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Quick, Easy Shopping & Ordering
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Click here for quick access to all our products, from wild salmon, tuna and sablefish to organic chocolate, tea and spices! To get a free catalog, click here, or call us toll-free at 1-800-608-4825.
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Sockeye: The Favorite of Many Salmon Fans
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Our wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon offers special appeal to those—like many of us here at Vital Choice—who like their wild salmon firm and flavorful.
These sustainably harvested fish are a super-healthy source of protein, rich in long-chain omega-3 essential fatty acids, and potent natural antioxidants.
And sockeye is a nearly unrivalled food source of bone-saving, cancer-curbing vitamin D, with a whopping 1,100 IU per 6-oz serving, or nearly triple the US RDA.
Our flash-frozen 6-oz skinless-boneless portions and boneless 2-lb. whole fillets come vacuum-sealed for superior quality and convenience. Certified Kosher by EarthK
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Publisher/Editor
Randy Hartnell
Producer
Craig Weatherby
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VitalChoices
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Scrumptious Weathervane Scallops
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We’re very pleased to announce the arrival of our sweet, succulent, sustainably harvested Alaska weathervane scallops!
Unlike common farmed varieties, Vital Choice scallops grow as nature intended in the cold, clear waters near Kodiak Island, Alaska.
They're individually quick frozen and available in convenient re-sealable bags, so that you can take only the scallops you need and return the rest to the freezer.
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Summer BBQ Combo Packs
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Our special Grilling Combo Packs provide the succulent centerpiece for fabulous barbeque feasts!
Grilling Special #1 - Alaskan Sockeye Fillets
- 3 Whole Sockeye Fillets*
- Organic Salmon Marinade
- 6 Cedar Barbeque Planks
Grilling Special #2 - Wild Salmon Sampler
- 2 Sockeye portions**
- 2 King portions**
- 2 Silver portions**
- Organic Salmon Marinade
- 6 Cedar Barbeque
*total wt. at least 4.5 lbs.
**6-oz skinless-boneless fillets
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Luscious Lox and Hot-Smoked Salmon
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Vital Choice smoked salmon is far superior to the preservative-laden farmed product found in most grocery stores.
After curing in natural alder wood smoke, our Smoked Sockeye Portions and silky, cold-smoked Sliced Nova Lox are immediately vacuum-packed and flash-frozen. Thawed and served, they taste as though they came fresh out of the smoker.
"I am in love with the hot-smoked salmon. It is fabulous flaked and scrambled with eggs and onions. They give the eggs a lovely zing." — Dana Jacobi, author of 12 Best Foods Cookbook.
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The Vital Choice Advantage
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Click here to learn about the Vital Choice Advantage ... the many reasons why William Sears, M.D. — renowned as "America's Baby Doctor"— calls Vital Choice his favorite salmon source.
Vital Choice was founded by two longtime Alaska fishermen—Randy Hartnell and Dave Hamburg—who know where to get the highest quality fish. And they test it periodically to ensure your safety.
[PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION]
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Our colorful catalog features exciting new organic offerings, from fine tea and chocolate to exquisite Spanish olive and Kenyan macadamia nut oils. To receive your copy, or send one to family or a friend, click here.
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Wild Sockeye Salmon Sausage
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“I just tried your new Country breakfast sausage for the first time … they are wonderful! I never thought a salmon sausage would be this good. Thanks!” — Dr. Bruce Felgenhauer
People are excited about our new Wild Sockeye Salmon Sausage, which comes in two succulent varieties: Savory Country Breakfast Style and Spicy Italian.
The ingredients couldn’t be simpler: just Wild Alaskan sockeye salmon, 100% organic herbs and spices, organic arrowroot, natural sea salt, and water.
For tips on how to cook 'em from straight from the freezer, see our Web site.
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Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
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Our delicious Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil is pressed from choice Spanish picual olives, which imparts a fruity flavor with hints of apple. The oil is pressed from the olives within hours of harvest, without heat or chemicals, to ensure optimal flavor and nutritional value.
As we reported (see "Extra Virgin Olive Oil Seen Superior for Reducing Cardiac and Cancer Risks"), recent research results confirm that the antioxidant polyphenols abundant only in extra virgin grade olive oil provide health-protections well beyond those offered by heavily refined, "pure" grade supermarket oils.
The olives are grown in a family farm’s ancient groves on the sun-drenched hills of Andalusia where the heirloom trees are hand-tended with care, using only natural pest-control techniques.
