Celery Smoothie Recipe

Ants on a log

Back in the diet-crazed days of the 1990s, the word was that the act of eating a stick of celery expended more energy than there was in the celery itself.

Hence, celery will always remind us of those days. Celery was practically its own food group; smeared with the merest hint of cottage cheese or some sort of dip and pretending to be a meal.

Or, perhaps it reminds you more of your favourite after-school snack? Ants on a log’ is one of America’s favourite after-school snacks. To make it, simply spread a celery stick with peanut butter and delicately place raisins up and down the length of the celery ‘log’. These are your ants. It’s nifty open secret among parents that vegetables made into convincing creepy-crawly tableaux are a good way to get your kids to eat their fruit and veg.

As adults, too often we leave it behind, coming across it only in prepackaged salads or hidden deep within a soffrito. And yet, celery is brilliant for us.

Celery: an underrated vegetable

Much like cucumber or spinach, celery contains a large percentage of water. Yet, it punches seriously above its weight in terms of nutritional content.

A literature review found evidence that celery may help with myriad health issues, such as cardiovascular health, fertility, regulating blood pressure and fighting free radicals.(1)

What’s more, it has been shown to have anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory effects. So what else is in there, alongside the water?

Celery contains vitamins C and A, which are important in immunity and healthy vision. On top of this, it contains phenols - known to be good antioxidants - such as flavonoids, alkaloids and sterols.(1)

In short, it’s an incredibly lightweight way to add extra nutritional heft to your smoothie.

Sweetness, power and fire

While we love celery, we’re not advocating for a return to the ‘celery-is-a-meal’ thinking of the ‘90s. Instead, it’s much better to match your celery up with some fruity companions. Conveniently, they’ll also add their own vitamins and minerals to your morning smoothie.

For instance, orange juice provides vitamin C and bananas supply potassium. A little bit of lemon juice brings the flavours together and adds an additional citrus hit.

For a balanced breakfast, you’ll want to add in protein in the form of oats and seeds. We love pumpkin seeds here, as (like celery) they’re secretly packed with good stuff.

Promising scientific studies have noted impressive health effects from pumpkin seeds. For example, their bioactive compounds may help in the fight against diabetes, depression, infections and disorders of the liver and prostate.(2)

Meanwhile, oats are very nutritious in their own right. Beyond the protein and fibre they provide, you can count vitamin E, folate, zinc, iron, selenium, copper, manganese and choline among their impressive library of natural compounds.(3)

And how about adding a bit of fire? We adore ginger in a smoothie - not just for its flavour, but for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, too.(4)

Erbology Organic Milk Thistle Oil

One final step that we love including in our smoothie recipes: a healthy oil. Turning back to the diet-crazy days of the ‘90s, oils and fats were vilified perhaps more than any other food group. That means that many of us still hold onto misconceptions about fats in general.

The first thing to mention is: the right kind of fats are incredibly good for us. While you should entirely avoid trans fats, and the jury is still out on saturated fats (head over to our article on good and bad fats for more on that), unsaturated fats support our health.

For instance, including a spoonful of our Organic Milk Thistle Oil in your smoothie provides you with vitamin E, omega-6, omega-3 and phytonutrients which fight free radicals.

All of these have an important function in the body. Vitamin E looks after your skin, hair and nails, and is also an antioxidant. Omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids work in tandem to support heart and brain health. Finally, additional phytonutrients stop free radicals from causing cell damage and ageing.

Hence, a healthy fat is an excellent addition to any meal. Milk thistle has a mild, slightly nutty flavour which works particularly well here, but you could also sub in hemp or poppy seed oil if you prefer.

Either way, you can rest assured that your smoothie is filled to the brim with healthy nutrients to set you up for a great day ahead.