Halibut: Nutrition, Benefits, Mercury & How to Cook It

Dr. Josh Axe · Free quiz

Toxic Burden Quiz

Loading question one…

Halibut is the largest of the flatfish, a mild, firm, snow-white fish caught wild in the cold waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic.12 It's one of the wild-caught fish I recommend for omega-3s, and it meets the fins-and-scales standard I follow.1112 It also brings you lean protein and a full day's selenium in 3.5 ounces, and wild Pacific halibut about once a week, alongside wild salmon and sardines, is a wonderful way to enjoy it.38

Much of the heart, brain and blood sugar trouble people live with today has a root cause in low-grade inflammation that never fully switches off.13 Your body was made to resolve inflammation on its own, and it builds the tools for that job from the omega-3 fats you eat, which is why I put a clean, wild fish on the plate before any capsule.5914 That's food as medicine at its simplest: one halibut fillet brings you the omega-3s, the selenium and the protein together.3

If calming inflammation is part of why you're reading about fish, the free protocol below shows you how to build your meals around the foods that cool it.13

Did you know?

• The word halibut comes from Middle English: haly meant holy and butte meant flatfish, because it was a fish eaten on holy days.15

• The biggest Pacific halibut are sometimes called barn doors, since they can grow more than 8 feet long and 5 feet wide.1

• Halibut can live a long time: the oldest Pacific halibut on record was 55 years old, though halibut over 30 are rare.1

Advertisement

Is halibut healthy and safe to eat?

The standard I follow for fish is simple: choose wild, ocean-caught fish, and make sure it has fins and scales.12 It's the guidance I give in The Biblio Diet, and it goes all the way back to Leviticus: "These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat" (Leviticus 11:9).16 Halibut meets that standard, even though you might not guess it from its smooth skin, because its scales are small and buried in the skin, and kosher fish lists carry it right alongside the flounders.117 That puts halibut on a biblical diet as naturally as salmon or sardines.

My number one prescription for healing your cell membranes is at least three servings a week of omega-3-rich fish, a palm-size portion of about 4 to 6 ounces each time.9 Wild salmon and sardines carry most of those meals because they're the richest in omega-3s,13 and halibut earns its place as the lean, mild fish that rounds out your week. Our guide to the fish you should never eat lists halibut among the fish to enjoy about once a week.8

A halibut fillet also gives you more than its omega-3s. Wild-caught fish deliver complete proteins alongside direct sources of EPA and DHA,18 and halibut adds selenium, niacin, vitamin B12 and vitamin D in the same bite.3 Fish oil capsules have a mixed track record in trials, while eating fish itself performs beautifully, and my own body responds far better to wild-caught salmon than it does to fish oil capsules.14 On days when you don't eat fatty fish, though, I still think there are benefits to taking an omega-3 supplement.14

What is halibut?

Halibut start life swimming upright like salmon, with an eye on each side of the head, and by the time they're about 6 months old, one eye has moved over to the right side.1 From then on, they swim sideways along the bottom with both eyes on top, their mottled gray-to-brown upper side blending into sand and mud while the underside stays white.1 Both species are giants among flatfish: Pacific halibut can reach 500 pounds, and NOAA describes the Atlantic halibut as the largest flatfish in the world, able to reach 15 feet.12

Pacific halibut live in coastal waters from Santa Barbara, California, to Nome, Alaska, and they're most common in the central Gulf of Alaska.1 Atlantic halibut live in the cold North Atlantic, and in U.S. waters they're most common in the Gulf of Maine.2 The adults are active hunters that feed on other fish such as sand lance and herring, along with octopus and other animals of the sea floor.1

On the plate, halibut is almost translucent when raw and turns snow white as it cooks, with a flaky, tender, firm texture.1 Its flavor is very mild and sweet, which makes it a good first fish for anyone who doesn't care for a strong, fishy taste.1

Halibut nutrition facts

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central record 174201 (halibut, Atlantic and Pacific, cooked, dry heat), per 100 grams scaled to a 3-ounce (85-gram) serving. % Daily Value uses FDA adult reference values.3

