Sardine fasting was invented by Dr. Annette Bosworth, aka Dr. Boz, who specializes in reversing medical problems through healthy ketogenic living. She first implemented sardine fasting when she was traveling with her family and wanted to find an easier way to stick to a keto lifestyle.
During this fast, you can only consume sardines, water, and black tea or coffee. There is also no eating routine or window, a person can eat whenever they are hungry.
Sardines are highly nutritious. They are high in omega-3 vitamin D, free vitamin E, calcium, selenium, and many other minerals and enzymes. The high protein and fat content within them often makes you feel fuller.
Ketosis also has many benefits, such as weight loss, improved mitochondrial function, regulated insulin levels, decreased inflammation and oxidative stress, as well as having you feeling more energized and focused for the rest of the day.
In July 2023, I had a minor operation, which meant that I couldn't do much for the following few days. By fasting, my aim was to speed up my recovery process. As humans, all the food we eat uses a lot of our body's resources. By eliminating food, the aim is for our bodies to fully focus on healing and recovering.
I did not want to focus on losing any weight, but my weight loss on the journey was a representation of my sticking to the diet.
On the first day, I weighed 169.5 lbs. I ate three sardines in tomato sauce at 11:00 a.m. Each tin had 225 calories, and I ate two tins. I definitely did not feel full afterward, but at the same time, I didn't feel hungry.
By lunchtime, I noticed that the lack of carbs made me feel very weak, I could barely open a tin of sardines. Dr. Boz also said that during the diet, you can season your sardines. She suggests using low-fat seasonings like black pepper and mustard, but I ate it straight away without seasoning it.
If you're going to try the sardine fast out for yourself, my tip would be to not make eye contact with the sardines when you're eating them, because I looked at one a little too long and it made me feel sick.
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By day two of the fast, I realized that I did not like sardines. But seeing as I was halfway through the fast, I decided to continue it.
My energy levels were good considering I just had minor surgery and was supposed to take it easy and rest. I was also unable to walk very far but I found myself having increased mental focus and clarity, enabling me to spend most of the day catching up with work on my computer. I took it easy during the fast as I was recovering. I also slept very well in comparison to when I was doing other fasting methods like the water fast.
On day three of the fast, I decided to season the sardines with a serving of Nando's hot sauce, which had 0.5 grams of carbohydrates in the serving. It did not taste good, and I still struggled to eat the sardines but I felt like I was entering ketosis. I felt energized, focused, and a lot better in general.
After I finished the fast, I weighed 165.7 lbs. I lost four pounds in three days, as well as one percent body fat, according to my scales. In total, I ate 16 cans of sardines, which amounted to 3,728 calories. Split between the three days, that was 1,252 calories a day, which explained my weight loss.
I found this fast easy compared to some of the others that I had done. The only main drawback for me was that I did not like sardines whatsoever. As mentioned previously, the main reason why I wanted to do this fast was to speed up my recovery after surgery, and I felt very good at the end of the fast.
Usually, when I'm feeling under the weather, I like to gorge on chocolate and junk food to make myself feel a little better. Doing this fast helped me to avoid that and helped my body focus on healing and recovering.
Peter Whiting is a health and fitness coach.
All views expressed in this article are the author's own.
Do you have a unique experience or personal story to share? Email the My Turn team at myturn@newsweek.com
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