Healthy Celery: More Than Just a Crudite

Most elementary school-aged kids are familiar with the healthy after-school snack known as “ants on a log.” Comprised of a celery stick filled with peanut butter and topped with raisins, this nutritious delight does indeed look like ants walking upon a log. I like celery but only when accompanied by creamy peanut butter and I am also picky about eating celery salt only sprinkled on cottage cheese. However if learning more about the health behind the different parts of the celery plant will cause me to indulge a little more and branch out of my food barriers, I might as well give it another taste.

Celery—Apium graveolens—has been used for centuries as a medicinal plant and the tall green stalks are eaten as a vegetable. Also used for its seeds, the celery plant can produce leaves for garnish and herbs, seeds for celery salt and oil, as well as celery extract. Celery root—more commonly known as celeriac—is closely related to its vegetable cousin and is extremely popular in European countries, although is not very familiar to most Americans.

Celery is grown in the wet, humid conditions of Europe and Asia and has only since the nineteenth century been introduced to United States soil. In rare cases, celery oil has been used as an ingredient in perfumes, although I am sure it is not recommended to rub celery across your neck before your next fancy outing.
 
In Ancient Greece celery was an aphrodisiac because of its potent taste and in Rome it was used as a decoration on plates and glasses accompanying the food instead of being part of the meal. Celery has also been used to rid the body of parasites that bore into the intestines. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) uses celery to stabilize high blood pressure. Also used in the defense against chronic stomach conditions, urinary and bladder infections, celery can be a diuretic and is commonly eaten raw to get the best effects. Whether snacking on a celery stick at a party, gulping it down reluctantly at the dinner party, or drinking it with a Bloody Mary, celery breaks down in the body and helps to detoxify the nasty buildup residing inside.

When crushed in powdered form, the celery is dissolved in boiling water and drank as a laxative also for those needing immune and nervous system support.

Full of fiber, iron, vitamins A, B, and C, zinc, and potassium among many other vitamins and nutrients, celery does more for nutrition than just for the added strength of taste. Celery is said to be good for regulating diabetes, relieving pain from gout, and preventing against obesity. Said to have “negative calories,” celery takes a long time to digest in the body, which means that the calorie intake when eaten is cancelled out, causing weight loss. However, having a celery allergy is as dangerous as a peanut one and the victim can go in to anaphylactic shock from exposure. It is recommended that pregnant women refrain from ingesting celery as an allergy precaution, but as always, check with your doctor if you have questions or concerns.

Often used in soups, stews, salads, casseroles, and pot roasts, celery is a potent ingredient that can taste crisp and cool raw or cooked down and softened when mixed with other big flavors. Although a lot of people have a “love it or leave it” attitude about the vegetable, there are a lot worse things you could eat that would be worse for your overall health, even if other foods may be tastier than the crunchy green sticks you used to identify as logs for raisin ants to walk upon.