Moveable Feast For the entire month of October Joe’s offers you a Prix Fixe Menu starting at 5pm every day — 3-courses for just $19.95! It is part of an October event cooked up by the folks at Edible Santa Fe to encourage eating locally grown foods. Joe’s Prixe Fix Menu will change in response to what the farmers have available at the moment. To see today’s Prixe Fix Menu and wine pairing check our Daily Specials menu.
The St. Elizabeth’s Shelter Hungry Mouth Festival was a blast. Roland’s team of “Iron Chefs” worked their butts off and pulled in a Blue Ribbon – the vegetarian eggplant roulade filled with local goat cheese and draped in red chile Hollandaise was a hit with the crowd. Hats off to Roland’s hard-working team of elected officials – Liz Stefanics, Danny Mayfield, Phil Griego and Patrick Varela. Most important though, guests and volunteers raised a very respectable $54,000 for Santa Fe’s homeless.
Memory Part 3 — continuing the series on natural therapies for neurodegenerative conditions such as dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ALS. This quote from Dr. Fred Pescatore, president of the Am. Assoc. of Clinical Nutritionists and best-selling author sets the tone, “decline is not inevitable.” Don’t you love it?!
I’m not surprised now, to find another simple, non-toxic and very available supplement that can keep these much-feared disorders at bay and even reverse the damage. Magic Brain Bullet # 2. It’s called apoaequorin. This magic bullet is a protein found in jellyfish and has been lab-proven to extend the life of brain cells. It offers real hope to Alzheimer’s sufferers.
How it works: this protein has the ability to bind calcium. With regard to brain function, that’s a good thing. Please indulge me here – I am not a scientist and I try to simplify the explanation of biological processes so I can understand them! I hope it’s helpful to you as well. Continuing …the brain needs calcium-binding proteins. In Alzheimer’s’ autopsies researchers find brain damage caused by calcium. As we age there is a reduction of the critical calcium binding proteins. This allows calcium ions to “free roam” in the brain – calcium mismanagement. That leads to brain cell death. Calcium imbalance or “mismanagement” shows up in AD, Parkinson’s, schizophrenia, memory loss, depression, incontinence, confusion, tremors etc.
{A side bar – this type of calcium imbalance has nothing to do with how much dietary calcium you take in. And furthermore can have many causes: head injuries, diet, stress, chemicals, and toxins.}
Now the jellyfish* comes to the rescue with its calcium binding protein called apoaequorin. Remember? This protein keeps the brain calcium in balance. Symptoms start to resolve and the brain cells stay alive longer. It markets under the name Prevagen. One nice feature of many naturally derived therapies is they often have no drug interactions – that is true of Prevagen. But of course always check with your doc.
In a large double blind study, Prevagen reduced memory errors by 19%. Nice. 1-2 capsules a day normally produce improvements in 2-3 months. Happily some people have noticed memory improvements in a week! You can get Prevagen OTC at most drug stores and some nutritional shops.
*Lest you think jellyfish are being harmed, they are not. Apoaequorin is now made in a controlled scientific process.
Sheila’s caveat – when I speak of Magic Bullets, I am emphatic that the rock solid foundation for any health regimen is full spectrum, high quality, food-based nutrition. One then adds specific supplements and nutraceuticals. But you cannot expect permanent results without a stellar food base.
♦ We are frequently asked why we do not offer tofu or soy milk at Joe’s. This is the short answer. See the long version in last month’s DiJa Know. Soy is the most aggressively marketed product targeting vegetarians today. It is funded by the largest global industrial food complex and is tied to the “big boys” such as Monsanto. S$oy has become a mere bottom line commodity and has crept into our “health food” market under false pretenses becoming a staple of the vegetarian diet. It couldn’t be further from a health food. It is mostly genetically modified. It blocks the uptake of essential minerals. It inhibits protein digestion and affects pancreatic function. Not least, soy isoflavones are phyto-endocrine disrupters, interfering with normal hormone balance. The thyroid gland is one of the body’s master glands. Soybeans increase thyroid-stimulating hormone, further interfering with normal hormone production and inhibiting the intake of iodine (already seriously deficient in the American diet – see below). So, there ya go – that’s why we don’t offer soymilk and tofu Joe’s.
