Wild Salmon Fights Diabetes

May 23rd, 2013

With Diabetes now affecting Americans at epidemic levels (and growing every year), researchers are scrambling to find solutions to this problem.  Everyone wants to know why this is happening and what we can do about it.  Some of the answers are obvious, like eating a balanced diet and getting more exercise.  But what does it mean, exactly, to eat a balanced diet?  Well, recent studies show that eating wild salmon regularly can not only help prevent Type 2 diabetes, but may also slow the effects of diabetes in those that are already suffering from the disease.

Sockeye Salmon, Look at That Unmistakable Color

Sockeye Salmon, Look at That Unmistakable Color

 

In short, Wild Salmon has the power to: 

  • Reduce inflammation - Omega-3s from fish reduce the inflammation in blood vessels characteristic of heart disease and diabetes
  • Lower Triglycerides - Omega-3s lower blood triglycerides (fats) and boost the amount of HDL or “good” cholesterol. These changes are especially favorable in people with heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
  • Help prevent obesity - Diets rich in seafood omega-3s may reduce fat tissue
  • Manage blood glucose levels - fish is a lean, high-protein food that doesn’t raise blood glucose levels.

And those are only the ways wild salmon can fight diabetes.  The Omega-3 fatty acids in salmon are connected with a whole slew of other health benefits, including heart, brain, and eye health, as well as maternal and infant health.

*I think it is important to note here that only WILD salmon contains these beneficial properties.  Farmed salmon contains unhealthy levels of Omega 6 fatty acids, which actually increase inflammation, and dangerous levels of Persistent Organic Pollutants like PCBs, which are linked with metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance and Type 2 Diabetes.  For more information on the connection between farmed salmon and Type 2 Diabetes, check out this study.*

 

The following is an excerpt from a paper titled “Benefits of Omega-3 Fatty Acids from Fish in Type 2 Diabetes,” by Joyce A. Nettleton, DSc, RD

“Omega-3 fatty acids, found mainly in fat-rich fish such as salmon, rainbow trout, mackerel, and
sardines confer health benefits not found in other foods. “Omega-3s” from fish are highly
polyunsaturated fatty acids that lower triglycerides, reduce abnormal heart rhythms, reduce blood
pressure by small but significant amounts, and improve blood clotting regulation. In a large study
of more than 11,000 people with heart disease, the daily consumption of about one gram of fish
oil reduced cardiovascular mortality by 30% and sudden cardiac death by 45%. A gram of fish
oil is equivalent to a 3 ounce serving of salmon. Omega-3s may also boost the effectiveness of
statins, drugs widely prescribed to lower blood LDL cholesterol levels.

Studying populations such as the Alaskan and Greenland Inuit, who frequently eat fatty fish or
marine animals rich in omega-3s, has taught us a great deal. Traditionally, these native people
have had very little cardiovascular disease or diabetes. Japanese, who also consume large
amounts of fish, have much lower rates of heart disease and diabetes than Americans. As these
populations adopt western eating habits and exercise less, their prevalence of obesity and
diabetes soars. Could the onset of diabetes be changed if native people at risk for the disease
resumed eating more omega-3 rich foods? Dr. Sven Ebbesson of the University of Virginia
sought the answer in a study of 44 Alaskan Inuit who had early signs of diabetes – impaired
glucose tolerance and excess weight. Inuit were asked to eat fewer foods high in saturated fats
and more traditional foods, especially fish and marine animals. After 4 years, not a single person
had advanced to type 2 diabetes, in spite of not losing weight. This promising study needs to be
confirmed in a larger number of subjects.

Omega-3 fatty acids may be particularly beneficial for overweight people with hypertension who
are on weight loss diets. Dr. Trevor Mori and colleagues at the University of Western Australia
recently showed that people on a weight loss diet that included fat-rich fish daily had improved
glucose and insulin metabolism. People on the same diet without fish had no such improvements.
Both groups lost the same amount of weight, but blood pressure reduction was greater among the
fish eaters than the non-fish eaters. Even in people not losing weight, the inclusion of fish every
day reduced blood pressure. Thus, people with diabetes who eat rich fish on a regular basis can
boost the benefits of weight loss in improving glucose control and blood pressure.

Finally, it has been known for years that omega-3s from fish reduce the likelihood of developing
blood clots that lead to heart attacks and stroke. They also improve blood circulation. These
benefits have been demonstrated in controlled clinical trials and occur without unfavorable
changes in glucose or insulin activity. The American Diabetes Association and the American
Heart Association advocate eating fatty fish as a safe and effective way to obtain the heart health
benefits of omega-3s. Eating fatty fish regularly is an important strategy to improve health in
diabetes.”

