Does celery help fight cancer?

There’s been a lot of hype in the media about the benefits of celery juice. Is there any truth to it? Well, there is some research that shows that celery and other members of the Apiaceae family contain phytochemicals that help prevent cancers growing and spreading in various ways. They aren’t as well-known as the cruciferous vegetables but they’re just as effective.

The Apiaceae family is vast, with over 3,000 species. Many are familiar vegetables. Think of carrots, fennel, parsnips, parsley and, of course, celery, both the stems and the root, often called celeriac. Others are used as herbs. They include anise, caraway, coriander, cumin, dill and fennel seed. They all have a fairly distinctive licorice smell and taste.

Celery and related vegetables protect against cancer

The vegetables have the remarkable ability to protect the body against acrolein, which is an irritant found in exhaust fumes and cigarette smoke. Acrolein is very toxic, highly flammable and difficult for the body to process and detoxify. After inhaling it, it’s deposited in the nasal passages and respiratory tract and stays there, where it causes cell damage by oxidative stress. The resulting inflammation can increase your risk of cancer.

Celery, celeriac, carrots, parsnips and celery contain high levels of phytonutrients that help the liver to detoxify acrolein, turning it into a water-soluble chemical that the kidneys can remove (1). The researchers found that the amount of these vegetables needed to do this equated to around 1.5 cups of them per day (1).

The same vegetables were used in another study on rats that looked at their effects on the cell changes that cause colon cancer to start. The rats were injected with a substance known to cause colon cancer, then some were fed a normal diet, some a diet high in apiaceous vegetables (celery, celeriac, carrots, parsnips and celery), and some a diet high in cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower etc). The groups fed both of the vegetable diets had a much lower number of changes that were pre-cancerous (2).

The human equivalent of the vegetables in the study was about a cup a day. It's worth pointing out that this study (2) used organic vegetables rather than conventionally grown ones and I recommend that you buy organic too. Take a look at my earlier article on organic vegetables for the reasons why.

Coriander and related herbs can kill cancer cells

The herbs in this family (anise, caraway, coriander, cumin, dill and fennel seed) also have anti-cancer properties (3).

Coriander is particularly effective and there is quite a lot of research into it. In laboratory tests, it kills cancer cells from breast cancer, lymphoma, prostate cancer and skin cancer lines (4).

An extract from coriander seeds killed half of the leukaemic cells in another study after 24 hours (5).

Coriander has also been reported to protect against colon cancer when it’s eaten daily (4).

It’s effective against metastasis in prostate and breast cancer too (4, 6).

All parts of the coriander plant seem to have this effect, from the leaves and stems to the roots and seeds.

In summary, these vegetables and herbs are well worth incorporating into your diet on a daily basis if you’re fighting cancer or trying to prevent its return.

You can find much more advice on how to protect yourself again cancer formation and recurrence, and the best ways to support yourself while going through treatment in my book. You can find out more about the book here and you can discover all the online stores where you can buy it by clicking the button below.

References

1          Redding MC, Pan JH, Kim YJ, et al. Apiaceous vegetables protect against acrolein-induced pulmonary injuries through modulating hepatic detoxification and inflammation in C57BL/6 male mice. The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. 2022;101:108939. doi:10.1016/j.jnutbio.2022.108939

2          Kim S, Trudo SP, Gallaher DD. Apiaceous and cruciferous vegetables fed during the post-initiation stage reduce colon cancer risk markers in rats. The Journal of Nutrition. 2019;149(2):249-257. doi:10.1093/jn/nxy257

3          Barrawaz AY, Baig SS, Ausekara S, Dholea P, Hashmi M. Potential applications of Herbal plants in cancer treatment. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research and Applications. 2020;5(2):227-245. doi:10.35629/7781-0502227245

4          Elmas L, Secme M, Mammadov R, Fahrioglu U, Dodurga Y. The determination of the potential anticancer effects of coriandrum sativum in PC‐3 and LNCaP prostate cancer cell lines. Journal of Cellular Biochemistry. 2018;120(3):3506-3513. doi:10.1002/jcb.27625

5          Mechchate H, de Oliveira RC, Es-safi I, et al. Antileukemic activity and molecular docking study of a polyphenolic extract from coriander seeds. Pharmaceuticals. 2021;14(8):770. doi:10.3390/ph14080770

6          Tang ELH, Rajarajeswaran J, Fung SY, Kanthimathi MS. Antioxidant activity of Coriandrum sativum and protection against DNA damage and cancer cell migration. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2013;13(1):347. doi:10.1186/1472-6882-13-347