This potent weapon is not new. It's well known by many health experts.

So what is this key resource to help you enjoy better health?

It's making your own fresh fruit and vegetable juices. When you juice fruits and vegetables, you make delicious drinks that will contribute to increased energy and enhanced health.

Why is juicing so effective?

Here's how this wonderful health weapon works: juices are absorbed almost immediately into your body, thus supplying needed vitamins and minerals. Cooking vegetables removes a lot of their nutritional value, but juicing saves these vitamins and minerals. So you get mega-doses of vitamins and minerals.

Let's say you make a carrot-apple drink from one apple and four carrots. Imagine sitting down and eating all those at one time in their original state! But you get the vitamins and minerals from the fruit and vegetables in their juice and it's living! That's because the vitamins and minerals have not been destroyed by the pasteurization process used to make juice sold in stores.

How do you get the maximum health return from juicing?

Start your day right by drinking freshly-made juice. It's wise to drink it before you eat and then wait about ten minutes (before eating the rest of your breakfast) to give your body a headstart as it absorbs the life-giving fluid into your bloodstream.

Don't let the juice sit around, but drink it within minutes of making it to retain those precious vitamins and minerals.

You can also add to your fiber intake by using the pulp in muffins and bread. Just add the pulp of your favorite fruits and vegetables to your recipe and you'll have a moist taste-bud pleasing treat!

How are fruits and vegetables prepared for juicing?

First wash them. Cut out any bad spots that you wouldn't want to eat. You usually don't need to peel fruits and vegetables.

What are some popular juice recipes?

1. Carrot Juice

Carrots are a favorite for juicing purposes. Put them through your juicer one at a time and don't peel them.

Carrot drinks taste great all by themselves, but you can also use them as a base for other fruits and vegetables too. Carrots and apples taste wonderful together. Children love this combination taste treat!

2. Celery Juice

Celery should be cut into 3-4 inch sections and fed into your machine at a steady pace.

3. Fresh Apple Drink

Just cut the apples into pieces that will fit into the feeding chamber. You don't need to core them, although you might want to do so.

4. Melon Thirst Quencher

You'll need to remove the rinds but not the seeds. Most varieties of melons are great for juicing.

5. Combo Drink

Add all different kinds of vegetables together, including tomatoes. It's fun to experiment! But don't put in vegetables or fruit that you don't like to eat because your beverage won't taste good to you.

What kinds of juicers are available?

1. Centrifugal-ejection machines

These are good for most uses.

2. Low-speed masticating juicers

These do a better job juicing spinach and wheatgrass.

3. Twin gear juicers

These machines work in two stages. First the fruits and vegetables are crushed and then the juice is pressed out. You get a higher quality drink because of this process, but twin gear machines are slower than the other juicers.

4. Citrus juicers

If you're just squeezing lemons, oranges and grapefruit, this is the one for you.

The better the machine, the longer the warranty. The inexpensive juicers aren't made to withstand daily use. A powerful motor extracts juice faster with less strain. Centrifugal juicers should have a motor rating of at least 450-watts. Machines that use a slow, grinding motor speed (masticating and double-auger models) don't need as much wattage.

If making your own energy-packed juice isn't in your arsenal of health weapons yet, it should be.

Step up your energy to a much higher level by juicing your way to vibrant health!