The Atlantic

Actually, You Can Just Drink Some Water

There’s little science behind Instagram’s new favorite miracle cure: celery juice.
Source: Al Project / Reuters

On a recent Wednesday afternoon, the Whole Foods in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, was absolutely bereft of celery.

Conventional, organic, whatever—Hilary Sloan was out of luck. Sloan, a former colleague of mine who works in marketing, was looking for celery because a friend had evangelized to her about the health-promoting properties of celery juice. That friend had learned about the juice’s magic in the well-trafficked wellness corners of Instagram.

The claims circulating about the juice are indeed enticing: Depending on whom you talk to, it promises to , improve your microbiome, alkalize the body, kill mold in your gut, , and banish “toxins.” Suddenly, everyone from to recommends you give it a try.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Atlantic

The Atlantic4 min read
Hayao Miyazaki’s Anti-war Fantasia
Once, in a windowless conference room, I got into an argument with a minor Japanese-government official about Hayao Miyazaki. This was in 2017, three years after the director had announced his latest retirement from filmmaking. His final project was
The Atlantic4 min read
When Private Equity Comes for a Public Good
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. In some states, public funds are being poured into t
The Atlantic4 min readAmerican Government
How Democrats Could Disqualify Trump If the Supreme Court Doesn’t
Near the end of the Supreme Court’s oral arguments about whether Colorado could exclude former President Donald Trump from its ballot as an insurrectionist, the attorney representing voters from the state offered a warning to the justices—one evoking

Related