every seed-bearing plant

Hello lovely reader! Well, I thought I might extend the yumminess of my last post and the coco-nana nice cream and bring you a smoothie version with a base of almond milk, banana and... chocolate!!!

And, I thought I might explain to you why in the world my blog is strangely named seed bearing fruit. This phrase comes from the story of Creation in the Bible. We read in Genesis 1 of how God created the heavens and the earth. On the third day, He created the land and the seas, and He saw that it was good. Here is what happened next on that day:

Then God said, "Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came." And that is what happened. The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:11-12, NLT).

On the sixth day God created human beings in His very own image, breathing into us His breath of life. How beautiful! Then God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, in which they were free to eat from the fruit of every tree in the garden, except the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Then God said, "Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food." (Genesis 1:30, NLT)

Now, whether you believe in the Creation story or not, I find it very interesting that this account of how human beings were made very specifically outlines what food God intended for us to eat. Not only is it spoken by God that we are to eat the food that is produced by plants, but it is reflected in our biological makeup. The human body shares a similar genetic makeup to primates, such as monkeys, chimps and gorillas. Primates are herbivores, which means that their diet is solely and completely raw and plant-based. Kimberly Snyder, a celebrity nutritionist and beauty expert, explains how the human body is designed to digest food:

The human intestine is extremely complex, and at around thirty feet, it is about twelve times as long as our torso. (The gorilla also has a long intestine—about eight to twelve times its torso length.) It is designed to be long so there is adequate time to absorb the minerals and nutrients of fruits and plant matter, which quickly break down and move through our bodies much faster than animal protein does. (The Beauty Detox Solution, Kimberly Snyder, C.N.).

My observations from my personal experience and my research into food tells me that we are designed to eat raw plant-based whole foods. While none of us are perfect, and most of us have to make huge adjustments to our food lifestyles to eat in this way, I think that we can all take steps in this direction of eating. If we are designed to function at our best by eating this kind of food, imagine how your life could change just by changing what goes into your mouth.

So, there it is. The story of why my blog is so aptly named seed bearing fruit. On a quirky side note, I thought the name would also play nicely into the pronunciation of my surname, Siede (which is said as see-dee). Sounds rather like seed, don't you think?! Along with the fact that I eat a high raw vegan diet I thought the name fit me at this point in my blogging life. Fits like a glove fruit in my digestive tract!

My almond milk recipe is here: seedbearingfruit.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/plant-based-milk-ice-cream.

choc-nana smoothie

2 cups almond milk

2 bananas, peeled and frozen

1/4 cup dried shredded coconut

1 Tbs raw cacao powder*

1 tsp mesquite powder* (substitute: 1-2 medjool dates)

3-4 raw brazil nuts

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)

Garnish: dried desiccated coconut, goji berries, mint leaves

Blend all the ingredients until smooth and creamy. Serve with garnishes. Bon appetit!

*Mesquite powder is a traditional Native American food with a low GI and a high mineral content. The sweet and caramel-like taste means mesquite powder can replace any of the processed sugar in your smoothies or desserts. You can purchase raw cacao powder or mesquite powder at lovingearth.net.