4 Reasons to Drink Celery Juice if You Have an Autoimmune Disease!

celery-juice-recipe

If you’re on social media, you’ve probably heard about the big celery juicing trend. Everyone from Kylie Jenner to big-time Instagram influencers are juicing and sharing about it.

And, if you’re anything like me, you thought – ah, it’s just another fad, like the keto diet.

#SorryNotSorry

Since I’m already taking supplements for inflammation, drinking lots of superfood smoothies, and sticking with my pilates regimen, I felt like unsure about adding something else right now.

But, after I continued to hear about the health benefits of celery juice, I dusted off my juicer and decided to give it a go.

The Celery Juice Experiment:

I decided to commit to celery juicing for a period of time and track any changes in symptoms to see if it really worked. I wasn’t thrilled about drinking celery, but as Moira would say…

via GIPHY

I figured 2 weeks was a good amount of time and bought some celery to get started.

Here’s the recipe I used:

Celery Juice Recipe:

Celery juice is super easy to make, especially if you have a juicer. I made this quick video to show you how I make it and the instructions are below in case the video doesn’t work for you:

How To Make Celery Juice:

  • You just wash your celery. Please buy organic, because there is no peel to take off and you really don’t want to drink a cup of pesticide.
  • Then, trim off any soft or discolored ends. You can trim the leafy greens if you like or not.
  • After that, plug in your juicer and just get ready to juice, baby.
  • Put a few stalks in the juicer at a time and off you go.

One pack of celery will make around 16 ounces of celery juice.

According to the Medical Medium, the guy responsible for starting the celery juice movement, best results are seen when drinking celery juice first thing in the morning on an empty stomach and then waiting 30 minutes to eat.

Let’s find out what happened as I started drinking it. (Update: I’m still juicing years later. Read my updated post – 5 gut health benefits of celery juicing after you finish this one!)

Day 1: My First Celery Juice

celery-juice-recipe

I followed his rules precisely and then took a big swig of my room temperature celery juice. And, wow, celery juice is salty. I mean, really, really salty. It tastes like celery on steroids. You get a whole lot of celery and saltiness in each gulp.

I would not describe the experience as pleasant. But, after drinking just a few ounces, I started feeling things in my body moving.

If you suffer from an autoimmune disease, you probably also deal with a very sluggish digestion process in general. This causes a long list of uncomfortable symptoms I won’t get into here.

Almost immediately I noticed celery juice was like a flushing system for the body and the liver.

This leads me to my first Do.

Do Drink Celery Juice on an Empty Stomach.

When I skipped this rule and drank it later in the day, I did not see as much improvement in digestive inflammation. But, drink too much celery juice and you start to have another, rather embarrassing problem.

Therefore…

Don’t Drink The Full 16 Ounces Right Away.

I would start with 2-4oz. a day and work your way up as your body can handle it. You’re better off drinking 4oz. and seeing great results than chugging 16 ounces and spending all day in the bathroom.

Day 2: Drink Celery Juice Cold

celery-juice-recipe

After drinking celery juice the first day, I refrigerated what was left and used that for the following mornings until it was gone. Celery juice stays good for a couple of days in the refrigerator, so you can make more than a day at a time.

Sure, Medical Medium says it’s better fresh and warm, but when you have small kids – you need to batch work to survive.

By refrigerating the celery juice, I found it much easier to drink cold. Day 2 and Day 3 were slightly less painful to drink the celery juice, which means I could handle drinking a little more each day.

Day 7: A Week of Celery Juice

After drinking celery juice every day for a week straight, I noticed a few things.

First, I had adjusted to the taste and it wasn’t so horrible.

Second, the improvement in inflammation meant that I had more energy in the mornings and had more clarity of thought.

I found myself looking forward to drinking it and enjoying the benefits of feeling refreshed each morning. I also found that I was drinking less coffee to clear a foggy head.

When you have an autoimmune disease, you are accustomed to some degree of constant symptoms, but I noticed with celery juice, I wasn’t needing as long in the morning to feel warmed up and ready to go.

Let’s skip ahead to the end of week 2.

Day 14: Two Weeks of Celery Juicing

celery-juice-recipe

After two weeks of celery juicing, I feel I got a really good sample of what celery juicing is supposed to accomplish.

Here are the 4 main benefits I personally felt after drinking it.

1. Improved Digestion

I really felt reduced inflammation in my stomach and liver. Things were moving much more smoothly, bloating was down, and other positives were definitely noticed.

