If you haven't tried our Wild Red Sockeye Salmon you're in for a treat, because it tastes much fresher than standard supermarket brands.

The rich, red color of the meat and oil is unlike any you're likely to have had before.

Our minimal processing methods ensure that you'll get the maximum amount of nutrients naturally abundant in Sockeye Salmon.

These include omega-3s, vitamin D, and astaxanthin: the super-potent carotene-class antioxidant that gives the oil brimming in every can of Wild Red its bright orange-red color. (The liquid in standard canned Salmon is pallid and watery by comparison.)
 

Choose Skinless-Boneless Wild Red, or Traditional Style with skin and soft edible bones for extra flavor and ample calcium.

Both kinds are available with salt (less than is added to most brands) or without added salt ... and several varieties come in EZ-Open pull-tab tops.

“You are providing a wonderful health-giving service to the planet with your business. And it is a pleasure to bring this information to my audience. It is also a pleasure to snap open these little cans of salmon and have an instant healthy meal!”

-- Christiane Northrup, M.D.

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.

Earn rewards with our popular HealthWise “frequent shopper” rewards program … the more you spend, the more you get back!

Now, you can enroll anytime, and as always, it’s free!

To see how it works, click HERE.

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 portions come vacuum-sealed for superior quality and convenience. Certified Kosher by EarthK

Many readers of Vital Choices will be familiar with marine biologist Alexandra Morton.

She is pictured at left, with letters containing donations to support her striking new effort to save wild Salmon threatened by nearby fish farms (see “Bold Plan” and “Adopt-a-Fry”, below).

Alex Morton has spent many years researching sea life among the coastal islands of the Broughton Archipelago – an area about 200 miles northwest of Vancouver, British Columbia (BC) that’s home to dozens of Salmon spawning rivers and industrial Salmon sites.

She founded and heads the small but vital Raincoast Research Society, which we support. (See “Help Support a Wild Salmon Heroine”.)

Alex Morton and scientists at Canadian universities published research in recent years that proves sea lice generated by Salmon farms are killing BC's wild Pink Salmon in numbers large enough to threaten their survival.

Pink Salmon are by far the most numerous wild Pacific Salmon species and are critically important to the area’s economy and ecosystem.

Bold plan to “medevac” Salmon fry past sea lice swarms

In an attempt to save BC’s Pink Salmon and bring public attention to the problem, Alex Morton has hatched a remarkable plan to save the juvenile fish, called “fry”.

 

"Adopt-a-Fry" to Save Wild Salmon Alex Morton and her colleagues have posted a fundraising website (adopt-a-fry.com), and are asking people to “adopt a small fry” for $20. As she says, “Adopt a small fry and your contribution will be directly used to save the Spring 2008 run of Broughton pink salmon – 1/3 of BC’s wild Salmon population.” To visit the site – where you can learn more, and donate to the rescue project – click HERE. Or, make out a check to payable to "Adopt a Fry" and send it to: General Delivery Simsoom Sound, BC V0P 1S0   For more on the threats that BC's fish farms pose to wild Salmon, including comments from leading marine biologists, read the Extinction Press Release at adopt-a-fry.com.

The idea is to catch wild Pink Salmon fry, carry them past fish farms, and release them about 37 miles (60 kilometers) west, in open ocean waters.

The rescue effort is a joint project by local ecotourism operators, First Nations (Indian) organizations, and environment-guardians like Alex Morton.

This spring, they will try to catch hundreds of thousands of young Salmon as they exit from the mouth of the Ahta River, load them into boats, and carry them past the sea lice that swarm out from nearby Salmon farms.

Alex Morton says the plan to “medevac” Pink Salmon fry is feasible, and much more than a publicity stunt.

She and her colleagues plan to employ a method called “beach seining”, in which a boat runs a net out from the shore, then circles back, trapping the fish inside.

Once the Salmon fry are in the net, volunteers will use buckets to transfer the fish to ...

Folks who fly Delta this month may discover that we’re featured in Delta Sky—the airline's in-flight magazine.

The editors chose to feature us in the current issue because our strong sustainability stance fits with its “Green” theme.

