COULD YOU LIVE OFF SARDINES?

Mum-of-one Emma Marns, 33, decided to find out if the viral ‘sardine diet' could help her to shift her stubborn pounds...

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Crazy as it sounds, I'm about to embark on a 'sardine fast', where I'll live off the canned, oily fish – and nothing else – for three whole days. From just 50p a tin, they're as cheap as chips – but sadly, I won't be eating chips with them. My fishy fast came about after I hit 14st 7lb last summer. I had tried fad diets in the past, but none worked. After snacking my way through lockdown, I reached almost 13st, so I embarked on the 1:1 Diet – a consultant-led regime of low-calorie shakes, soups and bars.

By the following year, my weight dropped to just over 10st and I went on to have a healthy pregnancy with my daughter Melody, now two. But after eight months of poor eating during maternity leave, I ended up heavier than ever and weighed more than 14st. At 5ft 6in, worryingly, my BMI hit 32.9, classing me as obese. Something had to change. That's when I spotted Dr Annette Bosworth's Sardine Fast on YouTube.

It's had over 800,000 views, while the hashtag #sardinediet is fast approaching 40,000 searches on TikTok. As the name suggests, the diet involves eating nothing but tinned sardines (in water or oil) for 72 hours. There's no limit on how many you can eat and a 120g tin contains around 220 calories. And you're only allowed to drink water, black coffee or tea.

Sardines are nutritious and high in iron, vitamin D, protein and calcium. They are also completely lacking in sugar. The fast claims you can lose up to half a stone in three days. I'd never eaten a sardine in my life but I was intrigued. Plus, I want to be a good role model for my daughter.