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Celery

Kondoru

Beloved of Ra
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Dec 5, 2003
Messages
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One of my favorite vegatables, I heard that it takes more calories to eat a stick than it will give you in return.

Is this true?
 
One of my favorite vegatables, I heard that it takes more calories to eat a stick than it will give you in return.

Is this true?

I don't believe it is. From memory, this oft-repeated UL arose due to confusion between "joules" and "kilojoules"; ie the person who initially reported thought that celery had 1,000 times fewer calories than it actually does.
 
This has always sounded counter-intuitive to me. Surely it would mean that one could kill oneself by lethargy brought on by eating too much celery.
 
The same thing is said of raw carrot. :?

By strange coincidence, today's Times gives the URL of a site devoted entirely to celery:

http://lovecelery.co.uk/didyouknow.html

Here is their take on the myth:

"Unfortunately the rumour that you use up more calories in eating celery than are contained in the plant is not true! However, celery is low in sodium and cholesterol and is virtually fat-free; 3 stalks of celery contain about 6 calories." 8)
 
From Snopes:

Claim: Eating celery results in negative calories.

Status: True.

.........

Celery has about 6 calories per 8-inch stalk, making it a dieter's staple. Although it's loaded with latent energy, the amount we are capable of extracting from it is negligible thanks to the plant's cellulose composition. Its ingestion can result in negative calories, but it is a fallacy to believe that effect has to do with energy expended in chewing. Though chewing might feel like a somewhat strenuous activity, it burns about the same amount of energy as watching paint dry. It is the bodily energy devoted to the digestion of the green stalks that exhausts calories. A cold low-calorie drink would enhance the effect, because the liquid needs to be warmed to body temperature, an act that requires further expenditure of energy.

Yet as enticing as all this sounds, the dietary bankroll built by this approach would be very small, probably amounting to no more than a few dozen calories a day.

www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/celery.asp

For more celery-ased fun slice up a stalk into little cross secvtions and heat it up in the microwave on top power. Watch those sparks fly!!
 
Well, the tiny calories in celery may initially sound good, but when you realise that celery is just a vehicle for lots of cheese it all becomes a bit irrelevant. ;)
 
I've heard the same story applied to rabbit meat, that it has no nutritional value, and that settlers on some island or other who were catching rabbits to eat died of starvation, despite eating regularly. Is this true?
 
on the pack of celery I bought it said that 6 sticks of celery was one portion of your recommended 5 portions of fruit and veg a day. One Portion what is the point in that?
 
Alistair P said:
I've heard the same story applied to rabbit meat, that it has no nutritional value, and that settlers on some island or other who were catching rabbits to eat died of starvation, despite eating regularly. Is this true?

My understanding of this (I believe my biology teacher = source) is that the rabbits body is so efficient at turning its food into energy and burning that energy (which is partly explained by eating your own poo) that they are almost constantly eating/burning/eating/burning.

Therefore if you eat one it has already burned up most of its own nutrients and has not finished digesting its current meal. It is therefore lower in nutritional value than meat from less efficiently evolved animals. This is known as 'skinnymeat'.

As for people suffering from rabbit starvation, it is no doubt possible if the person is totally unable to obtain fatty meat (or decent veg) from another source they may start to develop a protein and mineral deficiency. Seems unlikely that anyone would die from it though. Unless of course this was the ONLY food available but that would no doubt take several months.
 
I saw the guitarist from Westworld (short lived 80s pop group, not the 70s sci-fi Yul Brynner-a-thon) on Network 7 and he admitted to being frightened of celery, like a proper phobia. Anyone else have this affliction? Or was it a cynical publicity stunt?
 
Celery is an underappreciated vegetable. I love it - cool and crisp and fresh...

Cases of rabbit starvation have occurred in the course of Polar exploration, because the explorers were not getting enough fat in their diets eating only familiar foods prepared in familiar ways. Rabbits store fat differently from you and me, in a subcutaneous layer rather than distributed throughout the body, so the reserves come off with the skin. Fat is important for digestion as well as to provide energy. You will excuse me looking up my references as I am still resting up from my vacation and the Polar Exploration shelf is a long one; also the cat is busy forgiving me for deserting her and we wouldn't want to disrupt that. However, I vividly remember Farley Mowat in *Never Cry Wolf* finding that, when he tried living on a wolf diet, if he gutted the mice he got an intense fat craving; if he ate them guts and all he was fine.
 
Chriswsm said:
As for people suffering from rabbit starvation, it is no doubt possible if the person is totally unable to obtain fatty meat (or decent veg) from another source they may start to develop a protein and mineral deficiency. Seems unlikely that anyone would die from it though. Unless of course this was the ONLY food available but that would no doubt take several months.

