To the Editor:
Are there other seniors in Mesquite who wish the local casinos would provide more healthy food options? Shouldn’t they want to help keep us healthy?! The majority of us are overweight and could be heading for diabetes and other weight related issues if we don’t already have them, as well as other health issues that are not weight related but still nutritionally related. Many of us heavily support the casinos and very often partake of the complimentary buffets offered. It is very hard to get a healthy meal at our local casino buffets. Sure, there are raw vegetables on the buffets (hard to chew for some and not that appealing without a healthy dressing offered) and iceberg lettuce is there (little nutritional value), raw spinach that can deplete calcium when we are trying to fight off osteoporosis (it contains oxalic acid and is healthier for us if lightly steamed), and even if there is a more nutritional type of leafy green offered, it is usually coated with what is likely an unhealthy dressing. There are salads offered that are filled with mayonnaise, oils and sugars, cooked vegetables are swimming in butter/margarine/oils or have added sugars. There are many fried entrees offered and entrees covered in gravy, unhealthy sauces, cheese, and too much salt. Want turkey? It is often cut for you with the same knife used to cut the rare beef next to it, and the bloody run-off from the beef is all over the cutting board near the turkey. Sometimes there is a can of water nearby that the knife is dipped in over and over again to “clean” it. We deserve better. Ask for better! The buffets are number one “perk” for us and can change for the better if we speak up. Just ask for a comment card and fill it out – or attach a letter to it if you want to express yourself more fully.
Lisa Miller
Mesquite
Most of us Seniors are over weight? Headed for Diabetes? If that is the case for the letter writer, I would advise her not to attend the buffet at any casino. Stay home and fix yourself a “healthy” meal. And by the way, tell us what a healthy meal is. I would be very curious to know.
To respond to Michael. Please note that I did direct my comments to other seniors in Mesquite who wish the casino buffets had more health food options. To address your questions/comments, though: No, I’m not overweight but that’s because I am health-conscious and I very often walk out hungry from the buffets. As one of the only perks for supporting the local casinos (Believe me, they don’t want me to stay home), I’m simply asking for a few easy to provide items: a healthy dressing for the salad bar, more entrees that aren’t fried or covered in the unhealthy items I detailed above, and a clean knife for carving the turkey. The atmosphere and servers are nice and I enjoy going but after a few years of it, I’m frustrated that those of us who are health-conscious don’t have better options.
I am a Type 1 (Juvinile) Diabetic and all the Casinos’ have accommodated my unique diet needs far better than most restaurants in Mesquite have. I have just asked and they’ve willingly accommodated me. I’ve never been other than impressed!
I am curious as to what constitutes “healthy” food. I subscribe to a Doctor’s E-mail and the gentleman in question has excellent credentials. According to this Doctor, red meat, eggs, alcohol, cholesterol and even tobacco consumption are okay as long as you use them in moderation. I am sure anyone can find an “expert” who will disagree, but who is right? I try to follow a healthy diet but once in a while, I indulge in a casino buffet or a restaurant. I don’t go to a buffet to get all I can eat but to sample many varieties of food. After all, delicious food is a pleasure in life and should be enjoyed. In my opinion, worrying about my vices or stressing out about my choices are far more harmful than the limited times I enjoy a delicious meal. FYI, I am a senior and I take no medications and enjoy the many “vises” that other people criticize. Who knows?
Eat your healthy meal at home before you come to the casino. Problem solved. I mean, really! You are most capable of filling up on jello, cottage cheeze, celery sticks, carrot sticks, brocolli, and cauliflower too. A boiled egg and there you have your healthy meal. I don’t know, old people are such fussy people.