 Drinking celery juice is probably a terrible idea for many people today. Now you might have seen this video of the medical medium or you might have seen one of thousands of YouTube videos or news articles claiming that by drinking 50, 60, 70, 80 ounces of celery juice a day, you can reverse all of the issues that you have and it is the panacea of the ages. Now for some people, no doubt about it, this may help and I'm all for eating more vegetables but I'm shooting this video for you, the person who drank 50 ounces of celery juice and you know you feel much worse. So let's jump in and let's talk about who should and who should. Hey guys, I'm Dr. Alex Hain, doctor of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine and author of the health book, Master of the Day. Now what is actually medicinal in celery juice? Why has this become such a fad where people are drinking dozens and dozens of ounces of this as opposed to being a lot more sensible and just eating celery in their food? We're just eating more vegetables. Now a lot of this comes from the medical medium who has a book and it has celery on the front and for some reason the internet has taken this by storm or celery has taken the internet by storm and people are thinking that this is the thing that will reverse my chronic health problems. Now look, celery juice really does have health benefits but let's jump into literature and I wanna show you what some of those benefits are. Now in one particular study here, this first research paper is called a review of the antioxidant activity of celery and what the researchers found was that celery has certain chemicals like for example, flavonoids, common in fruits and vegetables and vitamins A and C. So certain compounds in the celery like flavonoids that are common in fruits and veggies as well as vitamins A and C are the reason why celery is a commonly used traditional medicine plant at least certainly in India. Now in particular, flavonoids which are widely spread in plants have antioxidant effects that have been investigated in many studies such as coronary heart disease, diabetes and also cancer. Now in another study which is called the beneficial effects of celery on metabolic syndrome, a review of the existing evidences. Now in this research paper, the researchers found that the phytochemicals in celery actually decrease the activity of these pro-inflammatory cytokines meaning it prevents and decreases inflammation. Now the flavonoids also suppress cardiovascular inflammation, oxidative stress and inflammation in the bloodstream are the main risk factors in increased cardiovascular disease, especially atherosclerosis. So look, I live in America where cardiovascular issues are the number one cause of death I think among men and women. So something like this that can maybe help with the inflammation and maybe decrease some of those risk factors of course would be beneficial. But is drinking 60 ounces of celery juice going to be the big thing or the biggest thing that has that effect on your body? No, it won't. Let's talk about who is harmed by drinking 60 ounces of celery juice because I'll never forget, I had a guy come into my practice recently in the last year or two and he said I was reading up all about celery juice and the celery juice cleanse. Now the reason I'm in your office is because I was drinking 50 or 60 ounces of celery juice per day and I was getting severe bloating, severe diarrhea, severe abdominal cramping and abdominal pain and now after doing it for weeks I have no appetite. I have abdominal pain and cramping with almost every meal and I haven't had a solid bowel movement in six months. This video is for you, that kind of person because lots of people will get worse doing this kind of cleanse. So let's go to traditional Chinese medicine which is what I practice. Within TCM foods and herbs and minerals, medications all have what's called a temperature quality. So we say things are either they're chi which is basically temperature or the way which is the flavor. Now when we talk about celery juice it is very cold because raw vegetables and raw foods are considered very, very cold. Now the problem is you would want to use this for people who have issues due to heat and one of the most common issues we see is what we call stomach heat. People with stomach heat tend to be let's say red in the face, they tend towards acid reflux, indigestion, that kind of thing, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high lipids, all of that. These people sure will benefit from having more veggies and more raw veggies in their diet but the specific somatotype that tends to be harmed from this is what we call people prone to spleen cheat deficiency. These people basically have issues with low enzymes and often low stomach acid. And what happens is because they're also prone to SIBO and fungal issues like candida and yeast they are already prone to low appetite, bloating, loose stools, that kind of thing. So what happens when you throw a block of ice into a gut that's like a block of ice? You get stasis, you get stagnation. If you look at a leaf frozen in the winter, if the wind blows it's like this, right? And then if you look at a leaf that's thawed when the wind is blowing in the summer, it's smooth. The same thing happens in your body where there is stagnation that is where issues come from and look at cardiovascular disease, strokes and heart attacks. When the flow of blood is blocked off for a period of time it causes a stroke or it causes a heart attack that can kill you or can paralyze you for life. In the same way in the gut for a lot of people cold and raw vegetables are contraindicated meaning do not have a lot of cold and raw vegetables celery juice being one of the coldest for a certain constitutional type. Now one research paper here really outlines the core pattern of this spleen sheet efficient certain genetic type. This paper is called the current concept of spleen stomach theory and spleen deficiency syndrome in TCM. And they say the diagnostic criteria in common are poor appetite, abdominal fullness after a meal, loose bowel movements, pale or salo complexion and fatigue, esthania, atrophied muscle and pale tongue with a thin white coating. So celery, very cold substances will improve conditions due to heat in TCM like people eating a standard American diet with lots of reflux and indigestion and bad breath and high blood sugar cholesterol but will worsen people with what I just shared. And that is dangerous because lots of people come in with this spleen sheet efficiency syndrome not enough enzymes, low stomach acid, SIBO, candida, yeast. One of the most common conditions today I see. I've also put together a guide which is four D the rituals that can help you add years to your life with traditional Chinese medicine. So it's how to heal with TCM. It's the first link below this video. And also I'm taking on new patients in my practice in Los Angeles for a virtually via telemedicine. So you can reach out and contact my private practice right below this video. All right guys, my two cents on celery juice from the point of view of a TCM doctor. Before you go, I also have a related video on this topic right up here.