Why choose wild salmon oil for humans?

Wild salmon has been eaten in Alaska for generations. Prior to the introduction of the Western diet, the diet of Alaskan natives was rich in Omega-3 from salmon and seal meat, and people showed few signs of gloom or Western affluence disorders, despite the long, dark winter months.

For thousands of years, salmon has been seen as an essential source of life and has been deeply intertwined in culture. Wild salmon oil for humans is therefore on the rise.

The life of the wild salmon

Alaska's great rivers are the largest - and probably the last - source of wild salmon in the world. The fish are born in streams deep in the forest and make their way to the ocean, where they spend their adult lives.

When fully grown, they return to the stream where they were born (by a still puzzling system!). Here they spawn and die - a natural process that feeds more than a hundred different terrestrial and aquatic animals.

Sustainable catch

The habitat of salmon in Alaska is protected by law. Carefully controlled fishing ensures that this enormous natural resource remains sustainable. Alaska's large rivers and bays are the only major sustainable sources of wild salmon remaining.

Before the fishing season opens, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game determines how many fish are allowed to return that year. They then determine what type of fishing gear and boats may be used for fishing, as well as where and for how long fishing may take place, in order to minimize the impact on the environment.

The salmon are caught close to the coast, usually in ring nets or with a rod and line.

The fresh salmon are brought ashore within a few hours, where they are immediately processed for human consumption (salmon fillet). And within 24 hours of being caught, the salmon trimmings are used to make our Arctic Blue salmon oil for human consumption.

One 2 kg wild salmon yields approximately 150 ml of salmon oil for human consumption from fillet trimmings. This means that no salmon are caught specifically for Arctic Blue salmon oil.

The purest form of Omega-3

Arctic Blue olie van wilde roze zalm uit Alaska voldoet aan de strengste eisen voor zuiverheid of overtreft deze zelfs nog vóór de zuivering. Voor de zekerheid vindt er namelijk altijd een zuivering plaats met behulp van moleculaire destillatie. Dit gebeurt onder zuurstofarme omstandigheden, waardoor de zalmolie geen kans krijgt te oxideren.

Hierdoor behoudt de zalmolie voor mensen zijn unieke versheid (totox-waarde < 10). Dit vertaalt zich in een zachte smaak van de zalmolie, waarvan we garanderen dat deze niet zal opboeren of oprispen.

What are toxins, PCBs and heavy metals?

You hear a lot about them now: toxins, PCBs, dioxins and heavy metals in fish. They are the result of industrial pollution. These toxins are deposited in the sediment at the bottom of our rivers and seas. From there, they find their way into the food chain.

They accumulate in the fat reserves of large fish (such as tuna and swordfish) and can pose a health risk.

How can they be avoided?

For large amounts of contaminants to build up in fat reserves, two things must happen: the fish must live for several years and it must consume food deep in the ocean, where toxins and heavy metals tend to settle.

Therefore, you should avoid large fish, such as tuna, and instead consume short-lived fish that feed high in the water, such as pink salmon. Unlike other salmon species and most large fish, pink salmon only live for two years.

During adulthood, they stay high in the ocean water and mainly feast on small prey.

Therefore, they do not have time to build up contaminants in their fat reserves, making pink salmon, from which we make our salmon oil for humans, one of the cleanest and purest sources of Omega-3.

Farmed salmon vs. wild salmon

However, a farmed salmon is fed a diet composed of 70% land feed, mainly dry pellets of soybean meal, cornmeal, rapeseed meal and poultry by-products. In contrast, wild salmon live in a labyrinth of waterways.

Here it feeds on insects, invertebrates and plankton when young, and small fish, squid, eels and shrimp when mature: a diet rich in Omega-3. As a result, the amount of Omega-3 in wild salmon is much higher than in farmed salmon.

This is depicted in the following table:

This also means the oil contains 3 times more Omega-3(EPA and DHA) than the oil from farmed salmon. This plump salmon, like chicken, unfortunately suffers from farming methods that are too fast.

Many researchers consider an overall ratio of EPA:DHA to be optimal for humans, although we are able to make EPA from DHA and (to a lesser extent) DHA from EPA as well.

An additional advantage of wild salmon is the presence of DPA, which is a precursor to EPA and can be converted into it. The ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 in wild salmon is somewhere around 10:1. The ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 in farmed salmon is believed to be down to around 1:1 (see table below).

The oil also reflects this ratio. Thus, salmon oil capsules (almost always made from farmed salmon) do not put things to good use. Not even for animals that are often fed liquid (farmed) salmon oil from a bottle.

All this makes wild salmon one of the richest, cleanest and best available fish species with Omega-3, while at the same time avoiding excess Omega-6, already so abundant in the modern diet.

Wild salmon oil contains as many as 50-60 different fatty acids of which 10-12 are Omega-3 fatty acids. This is also called broad (or full spectrum) fatty acid profile.

Omega-3 and pregnancy

Omega-3 is very important before, during, and after pregnancy. Among other things, it aids in the development of the brain and eyes. However, many women do not feel like eating fish during pregnancy or cannot tolerate the taste.

Arctic blue salmon oil for humans has a delicious lemon flavor. This makes the oil tasty in yogurt or straight from the spoon. Salmon oil is perfect for pregnant women because 5 ml of salmon oil (1 dessert spoon) contains exactly the recommended daily amount of DHA, a building block for the brain.

Pregnant women are advised not to consume too much anise. We therefore do not recommend the salmon oil with aniseed oil variant for pregnant women or small children.

The lemon-flavored salmon oil, on the other hand, is 100% safe and a very good choice for women who want to become pregnant, are pregnant, or are breastfeeding.