 

salmon and rice salad

salmon and rice salad

 

The evidence in support of wild salmon is pretty overwhelming.  As part of a healthy lifestyle, salmon is an essential weapon in the battle against Type 2 Diabetes!

For more reading about the connections between wild salmon and diabetes, explore the links below…

 

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Easy Appetizer, Great Light & Nutritious Lunch: Salmon Cocktail

April 12th, 2013

Our local best source for a seafood dinner, Anthony’s Homeport restaurant ,offers a shrimp cocktail that is very easy to make, and is a nutritious and delicious preamble to dinner.  We have adapted this fine recipe using canned wild Alaska salmon to perhaps superior results.  This makes a quick and low calorie lunch food as well.  Using about 1/2 of a 7.5 ounce can of wild Alaska salmon, whether sockeye or pink salmon, an adult gets nearly 1/2 of the daily requirement of protein -all for just slightly over 225 calories.  It is the perfect spring time slim down food.

Chunks of Redhead, on top of a bed of finely chopped celery. Yummm!

Chunks of Redhead, on top of a bed of finely chopped celery. Yummm!

This recipe couldn’t be easier.  Just finely chop a generous amount of celery.  Put in container.  Open a can of salmon–drain and chunk the salmon, put on top pf chopped celery.   Squeeze on some lemon and your favorite seafood cocktail sauce.  Find some crunchy crackers and start eating.  This is eminently portable, just chop the celery at home and bring a can of salmon to your workplace.

There is something about the protein from cold water fatty fish that seems to last and last, staving off hunger and optimizing energy in a way I do not find in any other food. 

 

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How to Eat Canned Salmon

March 26th, 2013

 

“How do you eat canned salmon?”  is a common query from folks we meet at our food demonstrations.

Serving salmon sample at Whole Foods Market

Serving salmon sample at Whole Foods Market

Canned Alaska salmon, especially in its’ traditional form, can be somewhat of a mystery food to the uninitiated. Complete with skin and bone, ‘traditional pack’ canned salmon I like to think of as the food symbol of the great, raw, wild, supremely healthy country that it came from—Alaska.

People who have eaten canned salmon since childhood are comfortable with the presence of the highly nutritious skin and bone, sometimes claiming to having fought with their siblings over who got those delicious crunchy little vertebrae.

 

3photo

Two cans of salmon, Redhead and Thinkpink ‘ traditional’ pack, as is, completely unadorned.

Other of us, often, ironically, from the salmon rich west coast, are puzzled, if not repelled by the presence of those highly nutritious anatomical parts that we mostly do not see in today’s highly processed foods. I look at a deboned chicken breast or pork and there is little there to remind us of the living, breathing creature that once is now that hunk of defenseless flesh.

Not so with canned Alaska salmon—that skin and bone is a badge of the life that was lived by that beautiful creature that felt the drive to leave its natal stream, traveling the Pacific Ocean for thousands of miles, and then return to its exact place of birth.

I have said this many times, and it is true, when mixed into recipes those skin and bone seemingly dissolve into the recipe.  We have served various canned salmon recipes to thousands of people, and not once has the person detected the skin and bone, though we quickly tell them. Traditional pack salmon has nearly double the long chain omega 3 fatty acids as skinless and boneless canned salmon fillets (which are delicious, too) and also provides calcium due to the presence of the bone.

Redhead wild Alaska sockeye salmon, straight from the waters of the great Bristol Bay, on a bagel.

Redhead wild Alaska sockeye salmon, straight from the waters of the great Bristol Bay, on a bagel.

How to Eat Canned Salmon;

* Straight Out of the Can—Just open the can, maybe squeeze on some lemon, and fork on!  There is simply not an easier, better protein source than canned Alaska salmon.

* Finely chop celery, add salmon, whether Redhead (sockeye) or Thinkpink (pink) salmon, squeeze on lemon and put on a dollop of cocktail sauce.

* Drain a little of the naturally occurring juices (the oily liquid in the can comes solely from the fish itself, there is nothing added but a little salt), then add a little olive oil plus some chopped onion.  That really evens the flavor out in a very delicious way.

