The Good and Bad of a Stalk of Celery
The Skinny On....
Celery - To Eat or Not To Eat!
Celery Root Soup
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We Use It Everywhere! Do You Crave It?
What's in a stalk of celery, besides water?
Oops...sugar. I'll tell you the bad first, it's a short list.
Celery's Bad
Celery is high in sodium and what calories it has are mainly from the sugar, with which it is loaded.
It has over the 100 glycemic allowable load by 150; meaning celery contains about 250 of the glycemic load. Way too much if you are concerned about diabetes. Munch carefully.
Celery's Good:
Celery is mildly anti-inflammatory. If you have a typical anti-inflammatory goal of 50 as your target load, celery contains 14 of that. That's good, many foods are better.
Celery is also low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Pantothenic Acid, Calcium, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Folate, Potassium and Manganese.
See? That makes it a good snack, if you're not concerned about the sugar. Moderation, please!
Some "experts" say that celery has negative calories because it takes more energy to burn it up than what calories came into your body by eating it.
However, that's not necessarily true due to the effect of the sugar on the body when you eat celery or other high sugar content foods.
One cup of cooked celery,chopped contains about 27 calories if it was cooked unsalted and in water.
That same cup contains:
- Vitamin A17%
- Vitamin C15%
- Calcium 6%
- Iron 3%
- Thiamin 4%
- Riboflavin 4%
- Niacin 2%
- Pantothenic Acid 3%
- Vitamin B 66%
- Potassium12%
- Phosphorus 4%
- Magnesium 4%
- Zinc 1%
- Copper 3%
So, you can judge for yourself if you want to munch it raw or use it cooked, either way there are many health benefits, if you can stand the added sugar to your diet.
We all love it in soups, salads, and dips. Since most of us consume less than 1 cup of it when we include it recipes, we're not in too much danger of gaining weight from less than 27 calories.
I repeat...watch the sugar and salt content. And, get this...
1 cup of RAW celery, is 16 calories, 1 large stalk is about 10 calories,
I don't know why the cooked celery increases it's calories...we'll leave that for other "experts.."
In summary, snack away, but be careful and don't eat your weight in it if you're worried about sugar and we all should. (There! With all the warnings about the sugar in this piece, I feel blameless.)
Comments
This was interesting especially for me. I never knew celery could be a problem for people with a predisposition for diabetes. Keep up the good work. another great hub. PS have you had a look at my latest on seahorses and serial killers?
Hi sixtyorso! Thanks, I'm not the nutrionist that level1diet is...my brother. But I wanted to do a few short good and bad type of what to eat - quick vitamin things...plus, I just hit 100 hubs...seems the counter on here says 99 tho' sheeesh one more coming up hahah
Seahorses and serial killers??? I'm headin' over to read!!
Hi Carol...it's scarey that sugar is in so many things. Good luck to him and check out level1diet's tips on here too. Always good to see you!
So interesting...so why do I crave it? I just love a stalk of raw celery every day mostly??? and cook with it always...used to be carrots.....Thanks for this cool information am enjoying it...Congrats on 100....G-Ma :o) hugs
Hi G-Ma, I hope it helps you...you are probably craving the crunch and salt of it...you also may be a bit dehydrated and are using celery to fulfill all those needs, but the sugar is not good!! try some pork skins without salt if you can find them...or carrots even better!! for the crunch, and drink water....k? wean away from the salt...
I bet it's the salt that's doing it...plus they're sweet! carrots would do the same and they're much better for you. good luck...course I'm not an expert in this, but have a bit of knowledge, Probably not enough to matter hahaha
Good hub - especially liked the point about moderation. A little celery can pep up most savoury dishes. Didn't know about the sugar - thanks. And congrats on the 100 - we've got a long way to go.
I didn't either, until I looked all this up...I don't eat much of it but use it a lot in dishes...cooking it takes some of the sugar out thanks for reading....2pat!!
Very interesting and original.
more than any of us wanted to know about celery hahahaha stay tuned for the scoop on peanut butter...