When you have inflammation in your stomach, there is just a general feeling of sluggishness and discomfort that plagues you 24/7. To have that improved frees up your energy and thoughts for more productive things during the day.

If you’re having stomach/digestion issues, also consider these posts:

2. Clarity of Thought

My brain felt more clear in the mornings than usual before coffee. I was able to get to work and write more efficiently than normal. The general brain fog that comes with being tired, with small kids, and 2 autoimmune diseases was definitely improved.

3. Reduced Cravings

I felt less cravings for sweets and garbage. The saltiness in the juice eliminated the feeling of wanting something salty. I also needed less coffee, and since I drink coffee with creamer, this also cut back on calories.

4. Improved Weight Loss

I don’t have a scale right now because I get too hyper focused on weight loss. But, I can tell that there has been some positive changes in bloating and inflammation, because my clothes are fitting better.

There are more supposed health benefits to celery juice, which you are welcome to read here.



*Affiliate links are used in this post.

Final Thoughts on Celery Juice:

After two weeks of celery juicing, I definitely felt very positive about the experience and that I wanted to continue juicing.However, we ran out of celery and found it rather expensive, since you need an entire stalk for a day’s juice.

Almost immediately, I noticed all of the negative symptoms celery juicing had improved coming back. Celery juicing is definitely something that needs to happen regularly to maintain the benefits.

While I would like to do it consistently, the time and cost are a bit prohibitive.

I also like to switch it up a little by alternating plain celery juice with these 11 juicing recipes that are much tastier. *Update: I went back to celery juicing after taking a break and have been going strong for over a year. Read my new post on 5 gut health benefits of celery juicing!

All in all, it was a positive experience and I would definitely recommend it to someone with an autoimmune disease. I’m sure it’s good for any person to do, but I think the benefits might be better suited for someone who is experiencing any kind of heath issue.

Celery Juice Resources:

If you want more deets on juicers, check out this post on how to drink yourself healthy with the 10 best juicers. And, this is the book by the Medical Medium that caused such a stir.

*****

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by the results of my little celery juice experiment! I’ve gotten a bit used to trying new things, only to realize there’s a reason they’re just a fad.

Have you tried celery juicing? What was your experience?

If you love posts like this, you might also like these:

Tell us in the comments below!

Have a fabulous day,

E

 

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10 Comments

  1. Brandi
    May 22, 2020 / 1:12 pm

    Do you have to use a juicer? Or can you use a nuTribullet or vitamix and just blend it up fine?

    • Erica
      Author
      June 5, 2020 / 5:06 pm

      Hi Brandi! I have only made celery juice using a juicer. I know there are recipes out there on how to do it with a blender and I think it involves straining out the pulp after. I like using a juicer, because I also make other juice recipes and find a juicer to be the easiest way.

    • Sophia Leisey
      May 17, 2021 / 9:09 am

      I have a juicer. I work at a health grocery store and they don’t sell celery juice. So I make it myself. Today is day 1 of drinking celery juice.

      • Erica
        Author
        May 17, 2021 / 12:29 pm

        Awesome!! I hope you see some benefits! Just remember to refrigerate what you don’t drink right away and don’t drink the whole glass! I’ve been celery juicing for awhile now and just wrote a follow-up post with the benefits for gut health that I have personally experienced. If you need more motivation, check it out here: https://www.ispyfabulous.com/celery-juice-benefits/

  2. October 11, 2020 / 4:38 am

    Awesome article. I have read it completely and got really impressed. Love to read more similar types of articles.
    Thanks a lot!!

    • Erica
      Author
      October 11, 2020 / 10:49 am

      Thanks for reading!

  3. Beth
    December 27, 2021 / 4:08 am

    An you buy celery in bulk and freeze it?

    • Erica
      Author
      December 28, 2021 / 1:06 pm

      I have not tried that – but you go through it so fast, I’m not sure you would need to. I’ve tried buying pre-made celery juice and it did not taste good (not that fresh tastes great, either), so I just buy enough celery for a week of juice at a time. Let me know if you try freezing it and how it goes!

  4. Lourdes
    April 1, 2023 / 3:48 pm

    I am curiosa about this working for some relief on fibromyalgia, I am also diabetic,, type 2. Would celery juice help? You say to have two autoimmune deseases. Also, could I add green apple to make it less salty?

    • Erica
      Author
      April 10, 2023 / 8:16 am

      I drink it straight every morning. That’s how I’ve noticed the best results. However, there are lots of recipes out there for juices that use celery juice and other things and I’m sure they’re still healthy.

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