How to make an alkalising celery juice recipe without a juicer!! This takes minutes and is so delicious!!

After finishing my 10-day juice cleanse, I wanted to keep up juicing as part of my daily routine. I did this for about a month with celery juice, having it first thing each morning and waiting 15 minutes before drinking water and one hour before eating any food. One of the benefits I noticed was how much my skin improved, showing a reduction in pimples and breakouts during this time.

Juicing provides a number of benefits, including:

• Fast and easy absorption of nutrients.
• Increased energy levels.
• Improved cognitive function.
• Glowing skin.

Celery juice, in particular, contains two antioxidants, apigenin and luteolin, which have been shown to reduce inflammation. This juice contains nutrients like folate, potassium, vitamin B6, K and C. Research has found that the luteolin in celery may help protect skin against UV damage. Celery juice may also help with:

• Healing and boosting gut function by restoring hydrochloric acid, needed for digestion as it helps to break down, digest, and absorb nutrients like protein.
• Promoting liver function, which in turn, helps with detoxification. It increases the production of enzymes, and helps in reducing fat build-up in the liver.
• Improves digestion, as celery juice helps get things moving in the intestines, assisting with constipation, bloating, and water retention, and acts as a gentle, natural laxative and diuretic.

However, since consuming celery juice each morning for a month, I no longer have daily juices or smoothies due to the high levels of antinutrients found in plants.

Beware of Antinutrients Lurking in Plant Foods

While it is commonly thought that these bright, colourful plant foods replete with phytochemicals and other nutrients are completely benign and can do us no harm, the opposite is true.

Contrary to popular belief, plants aren’t fond of being eaten. They don’t accept their fate as easily as we might think, but instead put up a fight of their own. They have a sophisticated way of defending themselves, including the use of toxic chemicals. Oxalates, phytic acid (phytate), lectins, tannins, goitrogens, and phytoestrogens are just some of the most common defences plants use to stop us from eating them. Eating too many of the wrong plants at one time, or on a daily basis, can cause severe health problems.

These antinutrients can prevent us from accessing plant nutrients, and can even make some people very sick.

Oxalates, also known as oxalic acid, bind to calcium as they leave the body, which increases the risk of kidney stones. ‘Oxalates have also been implicated in increased inflammation, mitochondrial and gut dysfunction, mineral imbalance, connective tissue integrity, urinary tract issues, fibromyalgia and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus’ writes Jayne Buxton in her book, The Great Plant-Based Con.

Chris Kresser, functional medicine specialist, warns about the ‘dark side’ of green smoothies. The cruciferous vegetables from which these smoothies are made contain large amounts of oxalates and other antinutrients like goitrogens (a chemical that inhibits iodine uptake by the thyroid). When we eat spinach and other foods containing oxalates, calcium binds to these compounds, so our bodies only absorb around five percent of the calcium found in these plant foods.

Jayne Buxton shares how ‘most people get between 200 and 300 milligrams of oxalates daily. If you are at risk of kidney stones, you should probably be consuming under 100mg daily, and doctors recommend an intake of less than 50mg per day for some people.’ A normal serving of an oxalate-rich food such as spinach can lead to an intake of up to 1,000mg.

Phytic acid, another antinutrient, can prevent not only the absorption of the minerals in the plants being consumed, but any other minerals found in the meal. Lectins behave a little differently in that they bind to carbohydrates in our bodies as we consume the plant, and have been found to interrupt messaging between cells and cause inflammatory reactions in the body.

If you’re someone who has a juice or smoothie daily, be wary of the antinutrients found in plants, particularly if you are sensitive to any of these toxic compounds.

Before we get started in learning how to make this detoxifying celery juice – if you like what you’re seeing, subscribe to my email newsletter at the bottom of the page to keep up to date on the latest recipes, DIYs, gardening and health tips I share!!

Homemade Celery Juice Without a Juicer

The best time to drink celery juice is first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Wait 10 minutes before drinking water and one hour before eating anything. This celery juice recipe is made using a blender and strainer, like a nut milk bag, meaning no expensive juicer is required.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 stalks organic celery
• 1 organic green apple (optional)
• 1/4-1/2 cup filtered water

To make:

1. Roughly chop ingredients into smaller pieces that will fit in your blender, pop into high speed blender, blend, then strain out the pulp through a cheesecloth, old clean muslin blanket or nut milk bag.
2. Pour into a some tall glasses, add a handful of ice cubes, and enjoy fresh!

As always, this is not personal medical advice and we recommend that you talk with your doctor before trying or using any new products. I am not a doctor. All opinions expressed are my own personal thoughts and feelings of the products mentioned. Check with your doctor or health practitioner if you are uncertain about trying out any of the products, recipes or tips mentioned in this post. 

Have you made homemade juice before? Did you use a blender or a juicer? Share in the comments below.

Lots of love,

🖤 Vanessa