* Forrest Gump Says, “Salmon Cakes, Salmon Salad, Salmon On A Bagel, Salmon Chowder, Salmon Pasta, Salmon Wraps, Salmon Cocktail…”

Eat canned salmon at lunch, or better yet breakfast, like the Japanese or Scandinavians, and see if the hunger pains don’t stay away for hours.  There something unique about protein from coldwater fatty fish that satiates like none other.

Delish, low calorie and energy sustaining…

 

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Delicious! Salmon Cakes with Ginger and Pistachios

March 12th, 2013

There is nothing better than crab, but why use it in this spicy recipe?  Crab is best eaten on its’ own, needing no enhancement. On the other hand, canned salmon shines in this very delicious recipe which originally called for crab.  Economical, but no less nutritious,  pink salmon works just fine.  Lacking any good photos of the salmon cakes, here is a beautiful shot from the land where the salmon was harvested.

When you take your first bite, think of this picture and mumble “God Bless William Seward in his foresight to buy Alaska!”

Traveling to the fishing grounds the day after a big storm.
Traveling to the fishing grounds the day after a big storm.

Salmon Curry Cakes with Ginger and Pistachios

With pistachios and ginger these salmon cakes are a little more exotic than usual, but they are delicious and make for a nice lunch the next day. They would also make wonderful appetizers. Redhead &/or Thinkpink would work equally well in this flavorful recipe.

*1 TBSP butter
*2 TBSP curry powder of choice
*5 green onions. or 1/3 cup regular onion, chopped fine
*1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced fine, adjust amount to taste
*3 garlic cloves, chopped fine
*1 piece ginger, about ½ inch long, peeled and chopped fine
*2-7.5 oz cans Redhead or Thinkpink, canned wild Alaska salmon, drained and mixed—include highly nutritious skin & bone, they will just disappear into the recipe
*3 eggs lightly beaten
*3/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
*½ cup pistachios, coarsely chopped
*Generous ¼ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
*Salt and pepper to taste
*Vegetable or light olive oil for frying

Melt butter in small frying pan over medium heat, add curry powder, cooking briefly until it darkens a little and becomes aromatic. Add chopped onion, jalapeño pepper, garlic & ginger. Cook on medium about 2 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside. Cool

Gently blend cooked ingredients, drained & chunked salmon, eggs, breadcrumbs, pistachios, parsley and salt and pepper in bowl.

Make 8 cakes about ½” thick. Make 16 portions and serve as delicious appetizers.

Heat large frying pan over medium heat, add oil, and frying a few cakes at a time about 3 or 4 minutes per side until nicely browned.

Serve with your favorite chutney or perhaps the following;

Curry-Lemon Sauce
Mix together
¼ cup mayonnaise, ½ tsp curry powder, ½ tsp grated lemon peel. ¼ tsp paprika

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Make a Better Day-Eat Canned Wild Alaska Salmon at Lunch

July 5th, 2012

Shirley enjoying salmon on lemony coleslaw on her front porch.

I do solemnly swear, canned wild Alaska salmon is the best lunch food in the world.  Not only is it delicious,  eating wild salmon at lunch seems to make for a better day all around.  Whether it is the quality of the protein, or the abundant long chain omega3 fatty acids or the high vitamin D,  I feel better when I have eaten wild salmon at lunch.   Eating canned salmon makes that goal readily achievable.  Just open the can!  There couldn’t be a better, easier lunch.

A health care practitioner I once knew likened eating wild salmon to burning natural gas versus the ‘diesel’ of cheese or other proteins.  He reasoned that eating fish metabolizes ‘hot and clean,’ like natural gas.  This analogy fits my experience.

A very vibrant red sockeye salmon on a bagel

We at Pure Alaska Salmon Company love the many canned salmon recipes, but the day-in-day-out  recipe that we most use is  Salmon on a Bagel.  This is optimal, delicious  nutrition you can enjoy at the office with minimal preparation.  The following is my recipe for three days of lunches.

 I generally consume a half of a bagel at lunch.  I could probably eat more, but a whole bagel is too much.  If I am hungry, I lay on extra salmon, or maybe eat a few nuts.

Monday morning, bring in;

1. Two sliced bagels.  If you you are concerned about them getting stale, freeze them, sliced,  as they toast up just fine.   Estimated average cost;  $1.00

2.   1 can 7.5 oz (or 6 oz, if you prefer the fillets) can of Redhead sockeye salmon or Thinkpink pink salmon.  Put the contents into a separate plastic container to refrigerate.    Estimated average cost; $4.75.

