Since I recently received my very own juicing machine, I have experienced a great sense of wellness and well-being. It's not only due to the health advantages of the freshly made vegetable juices I've been drinking. It's also caused an extreme and noticeable lessening of mental stress and anxiety which I'd experienced prior to using it. That is, the mental stress bought on by departing with my well earned money to buy the ever more expensive fresh juices in restaurants, health stores, and juice bars.

I started using my juicer to create my own interesting and sometimes weird concoctions and combinations. Wheatgrass and ginger to cleanse the lymph system and build up the blood. Barley grass and tomatoes for their high anti-oxidant values. My own original beet, celery, and ginger combination. And many more.

Before buying my juice machine, I was really beginning to feel exploited by the juice bars charging as much as five and seven dollars for a few carrots, a stalk of celery, an apple, and some honey through their industrial juicer.

In many ways I am not that health-conscious, but I really love freshly squeezed juice. I grew up without a juicing machine, and I remember that many of the bottled drinks at the time advertised that they were "made with real fruit juice", but in reality they were sugar water with only enough real fruit juice in them to give the drinks a hint of the taste of the original fruit.

I was also not the healthiest of children. I had asthma and shortness of breath. I was moody, distracted, and had serious problems with attention and concentration. When I reached puberty, my skin condition went from bad to worse. I had pock marks, pimples, and acne and was embarrassed to go out.

It wasn't until I discovered "real" juice in my early twenties, that I became aware of just how much what I ate and drank affected my over all health. My girlfriend was a health addict and, if I remember correctly, had a "Jack Lallane" juicing machine which she used religiously every day. And through her own persistence, she got me hooked on juicing as well.

It took me a while to get used to the taste and concentrations of some of the stranger juice concoctions that she came up with. But I noticed almost immediately, within a two-week period, the drastic difference in my energy levels and the clearness of my skin.

Now, even though I now have my own juicing machine, I no longer juice every day, as my schedule doesn't permit it. But I do it as often as I can. I just wish I had started sooner.