I’m not advocating raw food exclusively over other food choices, but for those people who are keen to integrate some raw foods into their diets, there are some absolutely fabulous gourmet raw dishes available.

Many are available from a growing number of raw food restaurants around the world. London and Brighton are the main centres in the UK for instance.

These restaurants often provide great recipe books to help those people enthusiastic about raw food to prepare the same dishes at home.

To do this, you’ll need a couple of tools – a blender such as the Vitamix is essential for example – plus a dehydrator for more sophisticated dishes – but that can come later.

Here are 10 recipes from Karen Knowler which you can download for free.

Recipe 1: Carrot, Apple & Ginger Juice

Recipe 2: Sweet Almond Milk

Recipe 3: Strawberry Smoothie

Recipe 4: Spinach and Mango Green Smoothie

Recipe 5: Raw Muesli

Recipe 6: Karen’s Favourite Nori Rolls

Recipe 7: Cashew and Macadamia Cheese

Recipe 8: Chunky Almond Hummous

Recipe 9: Liquid Toffee Smoothie

Recipe 10: Real Chocolate Ice-Cream