Introducing Celery Juice (Miracles Not Included)
We have celebratory news. By popular demand, Greenhouse is now offering organic, cold-pressed celery juice. This savoury, single-ingredient juice is available in 946 mL bottles in our stores and online. And lest there be any ribbing on the subject—know that we’re selling vegetable juice here, not miracles.
Since the fall of 2018, when the morning ritual of drinking 16 oz (~500 mL) of raw celery juice before breakfast exploded on Instagram and elsewhere, celery juice has become the most-requested product in Greenhouse’s history. We have received countless emails, phone calls, social media comments, and in-store inquiries on the subject. You’re a juice company, our community was telling us—please, do us a favour and juice some celery!
We didn’t, though. Not right away. As with any wellness trend, we approached the buzz around celery juice with skepticism. We’re always keen to research the latest “super” ingredient, but we’re seldom in a rush to jump on bandwagons. For example, a few years ago we received an influx of requests for a “detox” juice containing activated charcoal. However, we determined that while activated charcoal can have powerful effects when administered under medical guidance, it wasn’t an ingredient we felt comfortable using in beverages for regular consumption.
Celery is, of course, different from charcoal. A plant we’ve been dipping in the Skippy jar since childhood, celery contains a range of antioxidants and minerals including vitamin K, vitamin C, potassium, folate, manganese, calcium, and magnesium. While eating celery remains an excellent idea (juicing eliminates insoluble fibre), celery juice delivers the above-stated phytonutrients in a higher dose than you can realistically get by munching on stalk after stalk. Celery juice is also low in sugar, with only 3 g per 250 mL, and thanks to its potassium and sodium content (8% of your RDV of each per 250 mL), it helps to replenish electrolytes, making it a great natural sports drink and hangover helper.
Indeed, celery has had a place in our juices from the very start. It provides The Good with its signature savoury taste, which we bring out with a pinch of Himalayan salt. It contributes to Genius’s cleverness (luteolin, a flavonoid found in celery, has been shown to help calm inflammation in the brain); adds crispness to The Giver; and anchors the sweeter notes in Deep Roots and Harvest. We initially responded to requests for celery juice by suggesting these blends. If you’re looking to soak up the health benefits of celery, we reasoned, what harm could there be in a side of romaine, spinach, cucumber, and lemon? This didn’t work at all. Just celery, came the unanimous reply of community members who had tried it, and felt positive benefits.
The purist approach stems from the man at the heart of the craze: Anthony William, a best-selling author who calls himself the “Medical Medium.” William is not a doctor, dietitian, or nutritionist. He gets his insights from the “Spirit of Compassion,” according to his website, which features personal endorsements from 53 celebrities including actors Robert De Niro, James Van Der Beek, Courtney Cox, Alexis Bledel, and Debra Messing; tennis star Novak Djokovic; well-known author and cardiologist Dr. Alejandro Junger; and, of course, Gwyneth Paltrow, whose media platform Goop has been instrumental in bringing William’s message to a wider audience.
William has long touted 16 oz of pure and preferably organic celery juice drunk on an empty stomach at least 15 minute before breakfast as a “miraculous healing remedy.” William attributes celery juice’s powers to “undiscovered cluster salts,” which dieticians have pointed out, may be undiscovered because they don’t exist. The extent of the celebrity-fuelled hype around celery juice has frustrated many nutrition experts, who argue that William’s claims don’t hold water—of which celery is largely composed. (“Actually, You Can Just Drink Some Water,” reads a dry headline from The Atlantic on the subject.)
So by releasing a pure celery juice is Greenhouse suggesting that Hollywood and the Spirit of Compassion are all we need by way of evidence, and miracles are forthcoming for all? We are not.
We are releasing celery juice because we are squarely on team vegetable. Drinking celery juice every morning is not risky behaviour. Moreover, we know from experience that filling your plate, bowl, and glass with more plants, more often, can have a powerful effect on your health, both in the short term and in the long term. Cluster salts or no cluster salts, adding a tall glass of nutrient-dense green juice to your morning routine is likely to make you feel pretty darned good. Friends, you asked, and we pressed. If celery is your go-to, we say, go forth!
