My recommendation: Drink a cup of fresh celery juice every morning (if you can stomach it).
Why do I say this: A year ago, a colleague of mine (a very capable health statistician) made an interesting comment about a theoretical healthcare system – imagine if we took most of the money allocated to medical insurance and used that money to give fresh fruit and vegetables to millions of people. Would that be better or worse than our current system of expensive care and lackluster health outcomes? I was intrigued because I could not quickly reject the idea.
Of course it’s crazy to get rid of acute care facilities and simply distribute fruit. But the broader idea is that eating healthy would reduce the nation’s chronic disease burden, which has the biggest impact on mortality. And if we slowed down the onset of chronic disease, then we’d live longer without relying on advanced technology and prescription drugs – this is where reduced healthcare spending (through population health management) comes into the picture. Interestingly, large healthcare systems like Kaiser Permanente are rolling out food insecurity initiatives that directly support patients’ nutrition needs. So in a few years, we should be able to witness the effects of food initiatives on patients’ health outcomes.
This line of thinking makes me wonder about my diet, and what I can do to live healthy and not set myself up as a burden on our future healthcare system. About 6 months ago, my wife introduced me to raw celery juice. It was disgusting. She often gets these new ideas to support “our health” but it’s really about helping her control her weight – me being a good husband, I take a cup of the green stuff every morning alongside her. She was inspired to drink celery juice after reading excerpts from a book titled “Liver Rescue”, written by Anthony William. The author claims that a supernatural entity gives him insight into complex medical problems shared by millions of people, and of which the medical community has no knowledge. This may sound wild, but the great mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan made similar claims about his brilliant mathematical skills, so who am I to judge?
So, here’s what I can say after drinking a cup of celery juice every day –> this stuff works! The first thing I noticed was improved energy after three or four days. Not the kind of energy kick you get with coffee, but something more subtle, like being able to go without caffeine for all or most of the day. After that, it took about 3 months before other things started happening. I had persistent lower back pain for several years which completely disappeared. My SIBO symptoms are almost totally gone (I love this one). And for as long as I can remember, my hands and feet ran cold, but not anymore. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but my body just feels better; I’m reminded of my teenage years.
And as for my wife, she absolutely loves raw celery juice. After about 3 months, we both noticed a big improvement in her complexion – her age spots disappeared. Given this outcome, it’s unlikely that she will ever stop drinking fresh celery juice every morning. I probably won’t stop either.
To be clear, I can’t prove whether celery juice is truly behind these happenings, but I’m a believer, and I hope millions of people start drinking celery juice to (1) reclaim their health and (2) – most importantly, not burden our healthcare system unnecessarily.
Pro Tip. Celery juice is much more palatable if the celery is kept at room temperature before juicing.
Happy readings!
~ James
