Celery juice became a wellness phenomenon almost overnight, filling Instagram feeds with tall glasses of pale green liquid and promises of transformed skin. The trend, popularized by Anthony William (who calls himself the “Medical Medium”), positioned 16 ounces of cold-pressed celery juice each morning as a cure for everything from acne to eczema to chronic inflammation. Millions of people tried it. Many swore it changed their lives. And yet, when you strip away the testimonials and the aesthetically pleasing photos, the evidence for celery juice as a skin treatment is remarkably thin.
Where This Trend Actually Came From
The celery juice movement didn’t start in a lab or a dermatologist’s office. It started with Anthony William, a self-described medium who claims to receive health information from a spirit he calls “Spirit of Compassion.” He has no medical degree, no nutrition certification, and no scientific training. His recommendations are based entirely on what he says this spirit tells him. That’s the foundation the entire celery juice trend was built on.
William published a book called Celery Juice in 2019, and it spread rapidly through wellness circles. Celebrities and influencers picked it up, and suddenly celery juice was everywhere. The claims were big: it could heal your gut, flush toxins, clear your skin, and reduce inflammation throughout your body. These are appealing promises, especially if you’ve been struggling with stubborn skin issues. But appealing doesn’t mean accurate.
As registered dietitians have pointed out, there is no scientific research supporting William’s specific claims about celery juice. No randomized controlled trials. No peer-reviewed studies showing celery juice works better than a placebo for skin conditions. The entire movement rests on anecdotal evidence and one person’s unverifiable spiritual claims.
What Celery Actually Contains
None of this means celery is a bad vegetable. It’s a perfectly fine food. A 100-gram serving of celery contains about 16 calories, is roughly 95% water, and provides some useful nutrients. You’ll find vitamin K (about 30% of your daily value per cup), vitamin C, vitamin A, folate, potassium, and small amounts of calcium, magnesium, and iron. Celery also contains flavonoids and other antioxidant compounds, along with approximately 25 anti-inflammatory compounds.
That sounds impressive until you realize that most vegetables contain antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds. Celery isn’t uniquely powerful in this regard. Spinach, kale, bell peppers, sweet potatoes, and broccoli all deliver equal or greater nutritional value per serving. There is nothing in celery’s nutritional profile that makes it a standout for skin health specifically.
The vitamin C in celery does play a role in collagen production, and antioxidants in general help protect cells from oxidative stress. But you’d need to eat (or drink) a significant amount of celery to get meaningful quantities of these nutrients, and at that point, you’d be better served by eating a varied diet full of colorful produce. Your skin doesn’t care whether its vitamin C comes from celery or a red pepper. It just needs the nutrient.
Juice vs. the Whole Vegetable
When you juice celery, you remove most of the fiber. This matters more than people realize. Fiber is one of the most genuinely beneficial components of whole vegetables for your overall health, including your skin. Fiber supports a healthy gut microbiome, helps regulate blood sugar, and promotes steady digestion. All of these things connect to how your skin looks and feels.
Juicing strips that away and leaves you with water, some vitamins, natural sugars, and plant compounds. You’re essentially paying more (both in money and effort) for less nutrition. A stalk of celery eaten whole with hummus or peanut butter gives you everything the juice would, plus the fiber, plus the satisfaction of actually chewing food.
There’s also a practical element to consider. Juicing requires a juicer (or a blender and strainer), a lot of celery (you need about a whole bunch to get 16 ounces of juice), and time to clean up. For something with no proven skin benefits beyond basic hydration and trace nutrients, that’s a significant investment of energy every single morning.
Why People Think It Works
If celery juice doesn’t have special skin-clearing properties, why do so many people report positive results? A few things could explain this. First, if you start drinking 16 ounces of any liquid first thing in the morning, you’re hydrating your body after hours of sleep. Hydration alone can temporarily improve how your skin looks, plumping it slightly and giving it a more even appearance. You could get the same effect from a glass of water.
Second, people who start a celery juice habit often make other changes at the same time. They might cut back on processed foods, drink less alcohol, pay more attention to what they eat, or start a more consistent skincare routine. When skin improves, the celery juice gets the credit, but it’s nearly impossible to isolate which change actually made the difference.
Third, there’s the placebo effect, which is genuinely powerful. When you believe something is helping, your brain can influence your perception of results. You might look in the mirror and see improvement because you expect to, or you might be more patient with your skin because you feel like you’re “doing something” proactive.
None of these explanations are dismissive. They’re just honest. Feeling good about a morning ritual has value. But attributing skin changes to celery juice specifically, when simpler explanations exist, isn’t accurate.
The Part Nobody Mentions
Celery contains compounds called psoralens, which are chemicals that increase your skin’s sensitivity to ultraviolet light. Consuming large amounts of celery or celery juice can raise your risk of sunburn, sun damage, and related skin problems. This is somewhat ironic for a food being promoted as a skin savior.
This doesn’t mean eating normal amounts of celery is dangerous. It means that drinking concentrated celery juice every day in large quantities introduces a photosensitivity risk that most proponents of the trend never discuss. If you’re someone who spends time outdoors, this is worth knowing. Wearing sunscreen consistently matters more than any juice you drink.
What Actually Helps Your Skin From the Inside
If you’re interested in supporting your skin through what you eat and drink, the research points in a much less glamorous direction than celery juice. A balanced diet rich in a variety of fruits and vegetables, adequate protein, healthy fats (especially omega-3 fatty acids), and consistent hydration from plain water gives your skin the raw materials it needs. No single food or juice can do what an overall dietary pattern does.
Staying hydrated throughout the day matters. Getting enough sleep matters. Managing stress, even imperfectly, matters. These are the unsexy foundations that actually influence how your skin behaves over time. They don’t photograph well for social media, and nobody is going to write a bestselling book about drinking water and eating broccoli, but they work.
Your skincare routine on the outside plays a bigger role in addressing specific concerns like acne, texture, or dullness than anything you drink. A gentle cleanser, a good moisturizer, and sunscreen will do more for your skin than a year of celery juice. If you want to go further, ingredients like proven actives such as retinoids, niacinamide, or vitamin C serums are backed by actual clinical research.
Enjoying Celery Without the Hype
Celery is a fine vegetable. It’s crunchy, hydrating, low-calorie, and works beautifully as a snack or in soups and salads. You can absolutely enjoy it as part of your diet without needing it to be a skin treatment. Eating it whole gives you more nutritional benefit than juicing it, and it requires far less effort and cleanup.
The problem was never celery itself. The problem was the outsized claims attached to it by someone without scientific credentials, amplified by a social media culture that loves a simple, photogenic solution. Skin health is more complex than any single food can address, and that complexity is actually a good thing. It means you have many different ways to support your skin, not just one restrictive morning ritual.
If celery juice is something you genuinely enjoy drinking, there’s no reason to stop. Just understand that it’s a beverage, not a treatment. Your skin will respond to consistent care, adequate nutrition, and patience far more than it will respond to any trending juice.