Red Bell Pepper Hummus

Because staying warm during the detoxification process is one of the most difficult things to do, I went searching to find some raw food that just might help tip the balance towards heat! And as luck might have it, I’ve stumbled across something that has done the trick two days in a row. I have to admit that if this is what it takes to help make the transition, I’m in.

After having researched a little and found that the reason why people get cold when they transition towards going raw is because the body goes through a detoxification process that ‘thickens’ the fluids in the body. All healthy raw foodists say that they don’t have a problem staying warm while eating raw, but most admit that during the transition phase, they need more fats. Knowing that both Sunflower and Sesame seeds are pressed for their oils, I figured I’d put that knowledge to use and find a way to include those oils in my diet.

Mixing together the benefits of sprouting, I started about a cup of both Sunflower and Sesame seeds and let them perform their magic for just over 24 hours. While Mother Nature helped these seeds transform themselves into amino acid power houses, I walked through the Saturday market and found a great deal on red bell peppers. It wasn’t until I got home and opened my mind to receive a creative recipe that I realized that I’d be combining the two to make:

Red Bell Pepper Hummus

When I first made this, I started with just the seeds thinking I was going to make some sprouted seed butter that I would simply gage down. Well, ok, it’s not that bad. But I wanted something good and it wasn’t until the mixture wouldn’t turn in the blender that I decided to add something with a bit more liquid in it. That’s where the red pepper comes in.

  • 1 cup Sprouted Sesame seeds
  • 1 cup Sprouted Sunflower seeds
  • 1 Tablespoon cold pressed olive oil
  • Little more than a pinch of salt
  • 1 large red pepper with the seeds removed
  • No more than 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper.

Yes, you are going to want the cayenne pepper in this one! The powder is pretty cheap and most health food stores will sell you large amounts for a song and dance. Without the cayenne, this ‘hummus’ is just peanut butter with red pepper mixed in.

I love it when I blend things up for it’s not really important what the ‘input’ foods look like beforehand. Thus, I just ripped apart this pepper discarding all the seeds. No need for knife work here.

Notice that the ingredients stack up making this look like it’s going to really produce a lot. Unfortunately, there is a lot of air space so it only yields a couple cups.

I have to admit that this is the first raw food meal that I had that thoroughly warmed me up! You can bet that I’ll be making more of this as my body cleans out. As I come across others, I will make sure to post them for anyone else that happens to have a similar goal: Having warm hands on a cold winter day! Yep. I’ve always had c-c-c-cold hands and I’m looking to change that – naturally.

Unlocking your DNA

As a prerequisite to this article, you’ve got to watch the video series with Dr. Bruce Lipton where he talks about the functioning of a cell. You don’t have to have a science background to understand what he’s teaching. The fundamentals with regards to what he shows and talks about may change your way of thinking! – literally.

Each clip is 10 minutes long. If it turns out that my links become unavailable, just Google “Bruce Lipton Youtube” and I’m sure you’ll find the Biology of Perception video series. Once you’ve gotten through these videos, please come back and join in with my interpretation below.

Bruce Lipton – Biology of Preception 1 of 7

 

2 of 7

 

3 of 7

4 of 7

5 of 7

6 of 7

7 of 7

Wow. Can’t believe I didn’t find the good doctor’s work earlier. I guess if you quest for this type of information long enough, you’ll eventually come across gems amongst all the granite. Yet, if I’d found it earlier, I probably wouldn’t fully understand what he’s trying to say. I think I’ve got a pretty good idea, yet the conclusion that he draws is a little different than mine.

Let’s review his outstanding work.

To do this, I’ve include quotes from his video at different points. You’ll probably remember them, but I wanted to put them in writing so they could be discussed further.