Protein is the first place halibut shines. For most people, I recommend at least 30 to 40 grams of protein three times a day,19 and a 6-ounce cooked fillet gets you there with about 38 grams, complete protein with every essential amino acid your muscles need to repair and grow.318 With no carbohydrate and very little fat, it's one of the leanest high-protein foods you can put on your plate.3

Selenium is its standout mineral, and 100 grams of cooked halibut supplies 101% of the daily value, more than the same amount of wild salmon, cod or flounder.3202122 Halibut also carries 7.91 milligrams of niacin per 100 grams, about three times as much as cod, along with vitamin B12 and almost five times the vitamin D of cod.321

Halibut is a lean fish, so its omega-3s come in a smaller package than salmon's. Per 100 grams cooked, it has 235 milligrams of EPA plus DHA, against 1,841 milligrams in wild Atlantic salmon and 158 in cod.32021 What halibut brings instead is more selenium than salmon in fewer calories, 111 per 100 grams against 182.320 I lean on wild fish for omega-3s myself, because genetic testing showed me that I don't convert the plant omega-3s in flax, chia and walnuts well, so I need to eat a lot of wild-caught fish.11

Here's how halibut compares with three other popular fish, gram for gram:

USDA FoodData Central records 174201, 171998, 171956 and 174197.3202122

How halibut works in your body

You are what you eat, and as I teach, that's most true of the fats you eat, because the fat on your plate literally becomes part of your cell membranes.9 Think of each membrane as the wall of a house that's rebuilt a little at a time with whatever materials you deliver, and the omega-3s in fish are some of the best building materials you can send. In a 12-month trial, 204 adults took either placebo capsules or EPA and DHA capsules in amounts matching one, two or four oily-fish meals a week, in a design where neither the people nor the researchers knew who got what, and the omega-3s showed up in their red blood cells, immune cells and platelets, with more of them at higher intakes.23 Once they're in place, your body puts them to work.

Researchers who study this process call these compounds pro-resolving mediators, a family that includes resolvins, protectins and maresins, all made from omega-3 fats, and they do more than quiet inflammation: they actively bring it to an end, help clear the area and support tissue repair.5 That's the difference between a body that lets inflammation smolder and one that puts the fire out and cleans up afterward, and giving your body the omega-3s it needs for that job is a way of working on inflammation at its root.

In my clinical practice, the omega-3 index is one of the top 10 tests I run on everybody.9 It's a blood test that looks at how many omega-3s you have in your cells and your blood, so it shows you whether those building materials are reaching your cells.24

The selenium in the same fillet works alongside them. Your body builds selenium into a family of proteins that run its antioxidant defenses and help turn thyroid hormone into its active form,4 and halibut is one of the richest foods you can eat for it.3 The chain from your plate to your cells runs like this:

Health benefits of halibut, ranked by the research

These are the benefits halibut brings you, with the strongest research in people first, and each card tells you whether a study looked at fish in general or at cod, a lean white fish with about the same protein as halibut.321

Is halibut high in mercury? How often to eat it

Mercury builds up in fish that live a long time and eat other fish, and halibut is a long-lived hunter, so it carries more than small fish like sardines but far less than swordfish, shark and the other fish the FDA and EPA advise avoiding.343233 In FDA testing of 101 samples, halibut averaged 0.241 parts per million (ppm) of mercury, against 0.022 for fresh or frozen salmon, 0.056 for flounder and sole, 0.111 for cod and 0.995 for swordfish.32

That level puts halibut on the FDA and EPA's Good Choices list. For people who are pregnant or breastfeeding, they advise 2 to 3 servings a week from the Best Choices list or 1 serving a week from the Good Choices list, where a serving is 4 ounces, and children's servings are smaller, from 1 ounce at ages 1 to 3 up to 4 ounces at age 11.33 Our fish guide puts halibut on that once-a-week schedule for adults in general, with salmon, sardines and other low-mercury fish filling out the rest of your fish week. During pregnancy and breastfeeding, and for young children, it keeps you on the Best Choices list instead, with fish such as wild salmon, sardines, cod and sole.833