3. A container of cream cheese or it’s less fatty cousin Neufchatel cheese.  Neufchatel has about 1/3 less calories than cream cheese–70 calories versus 100 calories in a 1 oz serving, and the flavor is indistinguishable.  Estimated Average cost $2.00

4.  Three slices of lemon;  Estimated average cost 25 cents

5. Optional;  Some chopped onion and some capers.  Estimated average cost 25 cents

All you need now is a can opener, a fork and a napkin to wipe your chin. If your office kitchen has a toaster, toast a half a bagel, and then spread on some cream cheese to taste.  A scant two  tablespoons should more than work.  Open the can of salmon, and dump the contents into the storage container.  Pick out about a third of the salmon and put on top of the cream cheese, squeeze on some lemon and maybe some onion and capers and dive in.

By my rough calculations this lunch has about 400 calories, at a cost of $ 3.00 per serving with about half the daily recommended requirement of protein for adults.

Try the Canned Salmon for Lunch Experiment and then ‘like’ on Facebook and leave a message about your experience on our blog.  When we have 50  comments from 50 people, we will draw straws for a free variety pack of Pure Alaska wild Alaska salmon.

 

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Canned Alaska Salmon and Colorado Cattle Ranching

April 23rd, 2012

Winifred Raber, Western Colorado Woman of the West, and Canned Salmon Eater

Canned wild Alaska salmon, humble though it may seem, is one very phenomenal, incredibly nutritious food, with a rich history and a great story.  Canned wild Alaska salmon isn’t just some food scientist’s creation, it is a defining food of our nation’s history.

Salmon canneries were a part of the earliest industrialization of the western United States, providing nutrition for our western pioneers.  Salmon canneries were big business in the old days, with salmon canneries sprinkled up and down the Pacific Coast.

I remember my dear Aunt Winifred talking about loving and eating canned salmon in their remote cow camps in the high mesas of western Colorado.
Even though they were cattle ranchers, with hundreds of cattle, the lack of good refrigeration made canned Alaska salmon an accessible source of protein, that was the basis of many memorable meals up at the summer cow camp of the Grand Mesa of western Colorado. (http://www.deltacountyindependent.com/index.php?id=16938:a-piece-of-history-&option=com_content&catid=36:sc&Itemid=346)

Fortunately, Alaska salmon are still in great abundance.  Alaska’s small population, lack of industrialization, it’s geographic isolation, and excellent, state of art,  biological management happily conspire to make Alaska salmon runs as healthy as they were  100′s years ago.

Pink Salmon Fishing in Southeast Alaska

Additionally, the quality of canned Alaska salmon has improved immeasurably in the past 25 years because most boats now feature chilled circulating  seawater fish holds, thus the fish are kept in prime condition from the time they leave the pure Alaska waters, to when they arrive at the processing plant, hours later.  So for those who last ate canned salmon 30 years ago, you have got a great surprise in store-canned Alaska salmon is delicious and fresh tasting-promise.

I also take comfort, as an ambivalent meat eater, that Alaska salmon live out nearly their entire lives as nature intended. They are captured just before they begin their final journey up a stream.  By carefully monitoring the fishermen’s catch, relative to the fish escapement up the 1000′s of streams,  the  Alaska Department of Fish and Game  optimizes stream and fish health.  The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is considered to be perhaps the most skilled fish managers in the world.   The harmonious relationship between the commercial fishing industry and the fisheries biologists of Alaska is something to behold, and one wishes that we could all get along as well as the fishing industry of Alaska and the regulators.

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23 Days of Canned Alaska Salmon-No Detectable Mercury

April 20th, 2012

A smiling Jim Zuanich after eating canned wild Alaska salmon for 23 days in a row.

Jim Zuanich ate at least 3.5 ounces of Redhead or Thinkpink a day for 23 days at which time he had his blood mercury levels tested. There was no detectable mercury in his bloodstream.  Zuanich also said he loved canned salmon more after he was done with his experiment, reporting that salmon at lunch made for more energy and a happier outlook than with other foods.  ”Nothing compares for lunch,” said Zuanich, skipper of the M/V Marshal Tito.

THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A HEALTH ADVISORY FOR ALASKA SALMON-  EXCEPT EAT MORE OF IT!

