Based in London, Russell James is the UK's leading raw food chef. He eats raw food because it has massively improved his life, and he wants to show the world that it’s easier than we may think to all the benefits for ourselves. His story began years ago when he was eating “good” food (meat, chicken, veg and fruit), yet had very little energy and never felt on top of his game, in fact far from it. Up for trying anything to look and feel better, in 2004 he went to Koh Samui in Thailand for a 7-day fast. On day 5, he started reading a raw food recipe book he’d found in their library. The book’s explanation of the benefits of raw food made so much sense to him that he had an epiphany moment, which was to define his life and his career from that point onwards. Back in London, it proved to be an expensive, trial-and-error-prone epiphany, yet his drive and determination, and the incredible way he began to feel as a result, meant he persevered. His skin cleared up and he had boundless energy and motivation. Not trained as a chef, but off the back of his blog, he had people from all over the world flying in to take classes with him. Now, after a year in the US writing and teaching at culinary academies, he’s set up Raw Chef HQ in London and has just published his first hard copy book. We’re delighted that Russell has agreed to work with us on LearnShedLive