The size of the fish matters, too. In 693 Pacific halibut from Alaska, mercury rose as the fish moved up the food chain, and halibut from the western Aleutian Islands carried more than halibut from other Alaskan waters.34 Alaska's health department grades halibut by size in its fish guide for women and children, counting every halibut of 40 pounds or more against a weekly mercury budget, and the bigger the fish, the more it counts.35 So if you catch your own or buy a whole fish, the smaller halibut is the better pick.

Halibut also carries more selenium than mercury. In 24 Pacific halibut from the Aleutians, the selenium-to-mercury ratio was lower in longer fish and varied from one fish to the next, but on average selenium atoms outnumbered mercury atoms by about 6 to 1.36

Pacific vs. Atlantic halibut: which to buy?

At the fish counter, ask for the species and the country, and for halibut that means wild Pacific halibut.81 Since 1923, the United States and Canada have managed Pacific halibut together through the International Pacific Halibut Commission, and the 2024 stock assessment found the stock not overfished and fished at the recommended level.1 Commercial boats catch it mostly on bottom longlines, a hook-and-line gear that does little harm to the sea floor, and NOAA calls U.S. wild-caught Pacific halibut a smart seafood choice.1

Wild Atlantic halibut, caught off New England, is in a different position, because the 2024 assessment found that stock overfished, at a very low level, and U.S. fishermen can catch it only at reduced levels under a rebuilding plan.2 Farmed halibut is a small, Atlantic-only product: in 2018, farms produced about 1,918 tonnes, 96% of it in Norway and the rest in Scotland, raised in land-based tanks or sea cages.37 I advise avoiding farmed fish and choosing wild, ocean-caught fish,1812 so wild Pacific halibut is the one to put in your cart.

Fresh Pacific halibut is in stores from about March to November, and in 2026 the commercial season opened March 26 and closes December 7, so late fall is your last stretch of fresh halibut for the year.138 Frozen wild halibut is available year-round.1 Greenland halibut, often sold as Greenland turbot, is a different and much fattier fish, and the FAQ below covers it.39

How to cook halibut

Halibut is so lean that the one way to go wrong is overcooking it, which dries it out quickly. A marinade or a spoonful of olive oil or ghee keeps it moist, and checking a little early is better than checking late.40 The cooking temperature that matters is 145°F at the thickest part, when the flesh has turned from translucent to opaque and separates easily with a fork.10

Add about 5 minutes for fish baked in parchment or a sauce, and double the time for fish cooked from frozen.40

Halibut cheeks, the round, tender pieces of meat cut from the head, are a treat if you find them, and they cook quickly in a hot pan. For more ways to bake it, our baked fish recipes are a good place to start.

In the Gospels, after the resurrection, Jesus asked his disciples whether they had any food: "And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them" (Luke 24:42-43).16 It's one reason I call wild-caught fish the number one superfood of the Bible.24

Halibut recipes

These three cover a weeknight dinner, a holiday table and a cold-weather soup, and each one uses wild halibut with olive oil or ghee and plenty of herbs and vegetables.

Pan-seared lemon-herb halibut

A short soak in lemon, garlic and herbs flavors the fish without hiding its sweetness, and a hot pan gives it a golden crust. Serve it with greens and roasted vegetables.

Oven-roasted halibut with cranberry chutney

Roasted halibut with a bright chutney of fresh cranberries, sweetened with raw honey and warmed with ginger and cinnamon, makes a light main dish for a fall or holiday table, and the chutney keeps for a few days in the refrigerator. Our Thanksgiving side dishes round out the meal.

Italian-style halibut chowder

This chowder gets its body from tomatoes, potatoes and bone broth rather than cream, with fennel, garlic and basil giving it an Italian flavor. Add the halibut at the end, so it stays in tender chunks.

Halibut side effects and who should be careful

Halibut is a safe fish for most people when it's cooked through, and these are the few things to know.