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Bering Sea Black Cod Longliners Eat Canned Alaska Salmon

April 20th, 2012

Even Bering Sea fishermen like Remo Lotscher and Andy Zuanich eat canned Alaska salmon

Even in a literal sea of the world’s finest and freshest seafood, Alaska fishermen eat canned Alaska salmon.  Remo Lotscher and Andy Zuanich of the M/V Primus take plenty of canned Alaska salmon on their longline trips in the Bering Sea.  Canned Alaska salmon, both Thinkpink pink salmon and Redhead red salmon,  are easy to eat and deliver the highest quality protein for optimal energy when working the long hours on a fishing boat.  They eat canned Alaska straight out the can when there isn’t time for food preparation.  Those are black cod that they are processing fresh on the boat.

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Cheating on Grandma Irma’s Coleslaw Recipe

April 18th, 2012

 

Cheating on Grandma Irma’s Coleslaw Recipe

 

Grandma Irma Zuanich was very fine cook.   As a matter of fact, in her obituary, it was noted that she “…Made the best Slav Spaghetti on South Hill.”  Among her recipes was a coleslaw that we adapted, with superior results, to using canned salmon rather than small Oregon shrimp she recommended.   Her wonderful recipe,  available on our website as “Irma Beulah’s  Salmon Coleslaw” will appear at the bottom, but I think I have found a better version of this wonderful salad.

Cabbage and salmon do not make an instant food marriage in my head, but I assure you, it is a wonderful result, and so healthy.  Just today for lunch I toasted my favorite hearty rye bread (Mestermache brand), sliced some provolone cheese and ate it with a dish of this wonderful coleslaw recipe that follows.  A superb, easy lunch eaten in front of my computer screen.  A good lunch makes for a better day all around.  I was inspired for this latest rendition of salmon coleslaw by a recipe I found in the San Juan Classics Cookbook, written  by Janice Veal and Dawn Ashbach.

Coleslaw with Canned Salmon

4 cups chopped green cabbage

1 bunch green onions, chopped, including green tops

1 chopped cucumber

1/2 cup sliced black olives (optional)

1/2 cup sliced red radishes (optional)

1- 7.5 oz can of Redhead or Thinkpink–drained, and lightly crumbled and mashed, including nutritious skin and bone

DRESSING (recipe below)

1 avocado, sliced or chopped

1/2 TBSP fresh squeezed lemon juice

Toss cabbage, onion, cucumber, along with optional ingredients in large bowl.  Prepare dressing and mix in with cabbage mixture.  Arrange avocado on top of salad, squeezing lemon juice over avocado to prevent darkening.  Serve immediately.  Keep chilled  and it stores well.

Dressing

1/2 cup mayonaise

2 TBSP lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt or celery salt

Dash of paprika

Irma Beulah’s Salmon Coleslaw

Combine the following in a large bowl;

4 cups  green cabbage, chopped

1-7-5oz can Redhead or Thinkpink drained and chunked

1 green pepper, chopped fine

1 bunch green onions, chopped fine including tops

1/can black olives, sliced

DRESSING

1/2 cup mayonaise

3 TBSP white vinegar

2 tsp white sugar

Mix ingredients and toss with salad vegetables, Chill and serve.

 

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Why I Named My Boat the Marshal Tito, by Jim Zuanich

April 11th, 2012

Jim Zuanich tells a good tale...

“Faced with the prospect of a poor salmon season in 1981, I crewed with some friends of mine for the Togiak (western Bristol Bay) herring fishery. The boat, the Ms B Haven and my friends were primarily Bristol Bay salmon fishermen. They told me that during the  salmon season the numerous Italian and equally numerous Croatian fishermen were always disparaging each others ethnicity on the radio. Finally, an indignant Italian came back with “Name me one famous Croatian, I can name famous Italians all day: there’s Sinatra…” After a long silence someone returned “Marshal Tito.” I had no choice but to name a boat after him. I’m glad I’m not Italian, I’d hate to have to fish a boat called the Sinatra”-Jim Zuanich

Marshal Tito was quite a guy.  He successfully fought Hitler in World War II and managed to keep Yugoslavia the most free of the Communist satellite countries during the Cold War.  Slav people were considered sub-human in the Nazi system of belief, and they were in line for extermination as well. It is hard to even write these awful thoughts.  When Tito died in the early 80′s, ethnic war descended upon the peoples of what is now the former Yugoslavia.  This is one famous quote credited to Tito in a note written to Stalin, a man perhaps as maniacal as Hitler.

A note from Tito to Stalin….“Stop sending people to kill me. We’ve already captured five of them, one of them with a bomb and another with a rifle (…) If you don’t stop sending killers, I’ll send one to Moscow, and I won’t have to send a second.”—Josip Broz Tito

Marshal Tito fishing offshore of Admiralty Island, Alaska photo by Tony Lara

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