Celery is 95% water. One stalk (40 g) has only 6 kcal, which is why it gets called a “negative calorie” food. That idea is a myth.
In a small lab test of 15 women, digesting 100 g of celery used about 14 kcal over three hours. The authors had counted the celery as 16 kcal. That is close to what the celery supplied, but not more.
Stalk celery, celeriac (the root type) and the leafy smallage are one species, Apium graveolens, bred for different parts of the plant. In the EU, celery is one of 14 allergens that must be declared on food labels. Some allergic people still react to it after cooking. The US list of nine major allergens leaves celery out.
Celery is one of only 17 foods in our database with measured apigenin, a plant compound that parsley and chamomile also hold. Celery has 2.85 mg per 100 g. Fresh parsley juice held about ten times more flavones (the compound family apigenin belongs to) than fresh celery juice.
The celery juice trend, which took off around 2019, rests on big claims that no trial has tested.
Health benefits of celery
The top findings from 23 studies, strongest evidence first
What the stars mean
- Strong. Several randomized trials, pooled in a meta-analysis, point the same way, or regulators (FDA or EFSA) have approved the claim.
- Moderate. Good randomized trials support it, but there are fewer of them, or their results vary.
- Limited. Small, short or single trials, or mixed results. Promising, but it needs confirmation.
Population and lab studies get no stars: they show a link or a mechanism, not proof.
How we rate evidence →- ★★Lower blood pressure with celery productsAcross 10 trials with 511 people, celery preparations, including seed extracts, lowered both blood pressure numbers. In 52 people with hypertension, seed extract lowered 24-hour pressure from 141/92 to 130/84 mm Hg.
- ★★Lower fasting blood sugar in some trialsFasting glucose fell from 109 to 98 mg/dL on seed extract in 51 people with hypertension. Ten pooled trials found a drop that was only just clear of chance, but celery powder did not help in type 2 diabetes.
- ★Lower triglycerides and uric acidIn 28 people with metabolic syndrome, 150 mg of celery seed a day for 12 weeks lowered triglycerides (from 2.3 to 1.8 mmol/L). Uric acid fell too (from 297 to 262 µmol/L).
- ★Better sexual function scores in womenIn 80 women with sexual dysfunction, 500 mg of celery seed three times a day for 6 weeks improved questionnaire scores more than placebo. The outcome was self-reported.
- ★Cooked celery can still trigger allergyIn challenge tests with 12 people who had reacted to celery before, all 5 tested reacted to celery spice. In 4 people the reaction held even after canned celery was heated for the equivalent of 76 minutes at 100°C.
All 23 studies, strongest evidence first
Celery products lowered blood pressure, fasting glucose and triglycerides, not cholesterol
This meta-analysis pooled 10 randomized trials with 511 people, using celery preparations that include seed extracts and other parts. Standardized drops, a unit-free effect size, were 1.0 for systolic and 0.93 for diastolic blood pressure. They were 0.80 for fasting glucose, only just clear of chance, and 1.18 for triglycerides; total and LDL cholesterol did not clearly fall. Results varied a lot, seeds or doses above 1,000 mg a day worked better than other parts, and the authors want larger, longer trials.
Celery seed extract lowered 24-hour blood pressure in hypertension
This triple-blind crossover trial gave 52 people 1.34 g a day of celery seed extract or a dummy pill (placebo) for four weeks. Their round-the-clock blood pressure fell from 141/92 to 130/84 mm Hg, while it did not clearly change on placebo. This was a supplement, not stalks, and side effects did not differ between the two. The trial was small and short, and the result needs repeating by other research teams.
Celery powder did not improve blood sugar, pressure or fats in diabetes
This pilot randomized, double-blind trial gave 750 mg a day of powder made from fresh celery for 12 weeks to adults with type 2 diabetes. In all, 50 overweight or obese adults on a low-calorie diet took part, and 36 finished (18 per group). Body fat percentage clearly fell in the celery group, but the between-group changes in heart and metabolic markers could be chance. The authors suggest further studies.
Digesting 100 g celery used about 14 kcal, less than it gave
This lab test measured energy use in 15 healthy young women after an overnight fast, by indirect calorimetry, for 180 minutes (3 hours). The authors counted the 100 g portion as 16 kcal. Total diet-induced thermogenesis (energy used to digest food) was 13.76 kcal, about 86% of that, so it did not give a negative energy balance. This is a short conference report from a small group, not a full paper.
