Squid or Calamari
Food · Protein · Food, Typed Supps
Very lean protein. Cook it for under two minutes or for over half an hour — the middle is where it turns to rubber.
Stage by stage
- Intake (Dense muscle): Squid is tight, collagen-rich muscle with almost no fat, so chewing does real work.
- Digestion (Protein broken down): Acid and proteases take the muscle protein apart into amino acids.
- Absorption (Selenium, iodine, B12): Amino acids absorb alongside a strong selenium, iodine and B12 load for very few calories.
- Tissues (Repair and building): Amino acids go to muscle and tissue repair; selenium feeds antioxidant enzyme systems.
Time to effect
- Wks: Selenium and iodine status respond to regular intake over weeks rather than to a single meal.
Allergens
Contains: Molluscs. 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
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: 78
- Protein: 16.7g
- Carbohydrate: 0g
- of which sugars: 0g
- Fat: 1.2g
- of which saturated: 0.3g
- Fibre: 0g
- Sodium: 284mg
Food vs. supplement
A 100g portion covers most of a day's selenium and a useful share of iodine. Both nutrients are easier to overshoot from capsules than from seafood, which makes the food route the safer default.
Kitchen tip
Two windows only: under two minutes on high heat, or half an hour or more of gentle simmering. Between them the collagen has contracted but not yet gelatinised.
Common myth
"Calamari is high in cholesterol, so it's bad for your heart." In reality: Squid is high in dietary cholesterol but almost free of saturated fat, and saturated fat is the far stronger influence on blood cholesterol. What makes restaurant calamari heavy is the batter and the oil.
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