Celery, The Potential Anti High Blood Cholesterol with No side Effects

By Kyle J. Norton

Scientists may have found a whole vegetable for the prevention and treatment of high blood cholesterol comparable to that of conventional medicine without inducing any side effects, according to studies.

High blood cholesterol is a medical condition of abnormally high levels of cholesterol in the blood.


There are 2 types of cholesterols in the human body,  the low-density lipoproteins, and high-density lipoproteins.

The low-density cholesterol plays an important role in building cell membranes, inducing the production of bile, steroid hormones and vitamin. However, long-term accumulation of cholesterol in the bloodstream not only impedes the blood flow of the arteries but also increases the risk of plaque built up on the arterial walls.

The high-density lipoprotein removes cholesterol from the blood and returns them to the liver. However, if the low-density lipoprotein in the bloodstream was found in high amounts, compared to high-density lipoprotein, then some bad cholesterols may be left in the arteries, causing the onset of high blood cholesterol.

The healthy ratio of blood cholesterol is lower than 4 (levels of low-density lipoprotein)/ 1(levels of high-density cholesterol).

What causes high blood cholesterol? Epidemiological studies suggested that a poor diet with rich in saturated and trans fat, red meat and processed foods and few in fruits and vegetables are the most common risk factors that cause the onset of high blood cholesterol in the Western world.

According to the statistic, in Australia, over 1 million of the population have high blood cholesterol. The highest prevalent group is those between 55 to 64 year age group.

Sadly, one in five Australians aged 18 to 34 also has high total cholesterol.

Dr. Henry N. Ginsberg, the lead scientist in  the cardiovascular disease team in examining the risk of high blood cholesterol and diet cholesterol in young and healthy men said, "Fasting plasma total cholesterol concentrations increased by 1.47 mg/dL (0.038 mmol/L) for every 100 mg dietary cholesterol added to the diet (P <.001). Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol increased in parallel." and "  increases in dietary cholesterol resulted in linear increases in fasting total and LDL cholesterol in young, healthy men".

These results suggested that short-term intake of high cholesterol diet does not have an effect on postprandial plasma lipids or an increased atherogenic potential of postprandial serum. In other words, high blood cholesterol is a condition caused by long-term high cholesterol diet that takes years to develop.

Celery is a species of Apium graveolens, belonging to the family Apiaceae. It is cultivated all around the globe as a vegetable. Celery can grow to 1/2 m tall with stalks (leaf on the top) arranging in a conical shape joined at a common base.

With an aim to find a natural ingredient or whole food which processes anti-high blood cholesterol activity with no side effects, researchers at the National University of Singapore looked into the antihyperlipidemic property of aqueous celery extract.

The study included 2 groups of Wistar rats fed a high-fat diet for eight weeks to induce hyperlipidemia. One group was supplemented with aqueous celery extract in the diet while the other group served as control. 

At the end of the experiment, treatment group exerted a significant reduction in the serum total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglyceride (TG) concentrations, compared to control.

The concentration of hepatic TG was significantly higher in the celery-treated group than in the control group. However, the hepatic triacylglycerol lipase (HL) activity was found to be significantly lower in the celery-treated rats observed for the hepatic microsomal P450 content which is an indication of individual hepatic clearance.

Surprisingly, researchers discovered that aqueous extract of celery does not contain 3-n-butylphthalide (BuPh), a unique compound in celery. This result suggested that the efficacy of celery probably is associated with other major unknown compound compounds.

Futhermore, in the examining other compounds processed the anti-high blood cholesterol activity, researchers explored the antihyperlipidemic effect of ethanolic extract of seeds of Apium graveolens L. (celery) and its chloroform and aqueous basic fraction in olive oil induced hyperlipidemic rats.

The antihyperlipidemic activity of Apium graveolens has been found in the previous study was effective as of those of standard drug Atorvastatin (50mg/kg).

The study included the ethanolic extract and its fractions administered orally at doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight in rats following by the Olive oil (5ml/kg oral dose) administered 30 min after treatment.

The ethanolic extract and its fractions of celery at a dose-dependently inhibited the total cholesterol (TC) triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoproteins (LDL) level, and significantly increased high density lipoprotein (HDL) level.

The inhibition of high blood cholesterol was attributed to the major compounds terpenoid, tannin, alkaloid, glycoside, flavonoid, and sterols.

Taken altogether, celery containing high amounts of bioactive compounds may be considered a functional food for the prevention and treatment of high blood cholesterol with no side effects

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

References
(1) Effects of aqueous celery (Apium graveolens) extract on lipid parameters of rats fed a high fat diet by Tsi D1, Das NP, Tan BK.(PubMed)
(2) Effect of chloroform and an aqueous basic fraction of ethanolic extract from Apium graveolens L. in experimentally-induced hyperlipidemia in ratsm by Iyer D1, Patil UK(PubMed)
(3) Hypolipidemic and antioxidant activity of mountain celery (Cryptotaenia japonica Hassk) seed essential oils by Cheng MC1, Lin LY, Yu TH, Peng RY.(PubMed)
(4) The mechanism underlying the hypocholesterolaemic activity of aqueous celery extract, its butanol and aqueous fractions in genetically hypercholesterolaemic RICO rats by Tsi D1, Tan BK.(PubMed)
(5) Effects of celery extract and 3-N-butylphthalide on lipid levels in genetically hypercholesterolaemic (RICO) rats by Tsi D1, Tan BK.(PubMed)
(6) A Dose-Response Study of the Effects of Dietary Cholesterol on Fasting and Postprandial Lipid and Lipoprotein Metabolism in Healthy Young Men by Henry N. Ginsberg, Wahida Karmally, Maliha Siddiqui, Steve Holleran, Alan R. Tall, Steven C. Rumsey, Richard J. Deckelbaum, William S. Blaner, and Rajasekhar Ramakrishnan. (PMC)