Sardines are experiencing a ‘moment’ when it comes to tinned food popularity. ‘Sardinemaxxing’ and tinned fish in general are now considered ‘in’ when it comes to getting the most bang for your buck nutrition-wise, and for good skin health.
The latest Pinterest trends report released on Tuesday stated how “tinned fish is the new low-lift flex,” and searches for “sardines breakfast” have increased by 1,815 per cent.
Content creators, like Nick Norwitz, are jumping on the trend, and posting about the perceived benefits from eating a hecka lotta sardines – we’re talking 1,000 in a month, or only eating sardines for 36 hours.
In something that was not on my bingo card for 2026, the internet is now obsessed with sardines! Which begs the question, are you prepped for ‘sardine girl summer’?
If you’re curious, get yourself onto TikTok where around 100k videos are now using the tag #sardines, where you’ll find sardine reviews, recipes, options and plenty more where that came from about the “skin care in a can”.
In a video with around 260k likes, wellness influencer Ally Renee says: “If you say you want a glow-up this year but you’re not eating sardines, what are you doing?”
So, what’s going on exactly? Food agriculture professor Michael von Massow says we have social media to blame for the sudden rise in sardine awareness:
Sardines have the right attributes to go viral. They’re a source of protein and omega-3 fatty acids, relatively inexpensive and now perceived as fancy.
All of the sudden they’re flying off the shelves and people are wondering why they can’t get it anymore.
Well. I didn’t think I’d see the day. But, as you can see, sardines are even becoming an Instagram hit!
However, are we getting too carried away with this sardine thing? McMaster University kinesiology professor Stuart Phillips says there’s no one food that can be taken as a ‘magic bullet’:
Eating one or two tins a week as part of a varied diet is a sensible, evidence-supported habit. Eating 1,000 in a month is a YouTube video, not a dietary recommendation.
Well, there you go. Don’t overdo it on the sardines, but enjoy the ones you do eat!
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