Lobster

Food · Protein · Food, Typed Supps

Lobster is a lean, low-fat way to get a whole day's worth of selenium and vitamin B12 in one meal.

Stage by stage

Chewing & Breakdown (Mouth): Chewing breaks lobster's firm, low-fat flesh into smaller pieces, releasing its complete protein and trace minerals for digestion.
Acid Digestion (Stomach): Stomach acid and pepsin unfold and cleave lobster's proteins, including tropomyosin, into shorter peptides and free amino acids.
Nutrient Absorption (Small Intestine): In the small intestine, amino acids, selenium, zinc, copper, and vitamin B12 (aided by intrinsic factor) are absorbed into the bloodstream.
Tissue Repair & Use (Muscle & Cells): Delivered amino acids support muscle repair and enzyme production, while selenium and zinc are built into antioxidant and immune-supporting proteins.

Timing

Eating lobster as part of a mixed meal rather than alone slows digestion and helps blunt the post-meal amino acid absorption spike, supporting steadier satiety.

Time to effect

Hours to Weeks: Amino acids and vitamin B12 begin appearing in the blood within hours of a meal, but raising selenium and zinc status enough to shift antioxidant enzyme activity or immune markers takes consistent intake over several weeks.

Allergens

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

Eating patterns

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

Satiety

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

Environmental footprint

26.9 kg CO2e and 3515 litres of freshwater per kg, matched to "Prawns (farmed)" in Poore & Nemecek (2018), Science 360.

Cost band

Pricey — roughly £28 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.

Key nutrients

Nutrition per 100g

Calories: 88.4
Protein: 20.2g
Carbohydrate: 0g
of which sugars: 0g
Fat: 0.7g
of which saturated: 0.1g
Fibre: 0g
Sodium: 283mg

Food vs. supplement

Whole lobster delivers selenium, zinc, copper, and vitamin B12 together with lean, complete protein — a combination isolated supplements can't fully replicate, though people with shellfish allergies need alternative food or supplement sources for these nutrients.

Kitchen tip

Steam or boil lobster in water rather than serving it swimming in melted butter to keep it a lean, low-saturated-fat protein source.

Common myth

"Lobster is terrible for your heart because it's loaded with cholesterol." In reality: Cooked lobster does contain meaningful dietary cholesterol (roughly 145 mg per 100 g) but is very low in saturated fat, and current dietary guidance emphasizes that saturated fat has a larger effect on blood LDL cholesterol than dietary cholesterol does for most people; the sodium- and butter-heavy way lobster is typically served is a bigger cardiovascular concern than the meat itself.