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"Chocolate of the Seas"
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Sablefish is rarely seen in standard fish markets, but is highly prized in Japan, which corners almost the entire North American catch.
This buttery, flaky, white fish boasts its own rich texture and mind-blowing flavor—and even more omega-3s than wild salmon!
We also offer irresistible smoked sablefish. Boasting a rich golden color, these scrumptious, oven-ready steaks are infused with delicate alder wood smoke flavor—and cook fully from frozen in mere minutes!
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Fish Fats Called Credible Foes of Skin Aging and Skin Cancer
New evidence review makes the case; Growing evidence points to benefits of omega-3s from seafood and damaging effects of ubiquitous omega-6 fats
by Craig Weatherby
Aside from causing sunburn, the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays can also cause wrinkles, sags, leathery skin, eye cataracts, and other generally non-fatal ills.
But, more importantly, UV rays are major perpetrators of DNA-distorting, cancer-promoting cell damage. And, ironically, the human immune system’s inflammatory response to UV-induced cell damage often makes matters worse.
According to a new report from the World Health Organization, up to 60,000 people worldwide die every year from skin
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Key Points
- Omega-3s from fish may reduce sun-related skin damage by reducing levels of pro-inflammatory chemicals in people’s skin and blood.
- Omega-3s may reduce the risk of certain skin cancers (carcinomas) by curbing cancerous changes in skin cells and by inhibiting the formation of skin tumors generated in response to UV sunrays.
- Supplemental omega-3s could help make longer sun exposure safer, thereby allowing people to raise their body levels of cancer-fighting vitamin D.
| cancers. Of these, the UN agency estimates that 48,000 succumb to malignancies called melanomas. The remaining 12,000 die from skin carcinomas.
While it appears likely that most of the 20 percent of skin cancer deaths related to carcinoma-type tumors are caused by excessive sun exposure, evidence for the alleged cause-and-effect link between excessive sun exposure and far deadlier melanomas seems increasingly shaky. (See “Does excess sun really cause the worst kind of skin cancer?”, below.)
Sun exposure:
The risk-reward equation
The key question concerning sun exposure is whether the likely benefits of moderate amounts outweigh the likely risks.
By “moderate” exposure, we mean the substantial levels that early humans and their immediate evolutionary ancestors probably evolved in response to receiving: amounts of sun exposure that would have been much higher than their modern, urbanized, descendents receive.
Given that humans evolved foraging for food outdoors, it seems reasonable to presume that our early ancestors received at least 90-120 minutes of sun exposure per day, including at least 15-30 minutes of exposure during the four peak sun hours from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. In contrast, most dermatologists say it is unsafe to get more than 10 to 20 minutes of sun exposure per day.
There are two key points to remember in the debate over sun exposure:
- Vitamin D, which the human body manufactures in response to sun exposure, is a potent anti-cancer agent.
- The sunscreens available today excel at blocking the short-wavelength “burning” UVB rays that stimulate production of vitamin D in the skin. (We lack highly effective sunscreens for longer-wavelength UVA rays, which penetrate much deeper into skin, and do not stimulate production of vitamin D in skin cells.)
Despite the vitamin D-generating power of sunlight, the answer to our risk-reward question remains uncertain. But recent research results suggest that worldwide, the numbers of deadly cancers likely prevented by the increase in vitamin D levels stimulated by sun exposure are several times greater than the relatively small number of deadly cancers caused by sun exposure.
And the “moderate-sun-is-beneficial” hypothesis also makes sense in the context of human evolution. It seems unlikely that high susceptibility to sun-induced skin cancers would have persisted, under the pressures of natural selection, as a common human characteristic.
One obvious exception would be pale-skinned people, whose lack of UV-blocking melanin pigment puts them at greater risk of premature skin-aging and skin cancers: especially if they work outdoors, sunbathe, or live in tropical latitudes. For them, it seems reasonable to limit sun exposure to levels closer to current medical recommendation (e.g., no more than 30-40 minutes per day, with most of it outside the peak midday hours).
Could omega-3s hold the key to safer sun exposure?
The risk of relatively easy-to-detect and highly treatable carcinoma-type skin cancers can be reduced by available sunscreens, which do a good job of blocking UVB rays, but the chore of constantly applying the stuff and washing it off discourages routine use.
Fortunately, the skin-protective benefits attributed to dietary omega-3s by the eminent authors of a new evidence review suggest that these fish fats could do two things that would make moderate sun exposure, as we've defined it, substantially safer:
- Provide the “foundational” level of protection needed to dampen cancer-promoting inflammation and the premature skin aging it induces.
