Sardines. Should you consume them?
Which brands are better? Are canned sardines safe?
Sardines. Are they a super-food or a toxic food?
I was taught in school years ago that sardines were considered a superfood. They are affordable, so most people, even those in low-income situations, can afford them, and they are nutrient-dense but lower in calories.
During my time at Bauman College, we had to try a new food each week and report back to class the following week. It was a great opportunity to open my eyes to many foods I had not tried before. One week, we had to sample sardines. While I do not consume sardines regularly, my son did that sample test with me and discovered he loved sardines.
He continues to buy them while in special forces training because they are a nutrient-dense addition to his military diet, which they still cannot supplement with any products, including protein powders, to meet the extreme physical demands they are placing on their bodies. And on a military paycheck, sardines are within his price range.
What are sardines?
A reader had mentioned that sardines are young herring, but herring is a fish that belongs to the same family as sardines but is not the same species. Still, sardines are often referred to as herring.
In the US, sardines have been sourced from the northern Pacific coast (California, Oregon, and Washington). The canned sardines you purchase in the grocery store may not be from a single fish species but one of 21 small marine fish that belong to the family that includes sardines.
What are the health benefits of sardines?
Sardines are an inexpensive source of omega-3 EFAs that can reduce the need for fish oil supplements. A high-quality fish oil product can be pricey.
Sardines are also a source of calcium (get sardines with bone-in), potassium, magnesium, zinc, iron, taurine, arginine, vitamin D, B12, and other nutrients that can modulate inflammation and oxidative stress related to CVD. Calcium, magnesium, and potassium are usually in higher amounts in a serving of sardines, whereas the other nutrients are in lower but still valuable amounts. One serving of sardines can have almost 25 grams of protein, slightly less than one serving of baked salmon (3 ounces, 25.7 g. protein).
Compared to other fish, sardines have lower mercury accumulation. It has been documented that selenium intake can partially mitigate the toxic effects of mercury intake from food. If this is true, the good news is that sardines contain considerable selenium.
A protein and nutrient-dense food such as sardines can be useful for bone health (bone-in sardines) because of the calcium, D, and phosphorus content, mood supportive due to the omega-3 EFA content, and with a combination of healthy fats and protein can support balanced blood sugar and promote weight maintenance.
Sardines Disadvantages
Heavy Metals
Depending on where your sardines are sourced, they may contain higher amounts of heavy metals. This article stated that sardines sourced from Brazil contained dangerous levels of arsenic and were above the proposed limit for cadmium and chromium.
This study indicated that sardines from the Algerian coast had mercury, cadmium, and lead levels that exceeded the Algerian and European legislation threshold values.
The Cooking Process
Once “sardines” arrive at the cannery, they are washed, their heads removed, cooked in oil (often soybean oil) or steam-cooked, then dried.
They are then packed by hand into cans containing one or more oils (seed oil?) and sometimes additional ingredients such as marina sauce, mustard sauce, or chili. The cans are sealed and heated above the boiling point via pressure cooking for 2 to 4 hours to remove all the bacteria that cause botulism.
Nutrient Content and Oxidation
Canned sardines have a higher sodium-to-potassium ratio, whereas fresh sardines have a higher potassium-to-sodium ratio.
Even though sardines are rich in omega-3 EFAs, the high-heat processing can cause these beneficial oils to oxidize and become toxic.
Fresh vs. Canned Sardines
Fresh sardines contain more potassium than sodium, and vice versa for canned sardines. Since high-temperature cooking destroys some nutrients, fresh sardines also contain more nutrients. For instance, B6 may be reduced by 50%, B12 by 38%, and magnesium by 44%.
Often, canned sardines are packed in seed oils such as soybean and vegetable oils, which can contribute to inflammation.
It is difficult to source fresh sardines rather than those in a can. For fresh sardines in the US, a single high-volume fish vendor in NYC, https://lobsterplace.com, imports them from Spain.
For frozen sardines caught in Spanish waters, visit https://wholey.com/sardines/. But they are not cheap at $89.00 for 8 pounds of frozen sardines.
Gout and Kidney Stones
Oily fish such as anchovies and sardines are high in purines, which may exacerbate gout and kidney stones if you are prone to these conditions. The high sodium in canned sardines can increase calcium in the urine, impacting kidney stone risk, so be sure to rinse the sardines or purchase low-salt sardines.
What to look for when buying canned sardines
Choose sardines packed in spring water to avoid the added seed oils.
Purchase no-salt-added canned sardines or rinse the sardines in a colander to remove excess salt.
Look for BPA-free cans. Although many manufacturers will highlight on the product that the material is BPA-free, which is good, it still does not mean that the can or plastic does not have other endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
If you remove one toxin, you have to swap it for something else that will get the job done. BPA is added to cans to prevent a metallic taste in the food and to avoid corroding. They need to find something else that will perform the same function. Often, it is BPS, another toxin. Either way, your plastics and metal cans will contain an endocrine-disrupting ingredient.
Choose better brands. I like Wild Planet sardines (I have no affiliation with the brand) for the taste and other reasons. Wild Planet sardines are sustainably sourced from Pacific fisheries in Japan and Atlantic fisheries in Morocco. They are single-species wild-caught sardines, so you won’t get a bunch of different fish that are not sardines but fall under the same species. Wild Planet offers bone-in sardines with skin-on or skinless/boneless filets.
They have a detailed informational page on their site and also provide an email address for the founder of Wild Planet. I sent an email to their customer service link asking if they test their sardines for heavy metals. I will report back if I receive a response.
Bottom Line
If you can source and afford fresh sardines, this is the best option. Even with the downsides to canned sardines, they can be a nutrient-dense, affordable snack when you know how to choose the best sardines.
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