Fish allergy. If you're allergic to fish, skip halibut. If you ever notice swelling of your lips or throat, hives or trouble breathing after eating fish, treat it as an emergency and call 911.

Parasites. Like other wild fish, halibut can carry the larvae of a roundworm called Anisakis, which can cause an infection of the stomach and intestines. Cooking fish to 145°F kills them, and for raw dishes such as crudo or sashimi, use fish that has been frozen at -4°F or below for 7 days.10 With Greenland halibut, the larvae sit mostly in the belly flaps: in 104 fish from Greenland's waters, 44% carried them, so trim the belly flap before cooking.41

Raw halibut. If you're pregnant, feeding young children, or living with liver disease or a weakened immune system, skip raw halibut and other raw seafood, as our fish guide advises.8 Cooked halibut is the way to enjoy it.

How often. The mercury section above covers how often to eat halibut.

Interaction check: Low. None is documented at food amounts.

The bottom line

Halibut: frequently asked questions

References

1. NOAA Fisheries. Pacific Halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) species profile. Updated September 28, 2026.
2. NOAA Fisheries. Atlantic Halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) species profile.
3. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central: Fish, halibut, Atlantic and Pacific, cooked, dry heat. FDC ID 174201 (SR Legacy, NDB 15037; per 100 g; 3 oz = 85 g; half fillet = 159 g). Accessed November 4, 2026.
4. Rayman MP. Selenium and human health. Lancet. 2012;379(9822):1256-1268. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(11)61452-9
5. Serhan CN. Pro-resolving lipid mediators are leads for resolution physiology. Nature. 2014;510(7503):92-101. doi:10.1038/nature13479
6. He K, Song Y, Daviglus ML, Liu K, Van Horn L, Dyer AR, et al. Accumulated evidence on fish consumption and coronary heart disease mortality: a meta-analysis of cohort studies. Circulation. 2004;109(22):2705-2711. doi:10.1161/01.CIR.0000132503.19410.6B
7. Zhang Y, Chen J, Qiu J, Li Y, Wang J, Jiao J. Intakes of fish and polyunsaturated fatty acids and mild-to-severe cognitive impairment risks: a dose-response meta-analysis of 21 cohort studies. Am J Clin Nutr. 2016;103(2):330-340. doi:10.3945/ajcn.115.124081
8. Axe J. Fish You Should Never Eat: 12 to Skip & Safer Choices. DrAxe.com. 2026 (halibut 0.241 ppm, one serving a week; a weekly rotation of 8 to 12 ounces of low-mercury fish; ask for the species and the country; skip raw seafood in pregnancy, for young children and with liver disease or weak immunity).
9. Axe J. You Were Lied To About Fat — Your Cells Are Paying the Price. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2026 (Dr. Axe, solo episode: the omega-3 index in his clinical practice at 7:52; "when you eat fat, it literally becomes your cell membrane" at 10:45; three servings a week of omega-3-rich fish, 4 to 6 ounces, at 11:05; YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKHwG0I46k4&t=472s).
10. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About Anisakiasis (prevention: cook seafood to 145°F; freeze at -4°F or below for 7 days).
11. Axe J. Proven Ways To Prevent Alzheimer's Before It's Too Late. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2025 (Dr. Axe, solo episode: his genetic test and ALA conversion at 2:52; "for many people… not getting enough omega-3 fats" and wild-caught fish "like halibut, black cod, sea bass" at 3:54; YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5Ldpwr236A&t=234s).
12. Axe J, Rubin J. The Biblio Diet. Hachette Book Group; 2025. ISBN 9781546008439. Fish guidance ("Hooked on Fish," ebook p. 84: "Choose wild, ocean-caught fish. Make sure it has fins and scales.").
13. Axe J. The Anti-Inflammatory Reset: The 30-Day Healing Protocol. DrAxe.com; 2026 (p. 10, "Why your plate decides your inflammation": omega-3s from fish "become compounds that actively resolve inflammation"; p. 22, "The foods that cool inflammation": wild salmon and sardines, 4 to 6 oz, three times a week; the 7-day meal plan, with fish three times a week and baked cod on Thursday; Phase 2 "Cool": eat fatty fish three times a week).