Celery seed extract lowered fasting glucose from 109 to 98 mg/dL
In this randomized, triple-blind crossover trial, 51 people with hypertension took 1.34 g of extract a day or placebo for 4 weeks. They stayed on their usual medicines, and LDL cholesterol fell by 11.8 mg/dL. Blood cells and blood salts did not clearly change, and liver and kidney markers improved slightly. The authors note the small size and ask for larger trials.
150 mg celery seed daily lowered blood pressure, triglycerides and uric acid
This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial ran for 12 weeks in 28 people with metabolic syndrome (14 per group). In the celery seed group, systolic pressure fell from 121.0 to 115.7 and diastolic from 82.2 to 78.5 mm Hg. Triglycerides fell from 2.3 to 1.8 mmol/L and uric acid from 297 to 262 µmol/L. Insulin sensitivity and secretion did not clearly change.
Celery leaf extract lowered fasting and after-meal glucose in older adults
This small quasi-experimental trial randomly split 16 adults older than 60 with prediabetes into celery and placebo groups. The celery group took 250 mg of leaf extract three times a day for 12 days. Both glucose measures clearly fell, while the rise in insulin could be chance. Sixteen people for 12 days is very little to go on.
Celery seed supplements improved sexual function scores in women
This double-blind, placebo-controlled trial gave 80 women with sexual dysfunction (40 per group) 500 mg of celery seed three times a day for 6 weeks. Scores for desire, arousal, lubrication and pain on a questionnaire, the Female Sexual Function Index, improved more than on placebo. No serious side effects were noticed. It tested celery seed as a supplement, and the outcome was self-reported.
Apiaceous vegetables, including celery, lowered CYP1A2 enzyme activity
In this randomized crossover feeding trial, 73 people ate four diets for 2 weeks each. Apiaceous vegetables, such as celery, carrots, parsnips, parsley and their relatives, were added to a cruciferous (cabbage-family) diet. The enzyme activates some carcinogens; its activity, read from a urine caffeine test, recovered modestly one day after the vegetables were removed. The abstract does not say how much was celery, or link the change to drug levels or health.
Six-day apiaceous diets lowered CYP1A2 activity; brassicas raised it
This randomized crossover feeding study included 36 non-smoking adults aged 20 to 40 (19 men, 17 women). They ate four controlled 6-day diets: no vegetables, or brassica, allium (onion family) or apiaceous vegetables. Activity came from a urine test after 200 mg of caffeine. Apiaceous vegetables, which include celery, lowered it against the vegetable-free and allium diets.
Pure apigenin was poorly absorbed: 0.5% in urine, against 11.2% from parsley
This study in healthy men tracked apigenin and its breakdown products after pure apigenin, a parsley drink and chamomile tea (34% in urine). The parsley drink held the sugar-bound form of apigenin that celery leaves also have. It did not test celery itself.
6 of 11 celery-allergic people reacted to cooked celery
These double-blind challenges, where neither side knew what was given, included 12 people with a history of reactions to celery. All 5 tested reacted to celery spice, and the cooked celery had been heated at 110°C for 15 minutes. In 4 people the reaction held even after canned celery was heated to the equivalent of 76 minutes at 100°C. Heat-resistant allergens, such as profilin (Api g 4) and sugar-based structures, were involved.
Celery root Anita caused fewer allergy symptoms than Prinz in 14 patients
This study of celeriac (celery root) varieties included 16 patients whose celery allergy was confirmed by food challenge. Skin reactions to Anita were smaller than to Prinz (5.0 against 7.0 mm), and Anita held less of the major allergen Api g 1. In a controlled eating challenge with both varieties, Anita caused fewer symptoms in 14 patients. Fewer symptoms does not mean no symptoms.
One man’s blood pressure fell on daily celery juice
This case report describes a single 74-year-old man treated for neck pain. Over 6 months of daily celery juice, his blood pressure fell from 150/80 to 118/82 mm Hg. He also had 14 chiropractic visits, and no weight, exercise or other lifestyle change was reported. One person cannot show cause and effect, and a PubMed search for celery juice and blood pressure found no trial.
