Haddock

Food · Protein · Food, Typed Supps

Haddock is a mild, flaky white fish that's low in fat but packed with protein and important vitamins.

Stage by stage

Chewing (Mouth): Chewing breaks haddock's flaky flesh apart, exposing its protein and micronutrients to digestive enzymes.
Stomach digestion (Stomach): Stomach acid and pepsin begin breaking haddock's protein into amino acids and peptides.
Intestinal absorption (Small intestine): The small intestine absorbs amino acids, vitamin B12, selenium, and iodine into the bloodstream.
Tissue use (Muscle & thyroid): Muscles use the amino acids for repair while selenium and iodine support antioxidant enzymes and thyroid hormone production.

Timing

Haddock can be eaten at any meal; since it's very low in fat, it doesn't need to be paired with dietary fat for its protein or B-vitamin content to be absorbed the way fat-soluble vitamins do.

Time to effect

Hours to weeks: Protein from a haddock meal begins supporting muscle repair within a few hours, while its selenium and iodine contribute to thyroid and antioxidant function over weeks of regular consumption.

Allergens

Contains: Fish. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.

Eating patterns

Fits: Pescatarian, Kosher, Keto, Gluten-free. Depends on the product: Halal, Low-FODMAP.

Satiety

213 on the satiety index, where white bread is 100 — very high. Modelled from the Holt et al. (1995) measurements.

Environmental footprint

13.6 kg CO2e and 3691 litres of freshwater per kg, matched to "Fish (farmed)" in Poore & Nemecek (2018), Science 360.

Cost band

Mid — roughly £11 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.

Key nutrients

Nutrition per 100g

Calories: 112
Protein: 24.2g
Carbohydrate: 0g
of which sugars: 0g
Fat: 0.9g
of which saturated: 0.2g
Fibre: 0g
Sodium: 87mg

Food vs. supplement

Haddock delivers complete protein alongside bioavailable vitamin B12, selenium, and iodine in one low-fat package, which is generally preferable to isolated supplements for these nutrients.

Kitchen tip

Bake, poach, or grill haddock rather than deep-frying it to keep the naturally low fat content low and preserve its B-vitamin and mineral content.

Common myth

"Smoked haddock's bright golden-yellow color means it's extra rich or more deeply smoked." In reality: That signature bright yellow usually comes from added food dye (historically annatto, more often now synthetic dyes like tartrazine or quinoline yellow), not from nutrient content or smoke intensity — traditionally smoked, undyed haddock is only a pale gold to off-white color.