Want to get a head start on the holidays?  Give the gift of great taste and good health!

Each Vital Choice Gift Pack includes a handome, personalized gift card.

You can order now, choose a shipping date during checkout, and put another gift task behind you!

Want to let your gift recipients choose for themselves? Our Gift Certificates offer a great option!

People seem to really love our Wild Sockeye Salmon Sausage, which comes in three succulent varieties: Savory Country Breakfast Style, Spicy Italian, and NEW Chorizo Style.

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.

“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

Vital Choice fresh-frozen organic blueberries, strawberries and red raspberries are rich in anti-aging antioxidants, and draw customer comments like this:
“OH MY GOODNESS! I cannot believe the flavor ... the taste reminds me of something from my childhood. Thanks for a great product!

Berries are incredibly healthful foods, and it's smart to seek out organic berries, grown without synthetic pesticides.

Our organic berries come in convenient one pound bags, each yielding about 3-1/2 cups. They freeze well, so you can keep plenty on hand!

The results of most scientific investigations indicate that diets high in the long-chain “marine” omega-3 fatty acids found only in fish or fish oils are associated with a lower incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of senile dementia (Issa AM et al 2006).

And the findings from four recent studies are especially encouraging because they investigated the association between fish or omega-3 intake and mental function in healthy people with no signs of dementia, aged 50 and older.

Three of the four studies were published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, and as the author of an accompanying editorial wrote, these studies’ positive outcomes offer “… the hope of preventing progression to states of dementia and disability before they become irreversible.” (Rosenberg IH 2007)

A fourth study, from France, produced similarly hopeful fish-related findings in healthy older persons, and added fruits and vegetables to the dementia-prevention picture.

And the French investigation confirms the brain-risks associated with over-consumption of omega-6 fatty acids, which over-dominate American diets.

Here’s what the four studies showed, in brief.

Study #1: Higher blood levels of omega-3s linked to better mental performance Researchers at the Netherlands’ Maastricht University examined the fatty acid levels in 807 people aged 50 to 70, both at the beginning and the end of a three year period (Dullemeijer C et al 2007).

Likewise, the participants’ mental acuity was determined at the beginning and end of the three-year period, using standard tests of memory, word fluency, and brain speed.

The Dutch team found that people with the highest blood levels of omega-3s enjoyed 69 percent less decline in sensorimotor speed (reaction time) and 60 percent less decline in overall brain speed, compared to those with the lowest omega-3 levels.

No associations were observed between omega-3 levels and the outcomes of tests gauging memory, information-processing speed, or word fluency.

Study #2: Higher omega-3 EPA levels, lower omega-6 levels enhance well-being

This study, conducted at New Zealand’s University of Otago, looked for links between blood levels of omega-3s and participants’ self-assessment of their mental and physical well-being (Crowe FL et al 2007).

The study involved 2,416 people who had completed health questionnaires and provided blood samples as part of New Zealand’s 1997 National Nutrition Survey.

The “kiwi” scientists found that the subjects who had the highest proportions of EPA – one of the two major omega-3s in fish and fish oil – reported the highest levels of physical well-being.

And those who had the highest ratios of EPA to omega-6 arachidonic acid (AA) reported higher levels of mental well-being.

Why would higher levels of omega-3 EPA and lower levels of omega-6 AA enhance overall health?

Chronic inflammation undermines physical and mental health, and omega-3 EPA exerts an anti-inflammatory influence in the body, while an overabundance of omega-6 AA promotes chronic inflammation.

As the researchers put it, “The association between [EPA levels], the ratio of EPA to AA, and better self-reported physical well-being … has strong biological plausibility and warrants further investigation.” (Crowe FL et al 2007)

Study #3: Fishy diets boost mental performance

Researchers at the University of Bergen, Norway looked for links between seafood consumption and mental performance in 2,031 elderly Norwegians (Nurk E et al 2007).

Participants who consumed at least 10 grams (1/3 of an ounce) of fish or seafood a day performed significantly better in brain-performance tests, compared with people who ate less than 10 grams daily.

And, significantly, the effect was “dose-dependent” which means that the best mental scores were seen among ...

Pardon the pun, but the good news about organic crops just keeps on growing.

Researchers from Britain’s Newcastle University found that organic crops contain more beneficial antioxidants than crops grown conventionally, with agrichemicals.

These results stem from a very large study, and affirm prior findings.

During the four-year project, researchers raised cattle and grew fruits and vegetables on farm sites across Europe and Northumberland, dividing them between organic and conventional methods.

Preliminary results show that the organic fruit and vegetables produced up to 40 percent more antioxidants – and other beneficial food factors – than their conventionally grown counterparts (QLFI 2007).

When they analyzed organic and conventional milk, they found antioxidant levels were as much as 60 percent higher in organic milk (QLFI 2007).

 

Organic methods add to proven benefits of produce The authors of the new study offer this rationale for their investigation of phytochemical content of organic versus conventional crops (with our clarifications in brackets [ ]):   “… vegetable crops contain particular secondary metabolites (e.g. phenolics, glucosinolates, other organic sulphur compounds, sesquiterpene lactones, fructans), which have shown beneficial pharmacological properties such as anti-neoplasia [tumor-preventive], antioxidant, anti-allergic effects, platelet aggregation inhibition [lessen blood stickiness], interference with cancer promotion mechanisms and probiotic [nurture friendly digestive bacteria] activity.”   “These compounds are therefore thought to be involved in the well-documented beneficial effects of vegetable consumption on health.”

The team’s prior, extensive survey of milk from organic and conventional dairies across Europe found that organic milk also has significantly higher levels of beneficial fatty acids – omega-3s, vaccenic acid, and CLA – plus higher levels of beneficial antioxidants like vitamin E, beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin. (Leifert C et al 2007)

A preponderance of scientific evidence indicates that diets high in fruit and vegetables can help prevent or ameliorate cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and senility, and most evidence points to their antioxidants and other compounds produced in response to environmental stresses.

Plants produce antioxidants primarily to defend against microbes and fungi.

As we’ve reported, it now appears that organic crops are higher in antioxidants and other beneficial food factors precisely because they lack the protection provided by pesticides, and must provide their own, to our benefit.

Analysis of crops, milk, and meat produced by the project continues, and ...