One of the questions I often get asked at my raw food workshops is: when is the best time to go raw? My answer is always SUMMER! Whether you’re ready to go completely raw or would simply like to add a few raw vegan meals to your lifestyle, summer makes for the easiest transition, and here are my top 6 reasons why:

Get your body ready for the beach

One of the great perks of eating raw food is that you naturally lose weight until your body stabilises at it’s ideal. If you eat completely raw for even a week you will notice a big change, everyone is completely different of course, but you can easily lose between 2-5kg, which is great for the beach season.

If you’d like to take it slow, check out my tips on how to start incorporating raw food into your life little by little here or check out my latest green smoothie recipe, it’s a great place to get started!

Who needs hot food when it’s 36ºC outside?

Summer is the easiest time of the year to go raw, so if you’ve been planning to do it but kept putting it off because you crave hot meals in the winter, then now is your chance to begin!

When it’s warm outside, your body naturally wants to eat cooler and lighter foods, like this simple tomato and avocado salad or a cool Russian “okroshka” soup, so indulge yourself in watermelon juices and fresh salads – your body will thank you for it!

So many seasonal fruit!

I love summer for many reasons, and one of them is the abundance of seasonal fruit. A few years ago I decided to mostly eat what is seasonal and local, as I have explained in a previous article, and summer is my glutinous time of the year where I can literally stuff myself with figs all day!

Depending on where you are in the world, your seasonal fruit may be different to mine (I wish I was back in Bali to enjoy my favourite jackfruit!), but I’m sure there will be some delicious options, so you can enjoy a wider variety of foods and not get bored.

Summer is the cheapest time of the year to eat raw food

Because more fruit is seasonal, prices go down too, which is great news for those who are on a budget. At the beginning of May in Spain I bought 2kg of organic, local strawberries for about 2€ (it’s been over 30ºC, so it’s officially summer here!).

Also, because you will naturally want to eat less food when it’s hot, you will probably need to buy less food, saving you some extra cash. Sometimes I just graze on a watermelon for the whole day and feel great.

So go check out your closest organic market for some delicious treats!

Raw ice-cream…need I say more?

No dairy, no ice-cream maker, no sugar, no guilt, just cheap, delicious home-made ice-cream!

Cut some bananas, freeze them and when they’re ready, put them into a food processor, a blender or a twin-gear juicer to make a delicious raw ice-cream! It’s literally the easiest dessert in the world, and of course you can add different spices or flavours to mix it round a little.

No dehydrator? No problem! Dry your raw crackers in the sun!

Originally food was dehydrated under the sun, and that technique is still practiced today in many countries in the world – I took the picture above in Bali when they were drying out rice crackers. Even I started out this way, we would make raw crackers and leave them out in the garden for a day or two, and they would go perfectly dry and crispy! So if you live in a country with a hot climate and you’ve been wanting to try dehydrated food but don’t have a dehydrator yet – now is your chance to give it a go!

How does that sound, are you ready to eat more raw food yet?