Celery Juice for Digestion and Bloat: Why Your Gut Loves This Green Juice

When it comes to home detox and laxative remedies, you may have heard celery juice as a top choice. After all, this seemingly simple veggie contains vitamins and antioxidants, along with fiber. Seems like a potential solution to some unwanted bloat and digestive issues, right?

Drinking celery juice can be an effective wellness practice. It won’t spike your blood sugar, and it has digestive-supporting abilities. But does celery juice make you poop? For those who feel a bit “backed up” too often, here’s a breakdown of how celery affects digestion, plus a few other ways you can support your overall gut health.

Does celery juice make you poop?

A nutritionist may not prescribe drinking celery juice for constipation, but the idea does have some scientific merit. While the flavor of celery is nothing to write home about (just ask anyone who’s tried celery juice before), its nutrition profile is impressive and can help get those bowels moving.

In addition to its natural free-radical fighting polyphenols, celery is high in magnesium, sodium, potassium and a bunch of other vital nutrients that play an important role in keeping your body happy.

Celery juice for digestion

There isn’t significant clinical research on the benefits of celery juice in human digestion—yet. However, rodent studies suggest that celery can protect the stomach from ulcers and the progression of gastric cancer.^{[1] [2]}

Celery contains apigenin and quercetin, compounds found in a variety of anti-inflammatory herbs and spices. A 2009 study found that these flavonoids can improve digestion by inducing gastric relaxation^[3]—a nerdy term for the natural movements your stomach makes as food moves through your gut.

By stimulating the production of stomach acid, drinking celery juice can help ease uncomfortable symptoms like heartburn (reflux), indigestion and bloating. If your pants fit great one day and are uncomfortably snug the next, blame it on bloat. Low stomach acid is no joke. It’s caused by a range of gut disorders like gastritis, as well as autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Other common causes of low stomach acid include increasing age, chronic stress and deficiency in certain vitamins.^[4]

Long story short: celery juice is great for digestion and may help reduce bloating. However, if you’re dealing with gut imbalances, talk to your functional medicine doctor to make sure it’s not a symptom of a bigger disorder.

Related: Signs Your Gut Is Unhealthy and Why You Should Fix It

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Celery juice, bloating and taking care of #1

Your kidneys have an important job: They filter away waste and extra fluid. When you pee, you prevent that waste from building up in your body. Thanks to its high sodium and potassium content, celery is a natural diuretic.^[5] So, your morning shot of green juice may help your kidneys get through the detoxifying process and get rid of all the gunk that would otherwise slow you down.

Celery juice helps in other ways, too. Author Anthony William describes the healing benefits of celery juice in his book Medical Medium Celery Juice: The Most Powerful Medicine of Our Time Healing Millions Worldwide. According to William, urinary tract infections (UTIs), bladder infections and yeast infections are caused by strep, which can be cleared by the powerful sodium cluster salts in celery juice.

Speaking of the toilet, celery juice is also high in magnesium. This mineral can help you deal with constipation and move things along in the loo (and it plays a bunch of other important roles in your body, too).

A juice shot makes it easy to pack a ton of veggies into your glass, but don’t forget that vegetable fiber plays an important role in your bowel movements, too. Fiber makes your poop larger and softer. For a smooth move, eat your vegetables. If you want to reap the benefits of celery fiber, try blending it with ice instead of throwing it in your masticating juicer.

Pro tip: Can’t stomach the thought of juicing a stalk of celery? Check out this refreshing collagen-boosted celery juice recipe that features mint, limes and cucumber. It’s basically a better-for-you mojito—minus the booze.

Related: This Poop Chart Tells You What’s Happening in Your Gut and How To Fix It

Science-backed ways to support digestion

It’s not completely certain if drinking celery juice is good for your digestive system based on the lack of human studies, but there are plenty of other science-backed ways to give your gut a healthy boost.

First up, fiber from whole foods such as vegetables, fruits and legumes (if you can tolerate them) is beneficial for digestive health. Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that can’t be digested, so as it moves through the digestive tract, it helps other foods continue along the process, which keeps you regular.^[6]

Next up, probiotics are the “good” bacteria we want in our gut. We all have unique gut flora, but if it’s overrun by “bad” bacteria, it can throw off our digestive health. You can find probiotics in many fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kombucha and kimchi. Not all of us are fans of the bitter/sour taste of fermented foods, which is why a probiotic supplement is easy to turn to.

If you’re needing a bit of protein to go with your probiotics, turn to Gut Health Collagen Protein. It contains probiotics, prebiotics (the fiber that helps feed probiotics), collagen and other nutrients for an all-in-one gut health solution.

InnerFuel Prebiotic is another great option if you want a gut health supplement with bonus immune benefits. Both are unflavored, which makes it easy to add to any of your favorite beverages, shakes or smoothies!

As always, great digestion starts with a diet that’s rich in a diverse array of vegetables, fiber-rich foods and not a lot of sugar—but sometimes we need a little help. Learn more about supplements for gut health.