Green vegetables, chives and celery linked to lower colorectal cancer risk
This case-control study in Harbin, China, compared 336 people with colon or rectal cancer with an equal number of hospital controls with other non-cancer diseases. Past diet came from interviews. The abstract names celery only as part of that group and gives no separate figure for it. It is an old study, and recall of past diet is imperfect.
Women with highest luteolin intake had 34% lower ovarian cancer risk
This was the Nurses’ Health Study: 66,940 US women and 347 cases from 1984 to 2002. Luteolin is a flavone found in celery, and intake of five flavonoids, including luteolin and apigenin, was estimated from dietary data collected over time. The five together showed no clear link (0.75 times the risk), and kaempferol went with a 40% lower risk. Celery is one source among many foods, and the abstract highlights luteolin and kaempferol, not apigenin.
Flavonols and flavones were not linked to total or site-specific cancer
The Women’s Health Study followed 38,408 women for 11.5 years, with 3,234 cancers. The top fifth of flavonoid intake, against the bottom, had risk ratios of 1.03 for breast, 1.01 for colorectal and 1.03 for lung cancer. They were 1.15 for endometrial and 1.09 for ovarian cancer, none beyond chance. The foods it examined were tea, apple, broccoli, onion and tofu, not celery.
30 of 127 grocery workers got a blistering rash linked to celery
This outbreak investigation in US grocery stores found a blistering, peeling rash on the hands and arms. All 8 produce workers were affected, and celery contact went with a 6.3 times higher risk of the rash. But workers also handled other produce, so celery alone could not be proven. The disease-resistant celery brand carried more furanocoumarins (sun-sensitizing compounds) than other brands, and the rash healed with darker skin.
Celery root, then a tanning parlor: a severe, body-wide phototoxic burn
This case report describes a 65-year-old woman who ate a large amount of celery root about 1 hour before a tanning visit. A similar celery root held two psoralens, compounds that make skin sensitive to UV light. A lab test put the total psoralen dose near 45 mg. The author calls these unusual circumstances, and it is one case.
Fermented celery juice blocked weight gain and belly fat in mice
In this mouse study, six groups of 15 mice got juice or fermented juice by stomach tube for 12 weeks. The dose was 10 g per kg of body weight a day, and the diet was high-fat. Plain juice gave only a slight improvement. Fermenting raised the juice’s polyphenols, flavonoids and vitamin C, and it shifted the gut bacteria.
Fresh celery juice held about a tenth of parsley juice’s flavones
This lab study measured juice from fresh celery and parsley. Celery juice held 28.5 mg of flavones, apigenin among them, per 100 g, against 281 mg for parsley juice. Juicing celery gave 79% juice and carried 56% of its flavones into it, against 72% juice and 64% for parsley. Steaming, or acid with heat, changed the form of the flavones, which may affect how well the gut absorbs them.
Most cooking methods raised celery’s antioxidant capacity; boiling lowered it 14%
This lab comparison tested six home cooking methods on 20 vegetables with test-tube antioxidant assays. For celery, baking, frying, griddling, microwaving and pressure-cooking raised the values. Celery’s values also rose in a second assay (TEAC), though celery scored low overall on it. A test-tube measure of antioxidant activity is not the same as an effect in people.
Apigenin and psoralens strongly blocked human CYP1A2 in yeast
This lab study used yeast cells carrying human CYP1A2. Psoralen, 5-methoxypsoralen, 8-methoxypsoralen and apigenin, compounds of the carrot family, were potent inhibitors, and quercetin a modest one. Several lowered the mutation-causing effect of aflatoxin B1. It offers a possible reason for the human feeding results above and is not a study of people.
Who should be careful with celery
Most people can eat celery freely. Take a little care if one of these applies:
- Celery allergy. Celery is one of the 14 allergens the EU requires on food labels, though it is not on the US list of nine. It can cause severe reactions. In a challenge study, 6 of 11 allergic people reacted to cooked celery and all 5 tested reacted to celery spice. So avoid it in every form if you have reacted before; it often goes with birch or mugwort pollen allergy.
