The pensioner claims she lost 35 kilograms on the 3-month sardine fast

It didn’t take him long to get hooked.

A 62-year-old retired military therapist who struggles with extreme leg pain, inflammation and food addiction claims she lost 35 pounds by eating only sardines for more than three months.

“People think I’m absolutely crazy,” Jane Crummett told Florida doctor Annette Bosworth, known as “Dr. Boz,” last month.

Crummett weighed 240 pounds at her peak and suffered from plantar fasciitis, which made it difficult to walk. She adopted a carnivore diet in 2020 and lost 65kg – but she hit a plateau and her weight crept back on.

By May, she had had enough. She tipped the scales at 196 pounds and decided to follow Bosworth’s 72-hour sardine fast, which is supposed to jump-start your metabolism and put your body into advanced ketosis so it can quickly burn fat for energy.

Crummett continued to make oily fish her only meal. She eats four cans of sardines every day and supplements with MCT oil, a fat derived from coconut or palm oil, consuming about 1,500 calories a day.

“I’m not hungry,” Crummett said.

At the 98-day mark earlier this month, Crummett credited the diet with restoring her energy, reducing her blood sugar and easing her pain. She said she lost 12 pounds of fluid in the first two weeks alone.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that adults consume at least 8 ounces of seafood per week.

Sardines are packed with protein, brain-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D and calcium, while being relatively low in calories and mercury.

But Dr. Masarat Jilani in the UK noted that mercury can build up in the body — and there are other potential downsides to this viral diet plan.

“First, [sardines] contain zero fiber. Fiber is essential for gut health and digestion. A diet based solely on sardines can lead to constipation,” Jilani, who works for healthcare company Jude, told Surrey Live this week.

“The way sardines are preserved means they are usually preserved either in salt or in oil,” she continued. “If it’s salted sardines, you’ll be consuming an excess amount of sodium, which can raise your blood pressure and strain your kidneys.”

Plus, maintaining such a restrictive diet is difficult.

Slate writer Luke Winkie reported breaking down and buying a 99-cent bag of corn chips from his neighborhood bodega at the end of a 24-hour sardine fast as he grew stubborn, bored, and unable to to focus.

The rules are that you can only consume sardines, water, black tea or coffee. You are allowed hot sauce, mustard, lemon and pepper, but no carbs.

“All things considered, there are certainly worse fad diets to try,” Winkie wrote this month.

A YouTuber who appreciates health and fitness fads had better success.

Writing for Newsweek last year, Peter Whiting said he lost 4 pounds during a three-day sardine fast that forced him to consume 16 cans for a total of 3,700 calories.

“I found this quick easy compared to some of the others I had done,” Whiting wrote. “The only major drawback for me was that I didn’t like sardines at all.”