Celery
Parts Usually Used
Juice, roots, leaves, and seeds
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
Celery is a widely cultivated, biennial plant; the fleshy, bulbous root sends up, in the second year, an angular, furrowed, branched stem from 1-3 feet high. Celery leaves are opposite, dark green, shiny, and pinnate, the leaflets wedge-shaped, incised, coarsely toothed. The white to gray-white flowers bloom in paniculate compound umbels from July to November. The fruit is a small, ribbed, elliptic-ovate seed.
Other varieties: Leaf, French or Chinese celery (A. graveolens var. secalinum) or (A graveolens var. par-cel) native to Europe and Asia.
Where Found
Cultivated and also grows wild in salty soils of North and South America, Europe, and Africa.
Medicinal Properties
Appetizer, aromatic, diuretic, emmenagogue, stimulant Seeds: carminative, sedative
Biochemical Information
Essential oil, flavonic glycoside and a furanocoumarin (bergaptene), iron and vitamins A, B, and C
Legends, Myths and Stories
In the older civilized parts it was cultivated prior to the Christian era. Now it is cultivated in the British Isles, India and the United States and Canada. Wild celery (A. graveolens) Native American names: Shoshone, “Hobe”; Paiute, “Yeduts”; Washoe, “Mo-zook-addas”; in Warm Springs, Oregon, “P’tish-p’tish” dried and used for perfume. ”
Uses
Historical herbalists utilized celery to address systemic acidity, particularly excess uric acid. Traditional preparations commonly involved simmering the seeds into a tea, which was historically administered for arthritis, liver complaints, muscle spasms, elevated blood pressure, and as a general sedative. Herbalists also viewed the juice and oil as emmenagogues to encourage menstruation.
The expressed juice, especially from the petioles, was traditionally favored as an alkaline tonic to support the elimination of metabolic waste. Folk practitioners recommended it for complaints associated with fluid retention, rheumatism, gout, lumbago, flatulence, neuralgia, poor appetite, and indigestion, as well as to stimulate perspiration. Celery was additionally regarded as a diuretic and applied in cases of chronic kidney complaints and bladder issues.
Both the fresh vegetable and seed teas were traditionally utilized in folk medicine to address various skin complaints. Furthermore, historical sources recorded the use of seed decoctions for bronchitis and nervous tension, while an oil derived from the root was historically administered for diminished sexual vitality following illness.
How Sold
This vegetable or the seeds can be purchased in almost any supermarket.
Warning
Bergaptene in the seeds could increase photosensitivity, so do not apply the essential oil in the bright sunshine. Avoid the oil and large doses of the seeds during pregnancy: they can act as a uterine stimulant. Do not buy seeds intended for cultivation, they are often treated with fungicides. Celery juice and celery oil should not be used during pregnancy.
Bibliography
Medical Medium Celery Juice: The Most Powerful Medicine of Our Time Healing Millions Worldwide , by Anthony William (Author) The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974. The Nature Doctor: A Manual of Traditional and Complementary Medicine , by Dr. A. , 27 Pine Street (Box 876) New Canaan, CT. 06840-0876. Copyright Verlag A. Vogel, Teufen (AR) Switzerland 1952, 1991 Old Ways Rediscovered , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, published from 1954, print 1988 Chinese Medicinal Herbs , compiled by Shih-Chen Li, Georgetown Press, San Francisco, California, 1973.
, West Nyack, NY, 1987. , Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. , Copyright 1988, published 1992 The Complete Medicinal Herbal , by Penelope Ody, Dorling Kindersley, Inc, 232 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, First American Edition, copyright 1993 Indian Herbalogy of North America , by Alma R. , Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, 1973 Prescription for Nutritional Healing, Fifth Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements , by James F.
D. and Phyllis A. , 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023