- Warfarin. Celery has 29 µg of vitamin K per 100 g, or 12 µg in a stalk. The larger amount is 24% of the Daily Value (the amount on US food labels). The NHS (the UK health service) says vitamin K foods can change how warfarin works, and you can still eat them. Keep the amount steady from week to week and ask your clinic before big changes.
- Irritable bowel syndrome. Monash University lists celery among vegetables particularly rich in mannitol. That is a sugar alcohol the low FODMAP diet limits in its first phase. Serving size matters, so check the current Monash FODMAP app if celery bothers you.
How to choose, store and eat celery
- Raw stalks: 14 kcal and 1.6 g of fiber per 100 g, and a 40 g stalk has 6 kcal.
- Cooked: in lab tests, baking, frying, griddling, microwaving and pressure-cooking raised celery’s antioxidant capacity, while boiling lowered it by 14%.
- Juice: juicing turned 79% of celery’s weight into juice and carried 56% of its flavones into it. Celery juice has less fiber than whole celery.
Pick light green stalks (not white) with fresh, unwilted leaves that feel heavy for their size. Keep them in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer, away from fruit, for 1 to 2 weeks. Residues are no reason to skip celery: in USDA tests of 349 celery samples, 3 had a residue above the legal limit.
Sources
- Anticoagulant medicines: considerations. NHS.
- FODMAP food list. Monash University.
- List of 14 allergens. Food Safety Authority of Ireland, on Annex II of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011.
- Food allergies. US Food and Drug Administration.
- Ballmer-Weber BK, Hoffmann A, Wüthrich B, et al. Influence of food processing on the allergenicity of celery: DBPCFC with celery spice and cooked celery in patients with celery allergy. Allergy. 2002.
- Pauli G, Bessot JC, Braun PA, et al. Celery allergy: clinical and biological study of 20 cases. Ann Allergy. 1988.
- Hoffmann-Sommergruber K, Demoly P, Crameri R, et al. IgE reactivity to Api g 1, a major celery allergen, in a Central European population is based on primary sensitization by Bet v 1. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1999.
- Celery, raw (FDC ID 169988). USDA FoodData Central.
- Jiménez-Monreal AM, García-Diz L, Martínez-Tomé M, et al. Influence of cooking methods on antioxidant activity of vegetables. J Food Sci. 2009.
- Hostetler GL, Riedl KM, Schwartz SJ. Endogenous enzymes, heat, and pH affect flavone profiles in parsley and celery juice processing. J Agric Food Chem. 2012.
- Celery. Wikipedia.
- Fruit and Vegetable Guide Series: Celery. Utah State University Extension. 2023.
- Pesticide Data Program annual summary, calendar year 2023. USDA Agricultural Marketing Service.
History of celery
Celery began as a marsh plant. A 2025 genome study of 177 celery plants found that smallage, the leafy, slender-stalked type from the Mediterranean, is the oldest form of cultivated celery. Breeders later selected for a swollen root, which gave celeriac, and for solid stalks, which gave the celery in stores.
The name is very old. Its earliest known form is the Mycenaean Greek se-ri-no, written in Linear B. Homer mentions wild celery growing in marshes in both the Iliad and the Odyssey.
English took the word from French céleri and Italian seleri, and the writer John Evelyn printed “sellery” in 1664.
For a long time celery was a garland and a remedy more than a dinner. Garlands in Tutankhamun’s tomb (he died in 1323 BCE) held celery leaves and flower heads. Pliny the Elder wrote that the Nemean Games winners’ garland was celery too.
A list of herbs Charlemagne wanted grown, from about 800, included it. It was later grown as a winter vegetable and treated as a cleansing remedy for scurvy.
Bitterness held it back. Evelyn wrote in 1699 that celery had been a stranger to England. Seed selection to cut the bitterness is credited for its late arrival in English kitchens.
Growers also blanched the stalks by planting them in deep trenches and piling earth around them. An 1849 issue of The Michigan Farmer said this reduced the acidic taste and stringiness. A 2026 study of 305 celery types found that Western stalk celery, eaten raw, has fewer bitter coumarins and alkaloids than other types.
In North America, Bernard M’Mahon’s American Gardener’s Calendar of 1806 gave celery its first long treatment in print. A Scottish market gardener, George Taylor, is said to have started commercial growing in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 1855.
