Sardine Diet For Weight Loss Helps Woman Lose 25 Pounds

Jane Crummett credits the sardine diet for helping her lose weight and feel better. She ate nothing but canned sardines and oil for 120 days, losing 25 pounds and reducing inflammation in her body, she says.

“I felt amazing. I had no cravings. I was full,” Crummett, 63, who lives in Mint Hill, North Carolina, tells TODAY.com.

“Everyone says sardines are magic. Well, I kind of think they are, too.”

Sardines are a nutritious, tasty and affordable kitchen pantry staple. They’re so trendy right now that some people are calling this the “Sardine Summer.”

For Crummett, a U.S. Navy veteran and retired first responder, the tinned fish became her go-to protein and calorie source when she started gaining weight.

But is the sardine diet healthy? Here’s what to know:

Weight-Loss Journey

Crummett weighed 240 pounds when she began doing the carnivore diet in 2020. The high-protein, no-carb plan involves eating only animal products, especially meat and eggs. It’s a type of ketogenic diet that leads to ketosis, a state where the body burns fat for energy.

She lost 65 pounds right away, then continued to lose more weight slowly until she got down to 156 pounds.

But then Crummett saw the scale go back up to 185 pounds. She was also dealing with painful plantar fasciitis, inflammation of the thick tissue at the bottom of the foot.

So she turned to a sardine-only version of the carnivore diet in the hopes of solving both problems. Sardines are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which may help fight inflammation throughout the body, dietitians say.

They’re also very filling.

“It’s really hard to overeat sardines,” says Dr. Annette Bosworth on her YouTube channel. Known as “Dr. Boz,” she’s an internal medicine physician based in Florida whose keto advice Crummett follows.

“Sardines come in a very convenient pre-packaged dose — each can is its own serving … (and) they induce satiety,” Bosworth notes. She calls sardines “the best superfood out there.”

Are Sardines Good for Weight Loss?

For her sardine diet, Crummett decided to eat three cans a day of sardines in water — the kind with bones and skin included so she’d get plenty of calcium.

She also needed fat as part of the ketogenic diet, and since she doesn’t like the taste of sardines in olive oil, Crummett chose to add two tablespoons of MCT (medium-chain triglyceride) oil per can.

She started the sardine diet in July 2024.

“I said, ‘I’m going to eat these until I feel better,’ and I started feeling better about 60 days in. I ended up doing 120 days,” Crummett says.

“About halfway through, I realized that I wasn’t hungry anymore, and I sometimes had to make myself eat the third can.”

After four months of the sardine diet, she lost 25 pounds and got down to 160 pounds.

The amount of fat in the fish and oil probably kept Crummett full, so she didn’t feel like she needed to snack or overeat, says registered dietitian Natalie Rizzo, nutrition editor for TODAY.

Each meal consisting of a can of sardines plus two tablespoons of MCT oil contained about 400 calories, so Crummett ate about 1,200 calories per day, Rizzo adds.

“This caloric intake is a deficit for most adults, meaning it’s less calories than the body burns each day, so it makes sense that she lost weight,” Rizzo says.

Is It OK to Eat Sardines Every Day?

Crummett calls being able to eat the same thing over and over again without being bored her “superpower.”

Sardines are a very healthy food and a great source of protein, healthy fats, calcium, vitamin D, B vitamins and iron, Rizzo notes.

“It’s absolutely fine and healthy to eat sardines every day,” she says. “But the problem with eating the same exact thing for every meal daily is that you miss out on key nutrients that aren’t in the fish.”

Sardines don’t have any fiber or vitamin C, two nutrients that are necessary for digestive and immune health, Rizzo cautions. She suggests adding some plant-based foods to the sardine diet for fiber and other vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

Putting the fish on top of a salad or a piece of whole wheat toast, and pairing the combination with some fruit and vegetables would make the sardine diet healthier, she notes.

Rizzo would not recommend eating the same thing for every meal every day.

“You definitely need to have some variety in the diet to make sure you are getting all the nutrients you need to prevent deficiencies,” she says.

Rizzo was also concerned about the addition of MCT oil, which is very high in saturated fat. With six tablespoons, Crummett was taking in four times the amount of saturated fat recommended each day, which can be harmful to heart health, Rizzo notes.

After the Sardine Diet

Crummett says she’s still doing the carnivore diet and still consumes at least one can of sardines a day, but also eats pork, chicken and lots of eggs.

The plantar fasciitis has resolved, and she calls herself “healthy as a horse.” She credits the sardine diet as a tool that helped her get there.

“Would I recommend people eat sardines for the rest of their life? No, I think we do need variety in our food,” Crummett says.

“If you’re doing it for a fad diet, it won’t work because you’ll get sick of it really quick and you’ll go off it.”