I had no idea. I'm off to the store to buy some stalks. Munch-crunch...
celery is great stuffed with cream cheese or peanut butter. I too didn't know about the sugar. Interesting! I'm going on over to become your brothers fan so I can get some more health tips. Adios.
Hi dottie....yes if you add all that fish oil to your intake...you'll be dancing a jig and feeling no pain...happy "fishing." =))
If the peanut butter into diamonds doesnt work....how about celery into diamonds?
Hi torino70, I bot a ring with a stone in it that was clear/light green...it could have been celery, -- who knows what we buy anymore, as to where it comes from?? =)
lol. a celery ring? what kind of jewlery store you buy from?? i hate to tell you this , youve been had :)
Its the coolest color, some kind of crystal probably but it had an official name and was $$$ =)))
Im glad it wasnt real celery in the ring, you were gonna need to find another jewlery store
most of my stuff comes from cracker jacks....haha
i love your style girl so tell me what is leukemia and are you a doctor
Glycemic Response to Celery
There are so few digestible carbs in Celery that they have no noticeable effect on blood sugar levels.
Well there is one more bad about celery, that I would never have thought! I and my husband just started to eat a lot of celery a month ago. Well we went to give blood today, and our iron is VERY low! The FDA pamphlet we recieved on what to do said too much celery causes your body to greatly reduce iron absorbsion! RRRR I can't believe it. We are trying to eat healthy, but it bites us in the ***.
Hi Faith, Nope, no doctor here. As for Lukemia, I'd have to research it.
this post is ridiculous. there is nothing wrong with celery. the 'sodium' and 'sugar' you find in it is completely natural and good for you. also, celery isn't "low" in saturated fat and cholesterol....it has absolutely none! only animal products have those things.
Hi Felix, well, I think most people who read this actually get that I'm speaking positively about celery, but there are some people who would not agree with it being good for them, as their digestive systems can't process it well, sooooo I think the good of celery is relative.
But thanks for reading and I agree for the most part, that celery is a good thing! However, natural sugar and natural sodium, is still sugar and sodium, and is not necessarily good for you if you get too much from other foods. Let the "eater" decide for themselves, eh?
You're right, low in saturated fat and cholesterol should have read, O. =)) However, you can state your opinion a bit more nicely, I might add.
Raw/whole foods contain its own digestive enzymes to aid in its own digestion. Refined/cooked foods do not (as the heating process has killed them).
Substances in foods (including the macro-nutrients sugar, protein, and fat) are not their best if it is not in a raw/whole state. This means the food may have been heated beyond a certain temperature and, thus, lacks its own digestive enzymes and much of the vitamins.
To digest these "now-mutated" substances, your pancreas must now draw on the body's own metabolic enzyme reserves (those enzymes required by your body to keep you healthy) to digest the refined or cooked substances.
This process creates a domino effect within your body's metabolism. The end result makes one think all sugar is bad. It's not the sugars in whole foods that are bad - it's the sugars in REFINED or COOKED foods that are bad . . . especially if eaten with fats.
Even though it may contain a higher proportion of sugar, the sugar found in RAW celery is no big deal. I've been eating at least one head a day for two years and cannot get enough of it.
Hi Marjah99,thanks for lending your expertise!! I've always read that sugar in "real" food was less harmful...we have certainly processed ourselves right into several diseases, huh?
Come back soon and thanks so much for the comment!!
The reason I caution everyone about any sugar content, is that my mother was a severe diabetic and so is my brother, and any sugar for them, had to be closely monitored.
I think the reminder about sugar in celery ( or any fruit or veg for that matter) is a good thing. People often forget that these things do have natural sugar because they are good for us. If however you are getting your sugar fix via celery,apples or other fruits and not having processed refined on top of it you are going to be OK, the warning as I understood it was for people who's bodies don't process sugar correctly and have to monitor their sugar levels. In those cases it important to be aware of hidden sugar, especially if you are eating refined sugar too. If you need to get your sugar fix celery, apples and other nutritionally dense is your best bet.