Dutch immigrant families turned wet land into celery fields. By 1880 the region dominated production, which lasted into the 1940s, and Kalamazoo took the nickname Celery City.
Celery returned to the news in 2019, when a juice trend promoted it as a body cleanser. Wikipedia notes the claims have no scientific basis but caused a price spike.
In 2020, researchers published the celery genome, 2.21 billion DNA letters long. They compared its apigenin genes with other plants to look for why celery holds so much.
Sources
- Lai E, Guo S, Wu P, et al. Genome of root celery and population genomic analysis reveal the complex breeding history of celery. Plant Biotechnol J. 2025.
- Wang C, Zhang M, Xu Q, et al. East-west divergence and metabolic differentiation in celery domestication. Nat Commun. 2026.
- Bruznican S, De Clercq H, Eeckhaut T, et al. Celery and celeriac: a critical view on present and future breeding. Front Plant Sci. 2019.
- Li MY, Feng K, Hou XL, et al. The genome sequence of celery (Apium graveolens L.), an important leaf vegetable crop rich in apigenin in the Apiaceae family. Hortic Res. 2020.
- Celery. Wikipedia.
- Celery in western Michigan. The Henry Ford.
Frequently asked questions about celery
Is celery good for you?
For most people, yes, though its nutrient amounts are modest. Per 100 g, raw celery has 14 kcal and 1.6 g of fiber. It has 29 µg of vitamin K (24% of the Daily Value) and 260 mg of potassium (6%).
A meta-analysis of 10 trials (511 people) found lower blood pressure, fasting glucose and triglycerides with celery products. But the trials were small and varied, and none of the evidence here is strong.
Is celery a negative-calorie food?
No. In a small lab test, 15 young women used about 14 kcal over three hours digesting 100 g of celery. The authors counted that celery as 16 kcal and concluded it did not give a negative energy balance. That is close to what the celery supplied, but not more.
Celery is a very low-calorie food, not a calorie-burning one, and the test was a short report from a small group.
How many calories are in celery?
One stalk (40 g) has about 6 kcal, and 100 g has 14 kcal. Most of the weight is water, 95.4 g per 100 g. The rest includes 1.6 g of fiber, 1.4 g of net carbs and 0.7 g of protein.
Is celery juice good for you?
It is a low-calorie drink, but no trial supports the big claims made for it. We found no trial of celery juice for blood pressure, gut health or the other claimed benefits. The only report we found is a single man whose blood pressure fell from 150/80 to 118/82 mm Hg over 6 months. He also had chiropractic care.
Juice also leaves out most of the fiber in whole celery. If you take warfarin, keep your intake steady and ask your clinic.
Does celery lower blood pressure?
Possibly, but the evidence is thin and mostly from supplements. A 2025 meta-analysis of 10 trials found lower systolic and diastolic pressure. A 52-person trial gave 1.34 g a day of celery seed extract for 4 weeks. It lowered 24-hour pressure from 141/92 to 130/84 mm Hg.
Those were extracts, not stalks. A 50-adult trial of celery powder made from fresh celery found no improvement in blood pressure or other markers between groups. Do not stop blood pressure medicine because of celery.
Can you be allergic to celery?
Yes. Celery is one of the 14 allergens that EU rules require food labels to declare. But it is not among the nine major allergens in the US. In a challenge study, 6 of 11 allergic people reacted to cooked celery and all 5 tested reacted to celery spice.
So cooking does not make it safe. It is often tied to birch or mugwort pollen allergy. If you have reacted to celery, see an allergist.
Is celery a good source of apigenin?
It has some, but parsley has more. Our USDA-based data list 2.85 mg of apigenin per 100 g of raw celery, or 1.14 mg in a stalk. Fresh parsley juice held about ten times more flavones than fresh celery juice (281 against 28.5 mg per 100 g).
Pure apigenin was poorly absorbed in men, with 0.5% of a dose in urine. No study here tested celery’s apigenin for sleep, anxiety or cancer in people, so those popular claims are untested.
Is celery high in sodium?
No: raw celery has 80 mg of sodium per 100 g, or 32 mg in a stalk. The 100 g amount is 3% of the Daily Value. It also has 260 mg of potassium. If you watch sodium, what you add to celery matters more than the stalk itself.