Forget that viral carrot salad: Sardines—the tiny, stinky fish your grandmother probably stocks in her pantry—are the newest beauty food. These days, they’re heralded as “nature’s skin care,” “nature’s multivitamin,” or even “nature’s Botox.” “It’s definitely a big TikTok trend,” Shira Wieder, MD, an attending physician at Montefiore Einstein and assistant professor of dermatology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, tells SELF.
Creators pushing the tinned treats claim that eating a few a day can bestow “glass skin,” a K-beauty pillar and coveted aesthetic that involves a dewy, almost translucent complexion. Jacqueline Vignona, a recipe developer with 68,000 followers, deems them “the secret to glowing skin” in one TikTok demo’ing how to make “sardine glow salad.” Yet another influencer, @ally.renee1 (1.4 million followers), declares that “maturing is realizing sardines are the TRUE looksmaxxing product” as she eats them atop potato chips.
If you follow online fads at all, the current sardine obsession makes a lot of sense: Combining three separate social media crazes—tinned fish, eating your skin care, and girl dinner (yes, people are making sardine-centric grazing boards)—into one, sardines represent a perfect storm for internet virality. But is the hype surrounding their beauty benefits actually legit? Here’s what to know before you swallow the hoopla hook, line, and sinker.
Yes, sardines are good for your skin.
While sardines contain plenty of nutrients, including protein, vitamin D, and calcium, omega-3 fatty acids are primarily responsible for the famed skin health benefits. These are “essential, anti-inflammatory fats that we need to consume from food,” according to Anthea Levi, MS, RD, a Brooklyn-based health writer and the founder of Alive+Well Nutrition, since the body can’t synthesize them on its own. In particular, sardines are especially rich in two major types of omega-3s: eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), Dr. Wieder says.
Within the two outer layers of your skin, the dermis and epidermis, omega-3s “modulate inflammation and may help reduce collagen damage resulting from UV exposure,” Levi says. Put another way, they reduce the risk of premature skin aging stemming from the UV radiation in sunlight, according to Dr. Wieder (not to mention the risk of skin cancer). In addition, they also serve other critical functions, like protecting heart health, preventing age-related cognitive decline, and promoting fetal brain development during pregnancy.