1 – 1:33 Perception of the environment that controlled the cell. … It’s actually our beliefs that select our genes and selection or behavior

In that first 10 minutes, I love where he talks about the ‘victim’ side of common understanding about genes. Most people believe like he states – that the genes you’re given outline who you are. That common belief pretty much makes people give up with the feeling that there is nothing that can be done to change the situation because – it’s in the genes.

1 – 4:10+.  Here he talks about the common understanding that the “genes provide for the characteristics of your life…” Yet, his point is that people believe that it’s pre-ordained. His presentation is there to show that this might not be the case. Which I completely agree with.

1 – 6:00+ “Whatever’s in the cell is in the human and whatever’s in the human is in the cell.“ The basic idea here is that the cells are fully functioning units that have all the attributes (tools) that they need to survive. There are many similarities between our macro organism (body) and our trillions of micro ‘organisms’ (cells) that make it easy to conceptually understand what’s going on at that cellular level. Yet, at the same time, the actions in the cell are the actions in a human.

1 – 7:10+ The slide shows “Nucleus does not equal Brain” cells live even without the genes being present I the cell. The conclusion that he draws is:

1 – 8:07 “Genes do not control biology.”

I guess the world’s not flat!

I love it when someone comes along to challenge the status quo. Just when you think ‘science’ has an explanation for everything, we find out that science wasn’t really used and, yet, people believe what’s currently written in all the text books as if it’s the truth. Truth is a funny thing. It seems to change as you learn and grow.

2 – 0:35 Question – where is the brain of the cell?” Then he goes into the parts of a machine, but the cells are made out of protein parts. “Proteins provide you with your structure.

2 – 2:15 What I’m saying again, the cell is a machine, it’s made out of parts, the parts interact with each other to create the complex thing we call life.

Then he goes into the parts. Linear strings of proteins built out of amino acids. His use of props here is absolutely priceless. They are the perfect tools for conveying this new truth.

As he digs deeper, things continue to get more interesting.

2 – 5:15 Statues: Where does the life come from? That is the most important exciting question. I made a machine out of protein, but what is life, life is animation, life is movement and so therefore, where does the movement come from? Now I’m going to show you that and it’s simple and it’s the ultimate understanding of where life comes from.

I have to admit that the way he used the pipes to show how proteins can be flexible really was a great idea.

If you can remember back to the article that I posted The Art of Seeing – can you see auras?, you’ll probably remember that retina molecule. When Dr. Lipton mentioned, that molecules have charges and those charges help determine how the molecules ‘function’, you’ll probably remember the twisting that the retina molecule does when it receives a photon of light.

The human body is full of different types of molecules that can be as sensitive as the retina. Basically, the only thing that needed to be added to the molecule was a photon of light and, the whole thing twists to indicate what type of light. If you revisit the Wikipedia to read the Photoreceptor cell in humans, you’ll find that there are molecules that are precise enough to pick out the different types of color (light frequencies). The specific type of photon triggers them to ‘function’.

Let’s keep up with his lecture. Specifically, when he’s talking about proteins that are inanimate, they might as well be ‘dead’.

2 – 8:10 Well that, is where life comes from. Life is movement of the proteins. The proteins move and when they change shape, they can do jobs.

At this point, he goes into great detail showing a ‘job’ that a protein molecule can do. In his example, the protein molecule is really simple; yet the demonstration is highly effective.

3 – 1:30+ The brain of the cell, is the structure that controls the signals, to tell the cell what to do, in response to the environment. … The brain is the skin…

Earlier in the third clip, he mentions that protein absent signals do nothing! It’s not the protein where life is found, but rather in the signals. And what are those signals again? Well, as it turns out, he shows that it can be just about anything.

Continuing:

3 – 2:45 The nucleus is not the brain of the cell. The nucleus is the gonad of the cell – its reproduction. If I need a part to make the cell work then the nucleus is like the Butterick pattern drawer. It’s got all the patterns to make 70 thousand different parts in your body, but the nucleus doesn’t know which one is needed at which time. The Nucleus has no intelligence.