♦ Carbon Economy Series presents: Matt Brummett, incredibly experienced and knowledgeable guru of survival and outdoor skills. Unleash the adventurer in you and learn about one of the four elements that has shaped civilizations, fire. Spend the day with Matt learning techniques of fire creation throughout history, from the Stone Age to present. MATTHEW BRUMMETT – FIRE CRAFTING
Saturday October 12, 9:30 am – 5:00 pm. More at Santa Fe Community College
♦ DiJa Know? The ten most obese nations are:
1.United States 2.Mexico 3.New Zealand 4.Chile 5.Australia 6.Canada 7.UK 8.Ireland 9.Luxembourg 10.Finland
♦ DiJa Know? Iodine is probably the most common deficiency in the SAD (Standard American Diet). Low iodine levels can be responsible for an incredibly broad array of symptoms from breast issues, low IQ, hair and skin disorders, low body temps, kidney dysfunction, reduced metabolism, vulnerability to radiation and many other issues. Sources of iodine are eggs from properly fed chickens, fish, kelp, seaweed and iodized salt. Iodine is readily available as a supplement but must be properly combined with selenium. It takes a long time to recover from low iodine levels but it is such a fundamental nutrient it is worth the effort.
♦ Why is locally grown food so very important to Joe’s? Why do we keep hammering on this “buy local” theme? There are many factors that are out of our hands when it comes to our food supply. Most of what ends up on the American dinner table derives from a shockingly few giant agribusinesses. Their influence reaches from designing the (GMO) seeds to planting, harvesting, processing and shipping. We as consumers cannot with confidence hand over the entire stewardship of our food to these few multinationals. Our passion here at Joe’s is for a local sustainable food supply – food produced by growers who are accountable for what they grow. KYG – Know Your Grower. We are able to look our local farmer in the eye and ask him about his growing practices or even visit his operation. This gives us the confidence that we are eating food that is healthy, wholesome, non-genetically engineered, often better than organic, humanely treated and minimally processed. It is grown with a smaller energy-use footprint and transported short distances. We cannot divorce human health, the economy, ecology, personal (perhaps spiritual) satisfaction or honorable work from food. Food is fundamental. What we eat, where it comes from, the stewardship of food animals, the nurturing and building of soils – all these factors affect us at a cellular
and visceral level … whether we slow down enough to be aware of it or not. We are fortunate in Santa Fe to have a dedicated farm base producing a wonderful array of goods. Here at Joe’s we do our best to offer this bounty to you, keeping dollars in the community. In the interest of transparency, in 2008 Joe’s spent $30,000 on local foods. In 2009 that increased to $60,000. And for 2012 we exceeded $100,000. During the growing season as much as 95% of our menu is locally sourced.
Land, economy, health – inseparable.
*Here are some of the farmers/ranchers we have developed long-standing partnerships with – Monte Vista Organics (Dave and Loretta), Camino de Paz Farm & School (Greg & Patty), Shepherd’s Lamb (Antonio and Molly), La Mont’s Buffalo (Monte and Lana), Green Tractor Farms (Tom and Mary), Synergia Ranch (Mark), La Montanita Co-Op, Matt Romero Farms, Sweetgrass Co-Op.
♦ Joe’s hand-made French chocolate truffles. Do you know anyone who wouldn’t love a little red bag of melt in your mouth truffles? $1.99 @ or 6 for the price of 5 — $9.95
♦ Tired of still paying for BB’s (big banks) bailouts? Tired of lining the pockets of the uber-rich Wall Street bankers? DiJa know… in 2011 a congressional audit of the Federal Reserve found that the Fed gave 26 trillion dollars from American taxpayers to bail out the “too big to fail” banks with a hefty portion of it going to obscene CEO bonuses. Can you imagine — had this staggering figure been re-directed to the people of the US, how different the picture could have looked today? Manufacturing starts, job creation, skills training, roads and bridges repair, national parks, education, etc. Every time we use a credit card, part of that 3%-5% fee contributes to the BB’s. Now let’s be real – in today’s world you cannot function without a cc, but there are still (legal) alternatives that can save money and reduce our dependency on and subsidies to the BB’s. We have a couple of suggestions: (1.) Are you on 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 “frequent diner” or gift card – purchase a $100 gift card with cash or check, get a $10 card free!
Giggles: DiJa Know – dolphins are so smart that within a few days of captivity, they can train people to stand on the very edge of the pool and throw them fish?
Joe’s
2801 Rodeo Rd (at Zia Rd) Santa Fe, NM 87507
505-471-3800 www.JoesDining.com
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