If you’re not juicing, it’s time to start. Fresh juice made from whole fruits and vegetables provide a concentrated source of vitamin, minerals and other plant nutrients to help power you through your day.

My wife Romi and I love starting our day with fresh celery juice. It has incredible health benefits and I’ve recommended this to lots of people and they tell me how they have more energy, their skin looks and feels better and they have more mentally sharper. It’s made such an impact on them and some have posted on social media about what an incredible impact it’s made on their health.

Ever since I was tagged on Facebook for suggesting this to a woman who I was helping, I’ve been getting question after question about celery juice. This article answers the most common questions and elaborates on why celery juice is such a powerful way to start your day. And if you want more information, watch my FB Live on it. I’ve been recommending juicing to my patients for years and recently celery juice has exploded in popularity thanks to the work Anthony Williams and his book, Medical Medium.

Over half of the US adult population has one or more chronic diseases. Diabetes, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, cancer. In fact, with cancers, it’s been estimated, and these are the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates, that 80% of the most common cancers are caused by lifestyle factors, including breast cancer, colon cancer and prostate cancer. Lifestyle factors are responsible for one in three cancer deaths.

That’s why taking control of your health and doing it with an alkaline diet, exercise, getting enough sleep, with taking appropriate high-quality dietary supplements as a part of an overall health practice for you is so important.

Back to the celery. This incredible green plant is one of my top alkaline foods. It’s rich in vitamins including B vitamins, vitamin K, vitamin C, folic acid; minerals including potassium, molybdenum, manganese and copper; and antioxidants such as quercetin, kaempferol, apigenin and luteolin.

Research confirms celery can help improve cholesterol, blood sugar, circulation. Celery has also been shown to protect the liver against toxins and may help people with gout and other arthritic conditions.

Apigenin can increase nitric oxide, a chemical in the body that opens up blood vessels and improves circulation. That delivers more nutrients and oxygen to tissues, which is a great thing. This is super important for skin, joints, brain and gut health.

Celery can also help promote healthy blood pressure and has powerful anti-cancer nutrients. In traditional botanical medicine, celery is considered a kidney tonic and can promote kidney health.

For all of those reasons, and also because drinking the celery juice is a non-caffeinated way to hydrate in the morning and give you an energy boost, celery is a great way to start your day. If you’re sleeping for eight hours, which I hope you are because that’s what the research shows is the sweet spot for restful, restorative sleep, when you wake up it’s really great to hydrate in the morning with healthy liquid. Water is great. Or in this case, we drink 15 ounces of celery juice every day. If you need some help with sleep, look at all of NBI’s sleep support resources.

You want to use a juicer that extracts the pulp. We have the Breville 800JEXL, but others I’m sure will work just as well. I don’t have any financial ties to this company. This is just what we’ve used for many years.

As a little tip, putting a bag in the pulp container makes cleanup a snap. Just pull out the lining full of pulp and toss it. The whole machine takes only about three minutes to clean.

We each drink 15 ounces of celery juice each morning. One head of celery makes about 15 ounces of juice. Organic produce tends to have more nutrients and I think it tastes better. Organic vegetables and fruit also don’t have the pesticide residues that conventional produce has. For those reasons, we only buy organic celery, and I highly recommend you do the same for you and your family. While it may cost a bit more than conventional celery, given the higher nutritional content of organics you’ll be getting your money’s worth.

So try celery juice. 15 ounces a day. I love it. Some people say it’s an acquired taste, but I think it tastes fantastic. More than that, I love the way I feel.  Naturally alert, awake and energetic. It’s helped my skin, my focus, my ability to process information and my energy. And on laboratory tests, my kidney function has improved. So, give it a try. Cheers!

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