This is just beautiful. The DNA is the blueprint that allows the cell to build molecules (out of proteins) for specific tasks.

Next, he goes into the Receptors and Effectors that line the membrane of the cell. I love the picture that he shows that displays all the molecules stretching as far as the eye can see across a close-up of a cell. The point sinks home that there are lots of receptors on the surface of some cells.

Now he dives in deeper looking at how proteins react to signals and what happened if the receptors are removed from the surface of the cell.

3- 7:20+ For every different thing the cell can see, it has a different antenna [receptor]. So, that means the cells are covered over the surface with antenna for everything the cell can deal with.

4 – 1:38+ Interesting point, if I cut the antenna off the cell so it cannot see anything, here’s no behavior. The cell is totally comatose. … What does that mean? Behavior is related to the signal. If there’s no signal, there’s no behavior.

4 – 4:10+ “Perception ‘controls’ behavior” The cells are full of stimulus – response pairs that respond to the environment.

I have to wonder if we know about all the different receptor type molecules in a cell. Dr. Lipton seems to focus specifically on the ‘skin’ of the cell (like he mentioned at the beginning of the lecture). Yet, could there be receptors within the cell itself?

The absolutely most interesting part is what happens if the proteins are not in the cell for the signal to act upon.

4 – 7:50+ The plan for how to build a specific protein is built into the DNA.

This is where he goes into the example of the signal working its way into the nucleus of the cell, triggering the DNA to open so the RNA can go to work replicating the proper protein sequences. This is worth coming back to below. His conclusions are pretty straight forward.

So how do I activate the gene? … the answer is, here is a simple truth; genes do not self activate. That’s biochemically a truth; meaning a gene cannot turn itself on and a gene cannot turn itself off. If you want a gene to be active, it’s not up to the gene.

It’s up to the signal.

5 – 0-:20 When a gene product is needed, a signal from its environment, not an emergent property of the gen itself, activates expression of that gene.

This takes us back to his simple diagram of ‘life’;  Protein + Signal = Behavior.

At this point, my sense of his lecture is that it starts to venture off into what he’s currently studying. The level of ‘truth’ in his voice seems to change just enough to give me the sense that he’s not as confident with his new conclusions – yet, he brings them up anyway as he talks about gene mutations based on environmental conditions.

6 – 0:56 Here’s the point, we adjust our genes to fit the environment that we think we live in. and I say ‘we think we live in’ because perception may be right or perception may be wrong. And therefore, perception is belief. And if this is true, do you understand what this means? It’s belief that changes your genes. It’s your perception that changes your genes. It’s not an accident.

Deep into the last segment he starts to correlate human attributes and conditions to the functioning of cells. It’s almost as if he wants to apply ‘reason’ to things and he makes a really big jump into it when he states:

7 – 8:00+ Here’s the interesting aspect, the most important growth promoting signal in the world today for a human is love. It exceeds nutrition. A child getting love will grow.  A child not getting love will be stymied in its growth.

I completely agree with the statement, but I do not believe it fits with the functioning of the cell that he’s done such a good job explaining.

Building upon his understanding

Now this is where my questions fly and my thoughts are directed towards the unlocking of the DNA.

If what he’s staying really is the truth, the concept of receptors and effectors might be able to explain why some people have different sensory abilities. When I read through Hands of Light by Barbara Ann Brennan (See Completing Hands of Light), the one persistent thought in the back of my head was – how can she see auras? From what I get from the lecture above, it could be that Barbara Ann Brennan has some receptors that have received signals that have opened the DNA to create protein molecules that help process the signal. So, it really could be that she can see auras because she’s produced the proteins that allow her to do so.

This is a phenomenal idea!

I’ve heard it said by many people that the DNA are like the brain in that we don’t really use much of it. Could it be that in the standard functioning of a cell, very little of all the DNA is used? For instance, what if out of the thousands of protein combinations, the human body predominately uses just a few hundred? If that’s the case, what ‘functions’ might be exposed if the DNA is unlocked allowing the formation of the unknown protein molecules?