Writing in the publication’s “Pie in the Sky” column, writer David Bailey notes that we offer only superior, sustainably harvested seafood and enjoy a recommendation from bestselling natural health author Andrew Weil, M.D.

Here’s the first line of Mr. Bailey’s laudatory blurb:
“If you think there’s no difference between farm-raised salmon and the wild variety caught in the icy waters of Alaska—filleted and flash-frozen within hours of harvest—then you haven’t tried Vital Choice salmon.”

Mr. Bailey went on to offer particular praise for the variety of luscious choices in our Smoked Salmon Pack.
 

To read the whole mini-profile, click here and scroll about halfway down the page to the "Order of the Day" section and look for “Salmon I Am”.

An office in full swoon over great Salmon

David Bailey wrote us after receiving the magazine’s requested samples to relay the reactions of the staff. We were gratified by the reactions of the Delta Sky staffers who tried our seafood.

To quote him, they were “… stunned by how fresh and delicious the salmon was and by the subtle difference between the varieties. Further testament ... was in the testimony of one of our staff members, who’d never tasted Salmon in her life. Seeing us descend upon the table like hungry wolves, she asked to try it and we prepared her some of the candied Salmon with just a bit of cream cheese on toast. As soon as it disappeared into her mouth, she became a convert!”

His note ended with more welcome words: “It’s one thing to see food in a catalogue that’s been styled and quite another to see it looking every bit as appetizing as it did in the catalogue after being processed, shipped thousands of miles and thawed. An added benefit was knowing that we were eating something that was not only delicious, but also good for us.”

Many thanks to David and everyone at Delta Sky … you made our day, week, and month!

More than one in three Americans takes a multivitamin supplement ... pills that constitute a major portion of the $23 billion spent on dietary supplements annually in the U.S.

But an increasing body of evidence supports the notion that whole foods provide superior nutrition and preventive health benefits. (See “Whole Foods Seen Superior to Supplements”.)

While few Americans show signs of outright vitamin-mineral deficiency disease, there’s ample evidence that their generally nutrient-poor, “empty-calorie” diets fail to provide optimal levels of some essential nutrients, including omega-3s and vitamins D and E.

Key Points Harvard health letter advises men to avoid multivitamins. Warning is based on study linking raised prostate cancer risk to “excessive” intake of multivitamins (more than once a day). Authors point to folic acid as possible reason for higher prostate risk, without much evidence. Official US panel echoes other studies that find no harm (or benefit) from taking multivitamins.

Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency are common in American women and their newborns (Bodnar LM et al. 2007). And insufficient maternal intake of the B-vitamin folic acid (folate) causes birth defects in children – a risk that was ameliorated by folate-fortification of foods only recently.

So when the editors of the Harvard Men's Health Watch newsletter advised men to stop taking multivitamin supplements, the suggestion created quite a stir.

They cited the results of a recent epidemiological study by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and indications that higher dietary intake of folic acid may promote or exacerbate prostate cancer in men with certain genetic profiles.

Folate plays important roles in the synthesis, repair, and modification of DNA, and higher intake appears to reduce the risk of some cancers (Stevens VL et al. 2005).

Higher intake of this B-vitamin – which occurs in virtually all multivitamin supplements – lowers blood levels of homocysteine (a risk factor for cardiovascular disease) and may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

 

Antioxidant vitamins may ameliorate prostate risk Taking extra amounts of vitamins A, C, or E in addition to a multivitamin may confer prostate protection.   As the authors of another American Cancer Society study wrote: “… [increased prostate cancer] risk was statistically significant only for those multivitamin users who used no additional (vitamin A, C, or E) supplements …”, among whom the risk was 15 percent greater than for multivitamin abstainers (Stevens VL et al. 2005).   And another recent epidemiological study found that men who got ample amounts of vitamin E from foods enjoyed a 32 percent lower risk of prostate cancer: “… increased consumption of gamma-tocopherol [vitamin E] from foods is associated with a reduced risk ...” (Wright ME et al. 2007)   Interestingly, the same study showed that men who took vitamin E supplements had no effect on the risk of prostate cancer, either way: “These results suggest that supplemental vitamin E does not protect against prostate cancer …” (Wright ME et al. 2007).