14. Axe J. How to Reduce Chronic Inflammation Naturally. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2026 (Dr. Axe, solo episode: eating fish versus fish oil capsules at 7:50; EPA, DHA and resolvins at 8:01; his own response to wild-caught salmon and to fish oil capsules at 8:15; YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFeUM50IzBI&t=470s).
15. Merriam-Webster. Halibut (etymology: Middle English halybutte, from haly, holy + butte, flatfish; "from its being eaten on holy days").
16. The Holy Bible, King James Version. Leviticus 11:9; Luke 24:42-43. Project Gutenberg eBook #10.
17. Chabad.org. Kosher Fish List (reprinted from the Orthodox Union's list: halibut, see flounders).
18. Axe J, Cole W. Heal Your Cells. Avery; 2026. ISBN 9798217181353 (chapter "Personalized Nutrition for Cellular Healing," p. 131: "Wild-caught fish deliver complete proteins alongside direct sources of EPA and DHA"; p. 67: avoid farmed fish).
19. Axe J. Top 10 Reasons You're Not Healing. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2025 (30 to 40 grams of protein three times a day at 8:19; YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjU77gf__x4&t=499s).
20. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central: Fish, salmon, Atlantic, wild, cooked, dry heat. FDC ID 171998 (SR Legacy; per 100 g). Accessed November 4, 2026.
21. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central: Fish, cod, Atlantic, cooked, dry heat. FDC ID 171956 (SR Legacy; per 100 g). Accessed November 4, 2026.
22. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central: Fish, flatfish (flounder and sole species), cooked, dry heat. FDC ID 174197 (SR Legacy; per 100 g). Accessed November 4, 2026.
23. Browning LM, Walker CG, Mander AP, West AL, Madden J, Gambell JM, et al. Incorporation of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids into lipid pools when given as supplements providing doses equivalent to typical intakes of oily fish. Am J Clin Nutr. 2012;96(4):748-758. doi:10.3945/ajcn.112.041343
24. Axe J. The Bible's Grocery List: 10 Foods That Slow How Fast You Age. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2026 (Dr. Axe, solo episode: wild-caught fish as "the number one superfood of the Bible" at 6:25; the omega-3 index, "how many omega-3s do you have in your cells and in your blood," at 8:15-8:37; wild-caught fish "like salmon, sardines, tuna, halibut" at 9:38; YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AnNi1umufc&t=385s).
25. Ouellet V, Weisnagel SJ, Marois J, Bergeron J, Julien P, Gougeon R, et al. Dietary cod protein reduces plasma C-reactive protein in insulin-resistant men and women. J Nutr. 2008;138(12):2386-2391. doi:10.3945/jn.108.092346
26. Ouellet V, Marois J, Weisnagel SJ, Jacques H. Dietary cod protein improves insulin sensitivity in insulin-resistant men and women: a randomized controlled trial. Diabetes Care. 2007;30(11):2816-2821. doi:10.2337/dc07-0273
27. Jayedi A, Shab-Bidar S. Fish consumption and the risk of chronic disease: an umbrella review of meta-analyses of prospective cohort studies. Adv Nutr. 2020;11(5):1123-1133. doi:10.1093/advances/nmaa029
28. Mozaffarian D, Rimm EB. Fish intake, contaminants, and human health: evaluating the risks and the benefits. JAMA. 2006;296(15):1885-1899. doi:10.1001/jama.296.15.1885
29. Tedeschi SK, Bathon JM, Giles JT, Lin TC, Yoshida K, Solomon DH. Relationship between fish consumption and disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2018;70(3):327-332. doi:10.1002/acr.23295
30. Tørris C, Molin M, Cvancarova MS. Lean fish consumption is associated with lower risk of metabolic syndrome: a Norwegian cross sectional study. BMC Public Health. 2016;16:347. doi:10.1186/s12889-016-3014-0