- Reduce the risk of “shallow” squamous cell carcinomas: the category of skin cancers tied most credibly to greater lifetime sun exposure.
The new evidence review was published in the journal Cancer Detection and Prevention, and its authors summarized the
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Lesley Rhodes, M.D.
| field’s most reliable findings. The results indicate that the long-chain marine omega-3s obtainable from seafood or fish oil supplements offer substantial protection against sun-induced damage to skin cells (Black HS, Rhodes LE 2006).
The review’s positive conclusions carry unusual weight because they come from two prominent researchers in the field: Homer S. Black, Ph.D., who hails from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas—one of the world’s leading cancer research centers—and Lesley E. Rhodes M.D., FRCP of England’s University of Manchester Hospital: a well-respected researcher in the field.
Their conclusions stem from a review of the most credible human and animal studies conducted over the past 15 years, whose positive results affirm and extend the encouraging findings of many prior studies in isolated cells.
Taken together, the evidence suggests that dietary omega-3s offer very substantial protection against the cell-damaging, wrinkle-promoting, sag-inducing effects of the sun’s ultraviolet rays: especially when a person’s average intake of omega-6 EFAs is two to three times their omega-3 intake.
If affirmed by future research results, the positive conclusions reached by Drs. Black and Rhodes concerning the meaning of the best current evidence would allow people who get adequate amounts of omega-3s from fish or supplements to breathe a bit easier when they’re out and about ... whether wearing sunscreen or not.
New review praises omega-3s, damns omega-6 fatty acids
The lead sentence of the new review summarizes the current facts succinctly: “In toto, there is strong circumstantial evidence from both experimental and clinical studies to support a role for [long-chain] omega-3 FA [fatty acids] in the prevention of non-melanoma skin cancer ...”
Drs. Black and Rhodes went on to enumerate the likely preventive benefits of diets rich in omega-3 EFAs from seafood or fish oil supplements:
Animal studies on marine omega-3s
- Dietary omega-3s inhibit the cancerous genetic changes produced by UV sunrays, while slowing the formation of skin tumors and limiting their numbers.
- Dietary omega-3s reduce blood and skin levels of a prostaglandin (messenger chemical) called PGE2, which promotes cancer-fueling inflammation and suppresses the immune response to pre-cancerous cell changes.
- Dietary omega-3s significantly reduce the damaging inflammatory response to UV exposure, when compared to an equivalent dietary level of omega-6 fatty acids.
Human studies on marine omega-3s
- Supplemental omega-3s from fish oil raise the amount of UV exposure required to produce the inflammation (skin redness or “erythema”) that accompanies and exacerbates sunburn.
- Supplemental omega-3s from fish oil significantly reduce the level of pro-inflammatory and immune-suppressive PGE2 produced in response to UV exposure.
The results of an earlier study co-authored by Dr. Rhodes suggest that omega-3s may exert part of their protective power by acting as an “oxidizable buffer”, whose self-sacrifice serves to protect genetic structures from the skin-aging, cancer-promoting effects of free radical damage caused by UV sunrays (Rhodes LE 1994).
The authors of the new evidence review also described the drawbacks of pro-inflammatory omega-6 essential fatty acids (EFAs), which Americans consume, unknowingly, in amounts 20 to 40 times too high in relation to their omega-3 intake.
While the body needs both omega-6 EFAs and omega-3 EFAs, it has evolved to perform optimally when they are consumed in close balance. Americans consume omega-6 fatty acids in great excess because they dominate the standard vegetable oils abundant in most packaged and prepared foods (canola, soy, corn, safflower, sunflower, cottonseed). The exceptions are olive oil, macadamia nut oil, and the “hi-oleic” oils pressed from the seeds of hybrid strains of safflower and sunflower.
In contrast, Drs. Black and Rhodes found that the current evidence shows that diets high in omega-6 EFAs yield negative
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Could sockeye salmon
reduce skin cancer risks?
Aside from being rich in omega-3s, these special, near-vegetarian salmon rank as an extraordinarily abundant source of vitamin D, high intake of which is associated with reduced risk of melanoma skin cancers.
Far exceeding other food sources of vitamin D, sockeye contain up to 1,120 IU per 6 oz. serving, which is more than double the US RDA of 400 IU and approximates the 1,000-1,500 IU per day considered adequate and safe by the experts (to see comparative vitamin D data for various fish, click here).