But, that’s backwards – what is it that’s preventing the signals from reaching the DNA?

The good doctor’s lecture places one thing up front and center – signals are the key.

So the question that I have is; are the signals getting through to the cells? It would seem a great number of them are not. What might make it so that these signals can get through?

Watching The Raw Food World TV Show, I’ve heard Matt Monarch mention a number of times that as the body gets cleaner, the senses are heightened. He’s been on a raw food diet for years and has gone through many conscious episodes of detoxification. As it turns out, I’ve found an interview where Matt talks about this cleaning process.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Now you’re probably wondering what this has to do with Dr. Lipton’s work?

Well, this is where I have to theorize. It would seem to me that the receptors are not receiving the signals due to all the ‘stuff’ that’s in the way. If your body is filled with broken proteins, mucus and, generally, sludge, one would think that subtle energies might not make it into the body.

Let’s just say, for instance, (and I’m making this up here) that the light given off as auras radiates to everyone, but if the receptors of the receivers are never reached because the light (aura) hits debris that’s in the way. It would be like trying to see through a dirty crystal – that’s just not going to happen. Also, if the light radiated from a person is subtle, it may not take much to block that light.

So, it could be that the signals are all around us all the time, but the body is too busy processing all the other signals to notice the subtle ones. Make sense? Thus, there has to be some type of conscious effort put into learning how to remove the blockages so the signals can make it through.

Then what happens?

If the signals can make it through, I would also theorize that the cells will generate proteins that ‘function’ based on the given signal. It may be that telepathy is possible given the correct proteins are build in response to the signals. For example, if the retina allows the consciousness to perceive visible light, could there be a molecule that will allow the consciousness to perceive telepathic energy? Is there such a protein strand sitting dormant in the DNA just waiting to be unlocked?

Side thought

The other attribute that I wanted to touch on was the good doctor’s venture into ‘love’ where as I would have gone down the path of ‘light’.

All the information that surfacing about quantum physics makes me want to think more about Dr. Lipton’s’ comments about the signals. At one point, he mentioned that energy could be a signal. Well, as it turns out, energy comes in infinite forms. There are types of energy that humans have not been able to measure well, or measure at all. There is energy of all different wavelengths and strengths. There is energy carried within the atoms of molecules that is released within the cell – not necessarily at the receptor. Might there be subtle attributes that are not developing due to the lack of light?

I’ve heard it said many a times that a person needs to feed their light body. Could there be a deeper meaning to it based upon Dr Lipton’s research? I would theorize here once again, what if curtain parts of the DNA are not unlocked until you’ve fed the light body enough to create the signal to instruct the body to create the ‘function’ for that amount of light? What if there are ‘magic’ proteins that allow super sensitivity that just needs the correct signal to unlock them?

I’m happy to have found this information this weekend. I feel that it’s a turning point in my quest between thinking that I can find the answers to knowing that I can experience the solutions.

At this point, the next sequence of things to stuff seems pretty clear. Focus on the signals so as to allow the body to develop the proteins that will translate the signals into something useful for my consciousness. If this sounds interesting to you, we might both be on a similar quest!

That Acid – Alkaline balance

One of the absolutely best things that you can do for yourself is to get some pH paper and use it! That is, if you’re looking to improve your health, for you see, your body is a living chemistry set that will function on its own, but it will thrive if you treat it like the temple that it is. With just a few simple observations using the proper tools, you can set yourself on a path that will have long lasting and far reaching results.

Before we step down this path too far, it’s important to understand why. To do that, let’s look at what the Wikipedia has to say about pH:

In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of a solution. It approximates but is not equal to p[H], the negative logarithm (base 10) of the molar concentration of dissolved hydronium ions (H3O+); a low pH indicates a high concentration of hydronium ions, while a high pH indicates a low concentration.

