Joe’s Newsletter #164, NOV 2023
Sheila (archives available at JoesDining.com)
Bring it on! We need the snow!
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always reminds us that we cherish you, our customers, you our dear staff and thank you for simply being you. Although the world seems in chaos, it becomes even more urgent that we choose to recognize all things beautiful, all things joyful and give thanks.
• DiJa Know? Is Richard Eeds your favorite local broadcaster?
Well you can watch him live at work here at Joe’s every 1st Friday of the month from 1PM to 4PM. 1260 AM Radio.
Looking for holiday gifts? Nothing could be more unique and more local than a piece created by one of our incredibly talented artists. In the main dining room, we have Kaye Cooper-Mead’s dreamscapes, her own surreal photographs. In the Red Room Bill Todino’s elegant photos make a comeback. And the utterly radiant and intense watercolors of Nancy Dean Kruger entertain you as you ramp your way down to the Red Room! Pay for it right here and it comes off the wall and into your arms.
All are made with locally distilled spirits. Roland’s favorite is an Old Fashioned made with Dry Point Bourbon. Sheila’s is Wheeler’s Gin and soda with a splash of tonic. Customers are loving our Bloody Marys and of course what’s a New Mexico bar without a good Margarita? Enjoy!
Oh I have such a jolly good time! It used to upset me to see the verbal twists that marketers invent – and the hordes that have been fooled.
Let me ask you – have you ever fallen for a pretty package with an artfully misleading name, thinking it was actual food? I have. I remember the day. I stood over the dairy case looking for ricotta cheese. OMG! Half Fat, Low Fat, Stroke my Ego Zero Fat. Well I fell for it. Before I was educated that saturated fat was what my body wanted, needed, craved, drooled for, I was trying to be virtuous. Do not judge me. I had read the “studies”, listened to the nutritionists and even MD’s (although we now know that med school nutrition classes are a very small part of 8 years of rigorous study). Well when I got home, I found I had bought not only zero fat ricotta cheese, but I had bought zero fat almond ricotta cheese. Have you ever eaten white lumpy slightly slimy sawdust? Suffice it to say, I now wear my readers when I go shopping. I do not trust the dairy section. And sadly, I do not trust the meat section. Rats! Sorry, didn’t mean to cuss. How about WTF!? I am so sick of reading tiny labels to ensure I’m getting real food. If it has the word ricotta cheese on the label, please God, let it be ricotta cheese. If it has the word meat on the label, let it be meat. And if it’s in the ice cream freezer, for the love of God, let it be ice cream!
I hope you aren’t, but if you are seeking fake foods, there’s plenty to choose from:
The cheapest to produce, highest profit margin food is grains. A close second is legumes, mostly soybeans. Both of which are replete with harmful anti-nutrients. So guess what fake foods and ultra-processed foods use as a base?!
And we can’t blame anyone but ourselves. It’s we who decide what the market delivers to us. If we value taste bud titillation over body nurturing nutrition, Big Food will keep delivering colorful, beautifully packaged, high margin crap. Crap that our cells do not understand and cannot process, filled with herbicide and pesticide residues, colorings, sugars, flavorings that are both poisonous and addictive.
Yup, addictive. Do not think for a minute that these synthesized substances do not have a grip on us. Just try an elimination diet for a week or two. If you have been ingesting these food-like substances, you will undoubtedly experience some very unpleasant surprises as your brilliant body rids itself of not only toxic synthetic residues but also the critters that feed on these “foods”. And that’s a good thing!
As hackneyed as it is – vote with your dollars. That is the most powerful weapon we have. Eat real whole food. Choose restaurants that serve real whole food. And buy your groceries from local farmers and ranchers as much as possible.
Meaningful amounts of protein, peptides, essential amino acids – these are our building blocks. They are stored in the muscle belly and are needed to build and repair ALL human tissue. As we age (arrgghh, hate that phrase!) maintaining muscle becomes a bit of a chore. It wearily
A diet rich in whole protein sources – meat, fish, eggs, cheese – give the body the perfect amino acid profile it needs to build and maintain muscle mass.
It is advocated by those who know – we need in grams of protein our weight in kilos. So, someone who weighs about 135 pounds (about 62 kilos) needs 62 grams of protein daily. More if you are very active or are still growing (up, not out). But definitely not less.
Strength exercise (aka resistance exercise) is the type of exercise that builds muscle therefore strength. Repetitive low-weight type of workouts do nothing to build strength. In fact relentless low weight high repetition movements break down tissue and leave us susceptible to injury.
So, in a nutshell: to repair, rebuild and maintain strength, we need sufficient protein and weight resistant exercise. Brad Schoenfeld, professor of exercise science at Lehman College in New York and certified strength and conditioning specialist says, “Without question, lifting weights is the most important thing you can do in the gym for your health, if you can only do one thing, lifting is a must.”
My 2 decades of health research come out of a very dark time for my health. I tried everything, up to and including avoiding animal foods.
Although I do not wish to offend, I am now (after 20 years of research, experimenting, rejecting, failing, succeeding) sure that a plant-based diet as followed by most vegans has little chance of creating and sustaining robust health, energy and strength. Without the 60 – 90 grams of quality protein per day with the appropriate amino profile, the human body will falter metabolically. I could be convinced, however, that a very few vegans with profound knowledge of supplementation, can make it work.
But for the most part, there is no way to make up the protein deficit by eating more plants.
Reviewing strength performances of several hundreds of clients, a pattern emerged with most of my plant-based clients – greater difficulty building strength, repeated injury and lower energy levels. Admittedly a broad brush stroke. Nonetheless, it was noteworthy and disturbing. It took me some time to connect the dots.
Humans cannot sustain high performance without animal protein or the precise replication of it.
One eye-opening book, The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Keith was pretty much what jerked me awake from trying to be more and more like my horses – a plant-eater.
It’s so hard not to offend people these days. We cling fiecely to our beliefs and some have become politicized. But the more urgent imperative (for me) is to attend to the factors that reverse metabolic dysregulation, create and restore health and possible longevity so that our bodies – our only vehicle – will support what we came here to do as individuals. What is your calling? And can your body support that pursuit?
- Joe’s will give you $10. What’s the catch? Well the way we figure it, if you cut out the middleman by NOT using a credit card, we can give that back to you and then some. Credit cards cost the retail merchant about 3-5%. Now in today’s world one cannot function without cc’s. But there are a few (legal) alternatives that reduce our dependency on the Big Banks ad actually save us all money: (1.) Joe’s Check List – If you are a “regular” and wish to pay by check, please ask your waiter to get you on the list. (2.) Joe’s gift card – purchase $100 gift card with cash or check or silver or gold coin, get a $10 free bonus! Your $100 gift card will actually buy you $110 worth at Joe’s.
• Some of the farmers & ranchers who supply Joe’s: They get their fertilizer from animals and compost and their agronomic advice from tradition: Monte Vista Organics, Mesa Ranch Beef and Liver, Jacona Farms, Green Tractor, Camino de Paz, Synergia Ranch, Romero Farms, Shepherd’s Lamb, La Montanita, Susan’s Sprouts, Maya’s Mushrooms and others.Notable Quotes
• Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year.- Victor Borge
• I have never hated a man enough to give his diamonds back. – Zsa Zsa Gabor
• Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.- unknown
• Don’t worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you. – Winston Churchill
• The real difference between fat and thin people is that thin people: don’t celebrate with a - hot-fudge sundae every time they lose a pound
Joe’s Dining
Santa Fe, NM 505- 471-3800 www.JoesDining.com
Mission: to strengthen our health, to protect our land,
to grow our economy by serving local sustainable food