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Nowadays, people have become more and more aware of their health and well being. This awareness is expressed in frequent workout, getting more sleep, yoga and Pilates practicing, frequent family quality time and healthy eating.

A healthy diet is reflected in consuming less processed food and more fruit and vegetables. Out of all fruit and vegetables, celery is usually least consumed due to various reasons.

First, it has a strong dominant taste that many people can’t happen to get used to. Secondly, it is composed of these long strips that some people find hard to chew on. Anyway, regardless of that, turns out that celery is even healthier than we thought.

According to a study, Luteolin, which is found in celery, calms inflammation of the brain, which according to doctors and scientists is believed to be the primary cause of neurodegeneration. So in a matter of fact, luteolin can prevent the onset of degeneration in the brain [1].

This fact is very interesting, since some viruses, such as the varicella zoster virus (VZV) are known to cause inflammation in the brain [2]. Therefore, adding more celery to our diet may help prevent and even fight infection with VZV!

According to several studies, it is recommended not to leave celery in the refrigerator for more that 5-7 days since it loses its health qualities. In addition, you should wait to chop up your celery just before adding it to a salad or cooked dish, rather that leaving it stored chopped in the refrigerator overnight. It will help to preserve its maximum nutrient potential [3-5].

There are many ways to incorporate celery in our diet, from chicken and celery stir-fry, to creamy celery soup– everything is possible! You may find these delicious recipes useful!

Do you have an idea for a recipe with celery you’d like to share with us??

References

1. Jang, Saebyeol, Keith W. Kelley, and Rodney W. Johnson. “Luteolin reduces IL-6 production in microglia by inhibiting JNK phosphorylation and activation of AP-1.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105.21 (2008): 7534-7539.

2. Nagel MA1, Gilden D. “The relationship between herpes zoster and stroke.” Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep. 2015 Apr;15(4):534

3. Hostetler GL, Riedl KM, and Schwartz SJ. Endogenous enzymes, heat, and pH affect flavone profiles in parsley (Petroselinum crispum var. neapolitanum) and celery (Apium graveolens) during juice processing. J Agric Food Chem. 2012 Jan 11;60(1):202-8. Epub 2011 Dec 30.

4. Rizzo V and Muratore G. Effects of packaging on shelf life of fresh celery. Journal of Food Engineering, Volume 90, Issue 1, January 2009, Pages 124-128.

5. Vina SZ and Chaves AR. Antioxidant responses in minimally processed celery during refrigerated storage. Food Chemistry, Volume 94, Issue 1, January 2006, Pages 68-74.