You have to admit, transitioning to a raw food diet can be a very challenging task. For the beginner, the process of finding these foods can be very overwhelming. Most of the time, it's difficult to find them in the regular grocery store shelves. With the changing of the seasons (winter in particular), fresh produce gets scarcer by the minute, compounding the problem.

Then there's also the problem of kitchen equipment. Dehydrators, food processors and high-powered blenders are not staples of any regular kitchen. You'll need to fork out some serious dollars for these if you're serious about going raw.

But preparing raw food recipes need not be as daunting as it sounds. Here are some tips to get you started:

1. Start with simple green smoothies. This is one of the basic raw food recipes that will not only give you a great energy boost early in the morning or mid-afternoon, they're also easy to prepare. A basic green smoothie recipe that you can try out is simply putting together five kinds of fruit and one leafy green like lettuce or kale. You can have an apple, two bananas and strawberries or any fresh fruit in season with half a head of lettuce for this recipe. Put them in the blender together with one to two cups of purified water, blend until desired consistency, and enjoy!

2. Go for easy-to-prepare salads. Some raw food recipes need kitchen equipment like dehydrators that you might not have at the moment. So go for green salads in vinaigrette dressing or a fruit salad using fruits in season. Get apples, mangoes, avocadoes, papayas, kiwis or whatever else may be available, sprinkle a little lemon or lime, a little cilantro, some sesame seeds, and you've got a delicious and healthy salad in a matter of minutes.

3. Plan ahead. The most basic problem encountered by those starting a raw food diet is the lack of preparation. Most of the foods in a raw food diet are found in specialty stores or wet markets and thus would need a bit of food hunting savvy. Look through raw food cookbooks or browse the Internet for those staples that you need to stock your pantry. While you're at it, be sure to get some raw granola or dehydrated fruit so you have something to munch on just in case you run out of ideas or ingredients for your raw food recipes.

4. Get the help of family, friends and other raw foodists. It's difficult to go through any new lifestyle or diet change on your own. While other family members, relatives and friends may not always understand your food choices, it's important that they respect your decision. The bulk of letting them understand the philosophy behind raw foodism lies on your shoulders. If you need a boost of confidence, a sympathetic ear, or just some more yummy recipes, go online. You can find a support group of like-minded individuals or delicious recipe ideas in the Internet.

5. Go gradual. A raw food diet takes a little getting used to. Go slow at first. Introduce raw food gradually until 75% of your diet becomes raw. Getting used to raw food this way makes the effects of detoxification easier to bear.