calcium or iron and is not even rich in fiber.

What stands out about the properties of celery is that it is rich in essential oil with selinene, cymol and limonene and also contains coumarins, a glycoside, apiin, apigenin, vitamin C and mineral salts (iron, phosphorus, manganese and calcium).

It also contains pectin-based polysaccharides that protect the entire digestive tract, as well as several antioxidants – including lunuralin, bergaptan and psoralen – that help prevent different health problems.

What are the health benefits of celery?

Diuretic, purifying and heart-healthy

Due to its potassium and sodium content and the relationship between them and the essential oil apiol, it constitutes a good diuretic, and due to its ability to alkalize the blood, it stimulates the purification of the organism, eliminating uric acid and other toxic residues.

This, together with the action of apigenin, a substance with vasodilator properties, makes it suitable for preventing high blood pressure and other cardiovascular disorders.

Digestive and antiflatulent

Celery, rich in fiber, is also an excellent regulator of intestinal transit. prevents constipation, promotes good digestion, it stimulates the gastric juices and makes the desire come and like other related plants, it fights gas, abdominal swelling, meteorisms and aerophagia.

In such a case, one can test a strongly carminative formula, which includes celery, fennel, green anise and caraway berries, plus marshmallow root, one tablespoon of the mixture per cup. Boil for 3 minutes and infuse for 10. Take three cups a day, after meals.

To treat hypertension

The therapeutic diet experts recommend celery salt as a substitute for sea salt for hypertensive people. It is obtained from the ground seeds, and gives salads and other dishes a pleasant flavor that does not make you miss the presence of salt.

As a herbal remedy, they advise the herbal tea with celery (leaves and stems), hawthorn, valerian and a flavor corrector, star anise, more or less in equal parts. Two tablespoons of the mixture per half liter of water. Boil two minutes, let stand and strain. The ideal is to drink it in small doses during the day.

A woman’s ally

Its content in vitamin C and folic acid helps to normalize menstruation, whether it is excessive or insufficient, it helps to alleviate the symptoms of menopause, cleanses the mucosa of the lungs and remineralizes the organism.

to fall asleep

Thanks to its sedative effects, it also tones the nervous system. A celery juice with honey at night is a good resource to help sleep.

Contraindications of celery

Despite the multiple properties and benefits of celery, it is not always convenient. It should not be consumed in case of acute kidney conditions, during pregnancy or if you have disorders such as cystitis. Some people may also suffer allergic reactions in the form of itching on the palate, tongue and lips, rhinoconjunctivitis or cough.

celery in the kitchen

This vegetable, preferably winter, has two varieties: green celery, with a refreshing flavor, and white celery, with a more delicate flavor. In both cases it is a very aromatic plant -perhaps less than the wild variety-, hence the specific name of graveolens with which Lineo baptized it, and which refers to its serious and penetrating smell.

Celery has endless applications in the kitchen, but before It is convenient to know how to prepare it: first it is necessary to clean the dry or deteriorated ends and wash the leaves in water, rubbing them with a brush to eliminate remains of earth or dry leaves.

It is exquisite with tomato, carrot and green leafy vegetables, both lettuce and cabbage, turnip tops or chard.

Potatoes, onions, leeks, artichokes, turnips, cucumbers, pumpkin, zucchini or beets also go well. Not so the peppers, especially the red ones, nor the aubergines, the mushrooms or the asparagus, although there are tastes for everything.

And among protein foods, it is delicious with rice, pasta, quinoa, lentils, chickpeas, tofu, seitan and even tempeh.

Do not keep it for more than 7 days in the refrigerator, because after that period the loss of healthy compounds accelerates.

Nutritional value of celery

Every 100 g of celery provide:

Calories: 16 calories (11.7 kJ)Omega 6 fatty acids: 79mgFiber: 1.6gVitamin A: 449 IUVitamin C: 3.1 mcgVitamin K: 29.3 mcgFolates: 36 mcgSugars: 1.8gPotassium: 260mgCalcium: 40mgWater: 95.4g