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Celery juice craze may be driving up vegetable's price

Posted at 11:39 AM, May 02, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-02 16:49:36-04

Celery juice is the latest diet trend: The bright green juice is grabbing attention with its health claims.

But, is it really shrinking our waists, or just our wallets?

Celebrities — and now consumers — can’t get enough of celery juice. They might not love the taste, but they swear by the health benefits.

“A lot of these fads a lot of these juice cleanses are not evidence based," said Registered Dietician Sara Scheler.

The celery juice fad started with a man who calls himself the ‘Medical Medium', she said.

Some of his claims are celery juice helps reduce inflammation in the body, clears breakouts, heals chronic illnesses and allergies.

While his claims might not be backed by science, Scheler says, drinking celery does give you a healthy dose of vitamin c, vitamin k, folate, potassium and is a great antioxidant. But, without the celery stalk, you lose the fiber.

“There’s always been a market for celery juice," said Jamie Roller, who owns Juice Kitchen.

He says people love the way they feel after juicing, but have no idea how much celery it takes to make 16 ounces. It can take almost two bunches.

With the recent appetite for celery in April 2018 a carton of celery was sold for $8 to $12 , according to the website Packer. A year later, a carton of celery was as high as $70.

Roller has even seen a price increase and that’s why he has had to up his juice to $10 for 16 ounces of celery juice.

While Scheler doesn’t recommend celery juice as the miracle elixir, Roller says people can’t get enough of the green stuff.