For beauty and fashion Toni Bravo, the secret to glowing skin isn’t a K-beauty serum or a three-digit skin care device — a can of sardines.
“Everyone wants skin care until I bring out the sardines. Do you want it or not?” Bravo said on February 10 that TikTok had 930,700 followers. “I’ve eaten sardines all my life … so I know the power, the beauty that is a fish.”
The concept of “eating to take care of your skin” – especially oily fish such as tinned sardines, salmon and mackerel – is not new. Long accepted in health circles as a kind of “natural Botox,” sardines are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, high-quality protein, calcium, vitamins, selenium and iron. They have been linked to improving skin barrier function and reducing inflammatory responses, both of which can contribute to healthier-looking skin over time.
But this trend has also taken hold of TikTok, where users try the “sardine diet” for everything from weight loss to clear skin, while others simply add a salty dish to their diet after seeing the results – or at least their promise – from Bravo and other influencers.
“Mrs. Toni Bravo has single-handedly convinced me to try a can of sardines,” said one user on TikTok before trying sardines for the first time. In another video, the TikToker said that when he heard Bravo’s thing was sardines, he thought, “It’s going to be my thing now.”
“When my skin starts to break out or look dull… I eat sardines because clear skin starts from within,” one user wrote in the video.
Experts say sardines are nutritious and have long been linked to overall health and hydration, as well as maintaining an anti-inflammatory balance and supporting skin barriers. But oily fish is not the skin care and weight loss savior some influencers suggest.
“The downside is that canned sardines can be high in sodium, and some people may not tolerate them well because of reflux, migraines caused by histamines, or just the taste,” Amy Goodson, a registered dietitian, told NBC News. “So nutritionally they’re good – but they’re not ‘magic’ foods, and they don’t work for everyone.”
When it comes to skin health, Goodson emphasized that the body’s largest organ doesn’t respond to a single diet — but “many nutrients that work together,” like vitamin C for collagen, and zinc for wound healing and acne control.
Dr. William Li, a doctor and scientist specializing in the relationship between health and food, also noted that “there is no history of sardines as food for the beauty of the skin” – only omega-3 small fish are full.
“The most beneficial components are the omega-3s in sardines: EPA and DHA,” Li said.
“Human studies show that these omega-3s reduce inflammatory biomarkers and protect against oxidative stress and cell damage,” Li said. “Omega3: also supports vascular health, which is important for skin health,” he added.
This is where TikTok stories about “eating sardines” or “fast sardines” hit the wall of healthy eating.
The viral dietary fast, as simple as eating only sardines for a set period of time, promises to help with skin problems, fat loss and low blood sugar. Dr. Annette Bosworth, an American doctor known as “Dr. Boz” on TikTok who specializes in metabolic health, even called it a quick way to increase ketone levels in the blood – a chemical the body produces when it burns fat for energy instead of carbs.
“You can’t ‘detox,’ reset your hormones, or transform your skin with one diet over a few days,” says Goodson. “Skin changes usually occur over weeks to months, not days, and depend on the overall lifestyle — quality of diet, sleep, hydration, stress, and sun exposure.”
Instead, experts agree that sardines should be considered a smart addition to a wider diet, such as adding them to salads or on top of avocado toast, and that limiting them to one meal can have negative consequences.
The internet, however, still doesn’t seem to be running away from affordable canned salted fish.
As model and content creator Ally Renne explained on January TikTok while holding an open can of silverfish in olive oil: “You realized you want to shine this year, but you don’t eat sardines, what do you do?”
“This is skin care in a tin, y’all,” he added.