What the vitamin-prostate studies actually show

The Harvard health letter’s advice was based on the outcome of a study conducted by an NCI team based at the agency’s headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland (Lawson KA et al 2007).

The NCI group investigated the association between multivitamin use and risk of early-stage (localized), advanced, and fatal prostate cancer in 295,344 men enrolled in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study.

All the men were cancer free when they enrolled in 1995 and 1996.

Five years later, the data showed an increased risk of advanced and fatal prostate cancers among men who reported taking multivitamins more than seven times a week – which the authors characterized as “excessive multivitamin use” – compared with men who never took multivitamins.

The supplement-takers risk of being diagnosed with advanced or fatal prostate cancers were 32 and 98 percent higher than for non-takers, respectively (Lawson KA et al 2007).

However, the supplement-takers’ risk of being diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer was no greater than the risk among non-takers.

The link between “excessive” multivitamin use and prostate cancer risk was strongest in ...

While not exactly startling, the results of a study from Pennsylvania State University resoundingly affirm the value of whole grains, versus the refined grains that dominate American diets.

The hypothesis that diets high in whole grains help reduce risk of obesity, heart disease and diabetes flows largely from epidemiological research. Such studies compare people’s diets with their long-term health outcomes, and can only demonstrate associations, not cause and effect (McKeown NM et al. 2002).

And until recently, no controlled clinical trials directly tested the weight-loss and health-enhancing effects of diets high in whole, unrefined grain foods, versus diets high in refined grain foods such as white bread.

This data gap led researchers at Pennsylvania State University to conduct a controlled clinical trial in 25 obese women and 25 obese men (average age 46) diagnosed with metabolic syndrome (Katcher HI et al. 2008).

How the study worked
For the duration of the 12 week trial, all the participants ate a diet containing 500 calories less than normal, made up of five daily servings of fruits and vegetables, three servings of low-fat dairy products, and two servings of lean meat, fish or poultry.

All were encouraged to engage in moderate physical activity.

To test the effect of whole and refined grains, half were randomly assigned to eat only breads, pasta, and cereal made from whole grains, while the other half were told to avoid whole grain foods.

Participants in the whole grain group were directed to focus on foods that had whole grains as the first ingredient.

(The photo above portrays Paul Helton, one of the study participants, examining the whole-grain and refined foods used in the research.)

Results confirm wisdom of avoiding refined grains

Both groups enjoyed reductions in body weight – between 8 and 11 pounds on average – waist circumference, and the percentage of their weight occurring in the form of fat.

However, the whole-grain group experienced greater falls in the percentage of body fat located in the abdomen, compared to the refined-grain group.

This difference is critical, because the excess abdominal fat that yields an apple-shaped body is linked to a much greater risk of obesity, metabolic syndrome, heart disease, and diabetes. (The risks of having a pear-shaped body, with excess fat around the hips and thighs, are much less.)

The whole-grain group also enjoyed a big, 38 percent average drop in a key marker of inflammation called ...

We adapted today’s recipe from The New York Times Heritage Cook Book … a pioneering 70’s-era collection of regional American cooking.

Amateur British cook debra47 is responsible for raising this healthful comfort-food recipe up on our radar screen, and for the appetizing photo. Thanks, Debra!

Like us, this simple but delicious Salmon Cake recipe hails from Washington State. It’s named after the tribe that gave its name – which probably means “lowland people” – to northern coastal Snohomish County, just south of us.

For a more tropical flavor, use cilantro in place of the traditional parsley.

Snohomish Salmon Cakes

Makes 4 cakes (approx 1/3 lb each)

Approx. 1 lb wild Sockeye Salmon (three 6-oz portions), cooked, or canned Wild Red™ Sockeye Salmon (two 7.5-oz cans or four 3.75 oz cans of traditional or skinless-boneless Wild Red™)

½ Tbsp butter

½ Tbsp organic extra virgin olive or macadamia nut oil

1/4 cup finely chopped ...