Yes although the rabbit meat would contain protein and calories you need fat to metabolise protein. As rabbits' fat is less accessible it would mean you'd need another fat source.
 
Chriswsm said:
As for people suffering from rabbit starvation, it is no doubt possible if the person is totally unable to obtain fatty meat (or decent veg) from another source they may start to develop a protein and mineral deficiency. Seems unlikely that anyone would die from it though. Unless of course this was the ONLY food available but that would no doubt take several months.
Which is what is supposed to have happened to a number of trappers and miners in Canada and Alaska in the 19th Century. Rabbits were the only food available, and they died of starvation with full stomachs.
 
Which is what is supposed to have happened to a number of trappers and miners in Canada and Alaska in the 19th Century. Rabbits were the only food available, and they died of starvation with full stomachs.

Yep they would have been constantly hungry their brains telling them

Get fat

Get fat

Get fat

Just like your average British child
 
Many arctic explorers have tried the lots of fat diet; it seems to work well since your body needs it more as fuel...that and subcutaneous fat.

I never knew celery contained so few calories...Ill have to eat more. (normaly one stalk a day is the limit of my patience.)
 
I heard decades ago that it takes more energy to digest ham than you get out of it. (I think this was part of a diet supported by footballer Stanley Matthews...)

As for celery, I like it! Also beetroot, which is also low-calorie.
(Surprisingly, I show no signs of wasting away... Couldn't be anything to do with beer, could it? :roll: )
 
Well beer is an important nutrient, ryn.

Concerns were raised when tea became affordable and threatened to replace it in the diet of the workers. It was part of their wages - well cider was in your part of the world.

I've never heard of workers being paid in celery.

Now I've already thought of the salary joke, so stop it! :D
 
Celery tastes absolutrely terrible to me.

Beetroot, however, is fanatstic.

Did I tell you about the time that I ate two huge beetroots when drunk, forgot about it, and then scared the hell out of myself on visiting the lavatory the next morning with a god-awful hangover.
 
The Yithian said:
Beetroot, however, is fanatstic. Did i tell you about the time that i ate two huge beetroots when drunk, forgot about it, and then scared the hell out of myself on visiting the lavatory the next morning with a god-awful hangover.
No, but I think we get the gist! :shock:

(Clearly, we need a permanent Poo thread!)
 
rynner said:
I heard decades ago that it takes more energy to digest ham than you get out of it. (I think this was part of a diet supported by footballer Stanley Matthews...)

Are you sure it wasnt Turkey & Bernard Matthews? :lol:


And a Permanant Poo Thread is a great idea.
 
Chriswsm said:
And a Permanant Poo Thread is a great idea.

Why not. Incorruptible Faeces are certainly a Fortean topic.
 
Right boyos, back to celery.

I have heard of people discarding the leaves because they think they are poisonous. I think this must be due to them confusing celery with rhubarb.

Now back to filth. I'm sure there was some celery porn on the site very recently. :shock:
 
I wouldn't have thought celery would have much use for porn...
 
Welcome to the first and only adult site featuring a cast of sexy vegans and vegetarians! Veg Porn is alternative erotica and sex-positive culture for herbivores and those who love them. We think you'll find something here that tickles you fancy- we welcome models of all shapes and sizes. We also welcome everyone to visit and join the site.

Herbivores: You've found the only place online to enjoy fellow veggies showing off their hot stuff.

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"The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man." - Charles Darwin

"Eat pussy, not pork!" -Anonymous
 
Celery is only appealing to me when:

1) It has a large blob of cream cheese, guacamole or garlic dip on it.
2) It's a neat little bit sticking out of a Bloody Mary.
3) It's diced up, added to a salad and combined with chutney.

Otherwise it's a stringy, chewy waste of effort.
Pickled beetroot on the other hand is a wonderful delicacy with the added humour-factor that too much makes your pee an interesting colour.
 
Celery chopped up and added fairly late in cooking adds an extra crucnch to all sorts of stews and curries.
 
On this seasons Heinz ketchup there is a Celery Warning in the ingredients list, twice .. it is bracketed in the herbs and also has it's own box entitled CONTAINS .. it wasnt there before and isn't on the older bottles nor is it on eastern european imports that are avaliable from "cheap" shops .. does this mean that there is such a thing as Celery allergy and is it as dangerous as the dreaded Peanut?? :?
 
naSTEe said:
.. does this mean that there is such a thing as Celery allergy and is it as dangerous as the dreaded Peanut?? :?

Good question

I discovered the following...
Celery is one of the most common foods to cause oral allergy syndrome....

but what is that?

Allergic reactions to fruit and vegetables are usually mild and often just affect the mouth, causing itching, a rash, or blisters where the food touches the lips and mouth. This is called oral allergy syndrome.

So yes you can but the peanut is still the dark deity of the food allergies. 8)
 
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