I have been eating atleast 1 - 2 bunches of celery a week!!! I never realised it had sugar in it. I was recently diagnosed with a hiatus hernia and has to avoid food like bread, fuzzy drinks, pasta, starch, etc. The bunch of celery with provita's has been my lunch for about 2 months now with a fruit for a snack inbetween. At the same time I have to loose weight - I'm not overly weight but has to loose weight never the less. What now!?!?!?!
Lets put this into perspective. All plant foods have carbohydrates. Thats is where our main source of energy comes from. We need it. Celery has 2g of sugar/cup raw. That means that you would have to eat 2 cups of celery to equal 1 tiny tsp of sugar. You also get 2 g of fiber, which slows down the rate at which sugar enters the blood stream, keeping you full longer. Cooked celery has more per cup because 1 cup raw = 1/2 cup cooked due to water loss and and end product that is more concentrated. Bottom line: If you are looking to reduce the sugar in your diet, celery is probably the last food to go after. And it is not going to cause low iron, it may contain some mineral-binding phytates but that food alone is not going to drive iron stores down. You probably should focus on increasing your iron-containing foods.
I liked this article and never knew about the sugar and the sodium, but also appreciate the fact reading it is minimal and to still enjoy it.
Most Cajun recipes celery is a must so good to know.
Indeed jdrd is correct. I am a little surprised that no one caught this error. The reference to celery being 'loaded' with sugar is not just a difference of relative interpretation, it's simply wrong. Good call jdrd.
Celery is higher in calories when cooked becasue it naturally begins with large amounts of water, and when cooked some of this water is removed decreasing the volume of the calorie. this is the opposite of Oatmeal(130 calories per 1/3 cup). Raw oatmeal is nearly 400 calories per cup dry, but one dry cup of oatmeal makes 3-4 cups of cooked oatmeal(unlike celery, oatmeal starts out with little to no water, and absorbs it when cooked.
So does celery contain sugar?
Hi, Where are you getting your information regarding celery's glycemic load? Many online nutrition sources list celery as having very low glycemic load, below 30. This site lists celery's estimated glycemic load as 1! http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and
If you have a reliable source for your claim, please state it.
Everthing i've seen indicates that celery has low glycemic load.the fact that most of its calories come from sugar is misleading as the total calories is so low.
i heard that celery is an all natural muscle building steroid is that true?
Your comment about celery's "high" sodium content is very misleading, because although it has high sodium, it is the best type of sodium to consume and can actually help with adrenal function, nerve function and muscle contraction. Unlike that you might get from refined salt, the sodium levels in celery, zucchini etc is a necessary mineral. The lack of the right kind of sodium can lead to heart trouble, low blood sugar, and lethargy.
I recommend getting your nutrition information from dietitians. They would tell you 1. Eat celery. you will get tired of chewing before you consume too much sugar, salt or calories. 2. Before you judge any food, you should know your personal goals for calories, fat, protein and carb. Then you can understand how that food fits into your eating plan.
The glycemic load of celery is basically zero, eating celery will not even remotely increase your blood sugar
what a bunch of BS...celery high in sugar...a whole flippin' cup has 2 gram...woopee!
Hi, I'm a microbiologist with a little experience in biochemistry.
Yes, celery technically has "salt" and "sugar" but these are not the same species of salt and sugar most often associated with dietary sugar and salt. You will notice that the nutrition information of a bag of celery (I'm holding one right now!) will often list sugars as 0g and salt as very low (generally ~1.5g per stick.) That's because this is counting very certain types of sugars and sodium species - the bad kinds.
Very similar is the dietary "protein," which by no means measures the actual amount of protein in a food - almost everything is made of protein, including cell walls, enzymes, EVERYTHING. But the dietary "protein" is a very specific subset of proteins, just as dietary sugar and sodium.
The point is: celery is fine and has absolutely no downsides
You really should make sure you know what you are talking about before you post something! Celery is fine for diabetics! People go to RELIABLE sites like the American Diabetic Association - don't EVER listen to someone with NO medical training whatsoever!
cvaughn570 3 years ago
This was very interesting to me because my dad is diabetic. Who would have thought that celery had sugar? Not me.
Thanks, Carol