Generally speaking, a solution that contains more hydrogen atoms is more acid then one that does not. Neutral pH is water. And, as most people know, water is a combination of 1 oxygen plus 2 hydrogen atoms; H2O. If you think about a solution as having extra hydrogen atoms, that solution will have an extra supply of protons, which are very reactive. They like to combine with anything they can which causes havoc in the body.

Everyone knows that acids break things down. Your stomach uses hydrochloric acid to “help hydrolyze proteins and polysaccharides.” The Wikipedia uses big words for the process of digesting proteins and carbohydrates (starches are a combinations of sugar’s that form what’s called polysaccharides). If you follow their link to Gastric acids, you’ll find:

Gastric acid is a secretion produced in the stomach. It is one of the main solutions secreted, together with several enzymes and intrinsic factors. Chemically it is an acid solution with a pH of 1 to 2 in the stomach lumen, consisting mainly of hydrochloric acid (HCl) (around 0.5%, or 5000 parts per million), and large quantities of potassium chloride (KCl) and sodium chloride (NaCl).

The gastric acid description is a pretty good list of acids that are common and well understood by most people. Well, at least Hydrochloric acid is. That’s the one that every Jr. High chemistry teacher used to scare students into submissive obedience. We don’t want to burn a whole through your skin, now, do we?

If you look at acids in general, they like to break things down. Things that can’t protect themselves are more susceptible to the acid than things that can protect themselves.

What about Uric Acid, Lactic acid and Carbonic acid ? From Wikipedia: “In humans and higher primates, uric acid is the final oxidation (breakdown) product of purine metabolism and is excreted in urine.” Likewise, when we look up Lactic acid, we find that it reads “During power exercises such as sprinting, when the rate of demand for energy is high, lactate is produced faster than the ability of the tissues to remove it, so lactate concentration begins to rise.” Finally, looking up Carbonic Acid we find: “Carbonic acid is the inorganic compound with the formula H2CO3 (equivalently OC(OH)2). It is also a name sometimes given to solutions of carbon dioxide in water, which contain small amounts of H2CO3. The salts of carbonic acids are called bicarbonates (or hydrogen carbonates) and carbonates. It is a weak acid.”

It’s the function of the kidney’s to remove excess uric acid from your body. Yet the kidney’s are ‘fed’ directly from the bloodstream. But, because the waste fluids don’t flow into the bloodstream all at once, it takes a while for the kidneys to get around to processing all that acid. Thus, given time, the kidneys do a good job cleaning the uric acid out. The only complication comes if more uric acid is generated than what the body can expel – for a given time period.

The same holds true for Carbonic acid. This is what the lungs remove from the system. Your body is a little more sensitive to the removing of carbon dioxide than it is uric acid, yet that acid may still remain in high levels for extended periods of time within the body.

With simply these two examples, you’ll notice that your body is designed specifically to efficiently remove waste compounds. They are corrosive and the longer they stay in the body, the higher the probability that they will combine with something important to, well, break it down (just like the gastric acids do – but in a less volatile way).

One of the biggest complications though is that the blood isn’t the only means for transporting fluids around in the body. The fluids there are a byproduct of transporting oxygen and carbon dioxide. And, that fluid is not allowed to vary much off a normal pH reading of 7.4. So, if acids find their way into the blood, they are quickly removed or neutralized (oxidized) so as to keep the blood at its proper functioning pH.

But if the cells generate waste in the form of acids and they are not picked up directly by the blood stream, where do they go?

That is a key function of the lymphatic system. Fluids around cells slowly move through the lymphatic system until they get to a point where they can ‘drain.’ The problem here is that there can be a lot of waste which lowers the pH of the slow moving fluids in the body. This is the fluid that is we want to measure with pH paper. Because this fluid takes hours to get through the system, measuring it should give a fairly steady reading of how your body is processing wastes.

