Dija Know… Joe’s Restaurant Newsletter -163 Summer 2023

A recent visitor.  It’s summer!!

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• 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.
• DiJa Know? Joe’s showcases a new bevvie of local-only artists every six months. 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! All are for sale
•  DiJa Know? Joe’s now serves cocktails. 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!
  
• DiJa Know?  dogs, cats, horses and other animals under our care need special attention during heat waves.  They, like us, need extra hydration.  I know, I know … you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.  However, there are ways to add electrolytes to their meals and treats.  A little salt or baking soda as well as more comprehensive electrolyte combinations, are a good choices during heat waves and during times of extra exertion.  Ask your vet.
• DiJa Know?  you may be collecting these.
  You finally have a diet that is healthy and crafted for you, just you, unique you.  It contains all the healthy foods and you’re sticking to it. It seems to be working . . except it isn’t.  You still are not sleeping well, your joint pain and headaches and irregularity are unremitting, your allergies linger beyond juniper’s pollen, and on and on
  What could it be?
  Well, by now you know, Sheila always has an answer, or at least she thinks she has and if not, will search until she has! Having survived her own horrible diagnosis and thrown herself into decades of trial and error and research, she does have quite a toolbox.  It’s not all seat-of-the pants knowledge.  She is a certified Homeopath and did post grad studies in Programming Wellness for Industry as well as founding DancingBones wellness center.
  But, none of that taught her what she now thinks may be a huge missing piece in our pursuit of robust health.  And yes, in this case, it is diet.
  Until several years ago, eating plants to the exclusion of animal products seemed to be the very best thing we could do for our health. I found out the hard way it is not!  And I didn’t even know then about the myriad dangers of piling on the plant foods. One has to be VERY selective if you happen to be sensitive to one or all of the plant toxins, AKA anti nutrients.  These are:
  Glutens – we became aware of these offenders more than 10 years ago and those with sensitivity to glutens learned to eat around them.
  But glutens are not the end of the story.  There are lectins and phytates.  But perhaps most harmful of all – oxylates.  For years, chasing a diet that was promised to be both compassionate and healthy, we loaded up on soy, almonds, nuts and seeds, spinach, beets, vitamin C (!!), grains, bran, and beans – all staples of the vegan and vegetarian diets.  What do they have in common?  Nano crystals often shaped like needles, called oxalate acid.  Bad news for me bad news for you.  Most of us have been ignorant of the damage they do and consequently we may have stores of these in our tissues.
  One of the most painful results of this storage is kidney stones.  But most other tissues can be damaged by these evil little crystals..
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  dangerouly beautiful oxalate crystals..

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Why is this a more current problem?  I don’t recall my grandparents being so plagued.
Sheila’s speculation/not gospel: the human diet decades and centuries ago, at least in America and Western Europe, was balanced with such foods as raw uncooked dairy, a variety of meats and organs, fatty fish, garden fresh vegetables and also adequate sunshine (Vit D3).  The usable calcium in this type of diet and other minerals in these foods rendered the oxalates impotent by ushering them out of the body on a continuous basis.
I’m no expert, but Sally K. Norton is.  Her book, Toxic Superfoods, may interest you sufficiently to fix that part of your diet, as I am doing.  In the meantime, Roland has agreed to offer (when available) vegetables that are lower in oxalates.  Yes, we care about your health!  And of course, low to no oxalate foods are always available – meats, cheeses, avocado, liver, seafood.
By the way, our pets get these painful crystals too.  Often they scream or whine when passing them in their urine.  They are formed from processed pet foods containing grains and beans/legumes. Check the labels.  Cats and dogs need upwards of a 90% protein diet, not derived from legumes or grains. It takes some searching to find commercial foods that are formulated properly.  Or you can just feed them raw meats, fish, eggs, butter, lard …

• DiJa Know?    You may be low on sodium!  “Don’t eat salt”  has been hammered into us for several decades and it is flooey.  Salt is not evil.  Serum blood levels of sodium, because of this prevalent advice, often measure dangerously low in many of us.  One common condition in ER admissions is persons on low sodium diets presenting with symptoms such as:  confusion, loss of energy, muscle weakness, nausea, headache, muscle cramps, stumbling, falling, stroke, and much worse.  Sodium is an electrolyte and as such it regulates many important body processes.  Electrolytes are the communication system among the cells.If your sodium levels are low, you need to consult with your physician to calibrate your levels carefully.  Do not self-treat!  It requires careful and expert monitoring.
  For those who are healthy, simply be aware of your need for sodium and other electrolytes.  Do not drink copious amounts of water without electrolytes.  Runners (and horses, btw) have dropped dead on the course because for lack of properly balanced electrolytes including sodium.One of the finest salts is Redmond salt mined from ancient stores.  It is not sea salt, which is now contaminated with nano-particulate plastic!  Seems like a conspiracy is afoot to wreck our health.  Oops did I say conspiracy?  Just being dramatic.
  BTW, the table salt at Joe’s is Redmond salt.  2-3 grams of salt per day ihs a normal dose.  Now a caveat here – if you are eating junk food, you will not be low in sodium.  What did I just say?  No no – I’m not advocating junk food! Good grief!  It’s just that junk food almost always contains massive amounts of sodium.  I like what Dr. James DiNicolantonio says in his book:
  The Salt Fix, Why the Experts Got it All Wrong.
  
  • DiJa ever see these?
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• Years ago – Maybe 2003, we commissioned Harvey Kaplan, local silversmith, to make these Sterling silver Joe’s Diner earrings for us.  While cleaning out the storeroom recently, Sheila found the last few pairs.You can purchase them here at Joe’s – $89.00/pr.
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  • Be aware of the hyjacked term “regenerative

  “.  This from Dr. André Leu, D.Sc., BA Com.,Int’l Director, Regeneration International, “Bayer/ Monsanto, Syngenta, and other members of the poison cartel are trying to greenwash their toxic industrial farming systems by hijacking Regenerative Agriculture.   The Opposite of Regenerative is Degenerative

  By definition, agricultural systems that use Degenerative practices that damage the environment, soil, and health and involve animal cruelty, such as synthetic toxic pesticides, synthetic water-soluble fertilizers, genetically modified organisms, confined animal feeding operations, and destructive tillage systems, are not Regenerative.

  They must be called out as Degenerative Agriculture.”

  • Gluten sensitivities? Alleene, Joe’s pastry chef, is creating some wonders without gluten:

  Joe’s Morning Glory Muffin, Chocolate Ganache Torte and Carrot Cake – all gluten free! She also bakes Richard Eeds’ favorite, Tres Leches Cake (not gluten free).

  • A Tuesday night tradition at Joe’s

  – it’s Spaghetti and Chianti Night. $54 for two will get you Caesar Salad, Spaghetti with homemade Bolognese and a great 1⁄2 liter of Chianti. The Bolognese sauce is made with our

  grass-fed-and- finished beef

  , slow-cooked in the traditional Italian fashion.

  • 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 and 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.

                          Giggles
  

  • Light travels faster than sound.  That’s why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

  • No matter how kind you are, German children will always be kinder.

  • How do you think the unthinkable?  With an ithberg