Celery juice lowers blood pressure

As someone who much prefers juicing vegetables to actually eating them, I am always on the lookout for news of a new benefit, and here is one for you.

If you want to lower your blood pressure then get some organic celery and put the juicer on standby. Celery is very high in potassium and magnesium as well as containing 3-n-butyl-phthalide, a compound that relaxes the smooth muscle cells in the arterial walls. This allows the arteries to dilate and lowers blood pressure.

The recommended ‘dose’ is to juice one head of celery a day for about a month and test your blood pressure at the start and end. Oh, and as celery on its own can be bitter, I would split the head and juice each one for morning and evening drinking. I would also add an apple and carrot to the mix for some sweetness and flavour – and you get more vitamins as well!

If you don’t have a juicer, then look for cartons of Low-Sodium V8 Juice as it has a high dose of potassium to help keep blood pressure in check and it is an effective blood thinner, which further contributes to its antihypertensive effects. Must be the low-sodium version though, not the regular one, and you would drink about 12 ounces a day.

Celery and the brain

Researchers at the University of Illinois report that a plant compound found in abundance in celery and green peppers can disrupt a key component of the inflammatory response in the brain. This could be important news for the research on ageing, and on diseases such as Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis.

Inflammation plays a key role in many neurodegenerative diseases and also is implicated in the memory and behaviour problems that can arise as we get older. Inflammation is not always a bad thing; it is a critical part of the body’s immune response that in normal circumstances reduces injury and promotes healing, but when it goes wrong then it can lead to serious physical and mental problems.

The new study looked at luteolin, a plant flavonoid in celery and green peppers which is known to impede the inflammatory response in several types of cells outside the central nervous system. Herbalists have known about the cooling properties of celery for decades and prescribe it for arthritis and hot flushes, but now it seems scientists are also taking it seriously. Add celery and green peppers to your diet and you will whizzing through the crossword in record time. If you don’t like the taste of them – and I know some people who don’t – then if you have a juicer add it to your mix. I juice celery regularly with apples and carrot to boost my immune system and help with arthritis and even celery-haters love the taste of the juice.