Crispy and refreshing celery is a common green vegetable on people's dining tables. As a health vegetable with good medicinal value, its antihypertensive effect is also well known. However, in addition to this, there has long been a rumor among people in some places that celery can "help sex" and improve male sexual function. So is this statement scientific?
Leek can improve male sexual function
"First of all, it should be emphasized that the statement that celery can improve male sexual function is unscientific. celery not only cannot 'help', but eating more can also kill sperm! And leek can indeed help improve male sexual function," said Hu Shengyou, director of the Chinese Office of Male Reproductive Health and deputy chief physician of the Department of Andrology at Beijing Railway General Hospital, who has studied these issues
Director Hu said that eating more celery in men can inhibit the production of testosterone, which has a spermicidal effect and can reduce the number of sperm. It is reported that foreign doctors have found through experiments that after healthy and fertile young men have consumed celery for many consecutive days, the sperm volume will significantly decrease, even to the extent that fertility is affected. This situation will return to normal after stopping eating celery for several months.
At the same time, it should be emphasized that celery is a nutritious vegetable with certain health and medicinal values. Wang Weiqin, Deputy Chief Physician of the Nutrition Department of the General Hospital of the People's Liberation Army, said: According to measurements, 100 grams of celery contains 2.2 grams of protein, 8.5 mg of calcium, 61 mg of phosphorus, and 8.5 mg of iron. Among them, the protein content is one time higher than that of ordinary fruits and vegetables, and the iron content is about 20 times that of tomatoes. Celery also contains abundant carotenoids and multiple vitamins, which are very beneficial to human health. Celery leaf stems contain apigenin, bergamot lactone, and volatile oil, which have the effects of reducing blood pressure, diuresis, strengthening the spleen, and enhancing appetite. They can also be used as a dietary therapy for hypertension, arteriosclerosis, neurasthenia, menstrual disorders, and gout.
The nutrition in celery leaves is much higher than that in stems
It is worth mentioning that many families only eat stems and not leaves when eating celery, which is extremely unscientific. "Because the nutritional components in celery leaves are much higher than those in celery stems, a test of 13 nutritional components in celery stems and leaves found that 10 indicators in celery leaves exceeded those of the stems.". Among them, the carotene content in leaves is 8 times that of stems, the vitamin C content is 3 times that of stems, the vitamin B1 content is 1 time that of stems, the protein content is 1 time that of stems, and the calcium content exceeds 2 times that of stems. It can be seen that the nutritional value of celery leaves cannot be ignored.
(Intern Editor: Cai Junyi)