What happens if the body generates a lot of one (or all) of these acids all at one time? What if you work out so hard that you ‘feel the burn’ – does that acid all get filtered out right away? What if you’re chronically dehydrated and the lymphatic system has come to a crawl?

Well, the body likes to combine molecules that are dangerous into ones that are less harmful – neutral. This is where mineral salts come in to play.

It should also be noted that “Bones are especially affected by blood pH as they tend to be used as a mineral source for pH buffering.“ It’s not just calcium either, minerals that come to mind include[1]:

Nutritionally important alkaline minerals include calcium (Ca+), potassium (K+), magnesium (Mg+), and sodium (Na+).

Where do these particular alkalizing minerals come from? If you’ve done your homework (previous article – Is food another form of light?), you’ll know that the center of the chlorophyll molecule has magnesium which can be readably available if you consume chlorophyll rich greens.  Potassium and sodium are also high in green plant sources.

Ultimatley, this is where your diet and lifestyle comes into play. To empower your body to find balance, you need to consciously provide it with the mineral sets that naturally balance the waste (acids). This is where green smoothies come in – for they are an easy way to consume alkalizing greens. This is also where yoga and meditation comes into play. Oxygen is alkalizing. When you consciously breathe – deep breaths – your body will absorb more oxygen which nearly immediately finds its way to the cells of the body. Building up a store of oxygen helps minimize running out too soon. Relaxation also helps open up the flow of liquids, so being relaxed is a useful way to keep the waste draining.

Measuring pH

This is where pH Paper becomes your friend. When you use it to measure the pH of your saliva, you’re measuring that slow moving fluid. If you find that the readings are low (on the acid side) you immediately know that your body is overwhelmed with waste. The fastest way to counter that is to consume alkaline foods and consciously breathe.

As it turns out, measuring the pH of the saliva is pretty easy to do. I’ve got a roll of Hydrion Papers Strips like this.

A quick search on Amazon will give you some details. I would expect that any natural foods store would carry similar products. The package should also come with some simple directions on how to use it. When it comes down to it, you’ll tear off a strip of paper, wet it with saliva and then compare the color of the paper to the color chart on the dispenser. You’ll get a general idea what your pH is.

Here’s a good article to reference: Saliva PH test

Summary

Once your lifestyle changes enough so that the saliva readings start to come in ‘balanced’, you’ll know you’re making the right lifestyle choices. Over time, if you consume highly mineralized foods, you’re body will build up a store of alkalizing minerals (rebuild the bones) so that during ‘lean times’ your body won’t be stressed as much as if it didn’t have a store of minerals.

pH paper is too cheap not to try! What is your reading?

Swiss Chard, pineapple coconut ice smoothie

This is the Swiss Chard smoothie that I wanted to add to the multi-greens smoothie but didn’t. At the time, it seemed more important to get through the ripe bananas then continue with the smoothie experiment. This is a good smoothie, but in a way, I wish I’d mixed in grapes rather than the bananas. Oh well, maybe next time I’ll cut the grapes and simply go bananas!

Recipe:

  • 6 young fresh Thai Coconut water ice cubes
  • About 1 inch ripe pineapple
  • 2 bananas
  • Bowl garden Swiss chard (washed and ready)
  • ½ cup water.

Pile everything in starting with the soft fruit. Blend for 60 seconds (or more) and serve.

You’ll notice that you’ll get a bit more than a quart. Lori got to enjoy the extra. Swiss chard is a pretty smooth green which mixes well with the banana. The young fresh Thai coconut ice cubes give it a really fresh flavor that you don’t want to leave out. The pineapple seemed to be a bit like filler. But it was good RIPE filler.

This will be a great recipe to revisit come mid winter. I’m not looking forward to buying greens again, but, doesn’t look like I’ll have much of a choice before too long.

Take some time to put this one together, you won’t be disappointed.

Enjoy!