And astaxanthin—the plankton-derived pigment that turns salmon flesh red-orange—may be the most powerful of all the carotenoid-class antioxidants: the kind associated with reduced risk of melanoma skin cancers. | effects in response to UV sunrays:
Animal studies on omega-6 EFAs
- Dietary omega-6 EFAs raise blood and skin levels of prostaglandin PGE2, which promotes cancer-fueling inflammation and suppresses the immune response to pre-cancerous cell changes.
- Dietary omega-6 EFAs do not dampen the damaging inflammatory response to excessive UV exposure significantly, when compared to an equivalent dietary level of omega-3 fatty acids.
Unsurprisingly, much of the UV-damage-undoing power of omega-3s revealed by the research reviewed by Drs. Black and Rhodes appears to stem from these fatty acids’ well-documented anti-inflammatory actions.
The expert doctors' conclusions, while not final, offer credible support for the hypothesis that higher intake of long-chain marine omega-3 fatty acids blunts the negative effects of the sun’s UV rays: especially the short-wave UVB rays believed responsible for most of the 12,000 skin-carcinoma fatalities that occur annually around the world.
Does excess sun really cause the worst kind of skin cancer?
The widely accepted assertion that melanoma risk rises in tandem with sun exposure rests on rather shaky evidentiary ground. In fact, the claim is undermined by a considerable amount of contrary evidence.
For example, the results of a recent substantial case-control study conducted at the Mayo Clinic (Kennedy C, 2003) indicate that greater lifetime sun exposure produced a lower risk of malignant melanoma among the participants, despite the fact that greater lifetime sun exposure did not reduce ...
[Click here for full story and sources]
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Vital Choice Recipes
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Seared Alaska Scallops with Jalapeño Cream; Maghreb-Style Salmon with Cous Cous
This week’s recipes come to us from Mexico and the Maghreb (Arab North Africa) … two regions of the world that certainly do appreciate the spices of life.
Seared Alaska Scallops with Jalapeño Cream
This ravishing recipe comes to us courtesy Rick Bayless, chef-founder of Chicago’s justly famed Frontera Grill, who is expert in many regional Mexican styles.
Makes 4 servings
Marinating the scallops
- Rinse the scallops and place in a large bowl, along with the lime juice and a liberal sprinkling of salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours (no more or it will "cook" the scallops). Remove from the marinade and pat dry.
Searing the scallops
- Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium high. Lay in the scallops, making sure they're not crowded, lest they stew rather than sear. If you're not able to fit them in an un-crowded layer, sear the scallops in 2 batches.
- Fry until richly browned on one side, about 2 minutes, then turn them over with tongs or a spatula and sear the other side 1 to 2 minutes more; scallops are done when they're still a little translucent in the middle, but it’s okay to go just past that point. Remove to a warm plate and pour off all the oil left in the pan.
Finishing the dish
- Return the pan to the heat and, when hot, add the salsa. Stir for a couple of minutes as the salsa reduces, thickens and darkens. Reduce the heat to medium-low, stir in the cream and, when hot, taste and season with salt.
Serving
- Ladle a portion of sauce onto each of 4 warm dinner plates, then arrange the scallops on top. Sprinkle each one liberally with chopped cilantro or parsley.
Variations and improvisations
- Serve this luscious sauce over fettuccini, and call it New World Alfredo. Alaska Spot Prawns would be equally delicious; if that's your preference, cook them a little less time than you would scallops.
Roasted Jalapeño-Cilantro Salsa ingredients
For 2 ½ cups:
- 1 ½ pounds (about 6 medium plum) ripe tomatoes (preferably plum)
- 2 to 3 (1 to 1 ½ ounces) fresh jalapeño chilies*, stemmed
- ½ small (2 ounces) white onion, sliced
- ¼-inch thick 4 garlic cloves, peeled
- about ¼ cup water
- 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, loosely packed, chopped
- 1 generous teaspoon sea salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons cider vinegar
For 5 cups:
- 3 pounds (about 12 medium plum) ripe tomatoes (preferably plum)
- 4 to 6 (2 to 3 ounces) fresh jalapeño chilies*, stemmed
- 1 small (4 ounces) white onion, sliced
- 1/4-inch thick 8 garlic cloves, peeled
- about 1/2 cup water 2/3 cup fresh cilantro, loosely packed, chopped
- 2 generous teaspoons sea salt
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
*Other chilies you can use: habanero (orange or green), Serrano, Santa Fe, Fresno, fresh pequin (go light; they’re hot!) Hungarian wax, fresh arbol, cayenne, Tabasco, as well as most small hot fresh chilies.