31. Øyen J, Aadland EK, Liaset B, Fjære E, Dahl L, Madsen L. Lean-seafood intake increases urinary iodine concentrations and plasma selenium levels: a randomized controlled trial with crossover design. Eur J Nutr. 2021;60(3):1679-1689. doi:10.1007/s00394-020-02366-2
32. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Mercury Levels in Commercial Fish and Shellfish (1990-2012). Halibut: mean 0.241 ppm, median 0.188, SD 0.225, range ND to 1.52, 101 samples, FDA 1992-2009.
33. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Advice about Eating Fish: For Those Who Might Become or Are Pregnant or Breastfeeding and Children Ages 1-11 Years. Content current as of March 5, 2024 (halibut: Good Choice).
34. Bentzen R, Castellini JM, Gerlach R, Dykstra C, O'Hara T. Mercury concentrations in Alaska Pacific halibut muscle relative to stable isotopes of C and N and other biological variables. Mar Pollut Bull. 2016;113(1-2):110-116. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.08.068
35. Alaska Department of Health, Division of Public Health. Eating Fish Safely: Guidelines for Alaska Women and Children (12 points per week; halibut under 40 pounds unrestricted). 2025.
36. Burger J, Gochfeld M, Jeitner C, Donio M, Pittfield T. Interspecific and intraspecific variation in selenium:mercury molar ratios in saltwater fish from the Aleutians: potential protection on mercury toxicity by selenium. Sci Total Environ. 2012;431:46-56. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.05.024
37. Seafish. Atlantic halibut aquaculture profile: sources, quantities and cultivation methods (farmed production peaked at 2,883 tonnes in 2011; 1,918 tonnes in 2018, 96% in Norway and 4% in Scotland; FAO FishStatJ data).
38. International Pacific Halibut Commission. IPHC-2026-MR-005: 2026 Commercial Fishing Period Opens 26 March 2026 (fishing to cease 7 December 2026). March 25, 2026.
39. NOAA Fisheries. Greenland Turbot (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides), also known as Greenland halibut, species profile.
40. North Carolina Sea Grant, NC State University. Mariner's Menu: Cooking Methods ("How Long Should I Cook Fish and How Do I Know When It's Done?": 10 minutes per inch of thickness, measured at the thickest point; check before the suggested time; add five minutes in a sauce or parchment; double the time for frozen fish; 145°F; opaque and flakes easily).
41. Severin NL, Bisbjerg AK, Ristinge KU, Kumas K, Ferrão LI, Kania PW, et al. Zoonotic nematode larvae in Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) from Greenlandic waters: occurrence, fillet distribution and association with Mushy halibut syndrome. Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl. 2026;29:101181. doi:10.1016/j.ijppaw.2025.101181
42. Hibbeln JR, Davis JM, Steer C, Emmett P, Rogers I, Williams C, et al. Maternal seafood consumption in pregnancy and neurodevelopmental outcomes in childhood (ALSPAC study): an observational cohort study. Lancet. 2007;369(9561):578-585. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60277-3
43. Bank MS, Frantzen S, Duinker A, Amouroux D, Tessier E, Nedreaas K, et al. Rapid temporal decline of mercury in Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides). Environ Pollut. 2021;289:117843. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117843
44. Zheng JS, Hu XJ, Zhao YM, Yang J, Li D. Intake of fish and marine n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and risk of breast cancer: meta-analysis of data from 21 independent prospective cohort studies. BMJ. 2013;346:f3706. doi:10.1136/bmj.f3706

Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CNS

Doctor of Natural Medicine · Founder, DrAxe.com

Dr. Axe is a certified doctor of natural medicine, clinical nutritionist, and multiple New York Times bestselling author. He has spent 20+ years in clinical practice helping people heal at the root cause and founded one of the most-visited natural-health platforms in the world.

Read the full bio →

This article is for educational purposes. See our medical disclaimer.