Roasted Jalapeño-Cilantro Salsa instructions**
- Heat the broiler. Lay the whole tomatoes and jalapeños out on a broiler pan or baking sheet (many cooks like to line the pan or baking sheet with heavy duty foil to easily capture the juices and make clean up a snap). Set the pan 4 inches below the broiler and broil for about 6 minutes, until darkly roasted-even rather blackened-on one side (the tomato skins will split and curl in places).
- With a pair of tongs, flip over the tomatoes and chilies and roast the other side for another 6 minutes or so. The goal is not simply to char the tomatoes and chilies, but to cook them through while developing nice roasty flavors. Set aside to cool.
- Turn the oven down to 425°F. On a similar pan or baking sheet, combine the onion and garlic (you’ll want to separate the onion into rings) and set in the oven. Stir carefully every couple of minutes, until the onions are beautifully roasted (they’ll be wilted, even have a touch of char on some edges) and the garlic is soft and browned in spots, about 15 minutes total. (For a smokier-flavored salsa, the onion and garlic can all be done on a perforated grilling pan.)
**Instructions for a less rustic salsa
· Pull off the peel from the cooled tomatoes and cut out the “cores” where the stems were attached (be sure to work over your baking sheet so as not to waste any juices).
- In a food processor, pulse the jalapeños (no need to peel or seed them) with the onion-garlic mixture until moderately finely chopped, scraping everything down with a spatula as needed to keep it all moving around. Scoop into a big bowl.
- Without washing the processor, coarsely puree the tomatoes-and all the juice that has accumulated around them-and add them to the bowl. (If you’re making the largest batch, you’ll have to do the tomatoes in two batches.) Stir in enough water to give the salsa an easily spoonable consistency (salsas in Mexico are usually a little smoother and saucier than they are here-not very chunky or thick). Stir in the cilantro.
- Taste and season with salt and vinegar, remembering that this condiment should be a little feisty in its seasoning. If you’re planning to use your salsa right away simply pour it into a bowl and it’s ready. Or, refrigerate it and use within 5 days.
Salsa variation
- Roasted Habanero-Tomato Salsa: To make this very spicy, distinctive flavored salsa, replace the jalapeños with 2/4/6 stemmed habanero chilies (I prefer the fruitier flavor of the orange habaneros to the less ripe, even grassy flavor, of the greens).
Maghreb-Style Salmon with Cous Cous
“Maghreb”, which means “western” in Arabic, is a local appellation for the region of Africa north of the Sahara Desert and west of the Nile, which includes Morocco, Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia. While ours is not an authentic North African recipe, it’ll have to do until we can get to Algiers or Marrakech and delve into their tasty culinary traditions.
4 (6 oz each) wild salmon fillets
6 oz cous cous
2 medium zucchini, sliced
1 large red onion, peeled and sliced
4 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 large red pepper, sliced
2 Tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and organic black pepper
handful of fresh chopped chives and basil
few sprigs fresh parsley or mint for garnishing
Maghreb Dressing ingredients
2 tsp Vital Choice Organic Salmon Marinade (or equivalent blend of herbs and spices*)
1 tsp organic turmeric
¼ tsp organic cayenne (optional)
2 Tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
- Prepare cous cous by following instructions on packet.
- Pre-heat the pan to medium.
- Toss the vegetables in half the oil. Season and griddle for 8 - 10 minutes, turning once. Put the vegetables to one side.
- Brush the salmon with the remaining oil, season with salt and pepper and griddle for 6-8 minutes, turning once. The salmon is cooked when the flesh is opaque and flakes easily when tested with a fork.
- Add the chives and basil and Maghreb Dressing and griddle vegetable to the cous cous and toss well.
- Serve the vegetable cous cous topped with the salmon. Garnish with parsley or mint leaves.
*fennel seed, dill weed, black pepper, lemon peel, garlic, onion, sea salt, red pepper
[PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION]
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Published by
Vital Choice Seafood
Copyright © 2006 Vital Choice Seafood, Inc.. All rights reserved.
Information in this newsletter is not meant to substitute for the advice provided by medical professionals, nor is it intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease.
Copyright is held by Vital Choice Seafood, to which all rights are reserved. Other than personal, non-commercial use or forwarding, no material in this newsletter may be copied, distributed, or published without the express permission of Vital Choice Seafood.
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