North Carolina woman eats nothing but sardines, loses 35 pounds: 'This is not a diet'

A North Carolina woman has spent the last three months eating nothing but sardines – and she said it has changed her life and improved her health. 

"This is not a diet. To me, a diet insinuates a beginning and an end. This is my lifestyle and I have no intention of introducing plants back into it," Jane Crummett of Mint Hill, North Carolina, told Fox News Digital.

Crummett normally eats no carbohydrates whatsoever, calling it a "zero carb/carnivore" way of eating. She also eschews dairy, saying she "finds it inflammatory." 

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But for the last three months, she ate nothing but sardines and MCT oil, a supplement that helps the body get energy. 

Each day, Crummett said she consumed four cans of sardines, plus MCT oil. 

Jane Crummett, shown above left, has eaten nothing but sardines for the past three months. She told Fox News Digital she's lost 35 pounds.  (Jane Crummett; Getty Images)

Crummett said she ended her experiment on Sept. 30 after 135 days.

Since switching to only sardines, she has lost 35 pounds in three months, she said. 

Plus, she said, she feels she's experienced a host of other health benefits.

"My pain has resolved," she said, noting that she previously dealt with plantar fasciitis, a foot condition. Her inflammation, too, has decreased, she told Fox News Digital. 

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Despite her extreme dietary regimen, Crummett insists she's in good health and sees a doctor regularly. 

"I have tested all kinds of things," she said. "I'm a firm believer that if you don't figure things out for yourself, you'll never know."  

Crummett said she planned on gradually re-introducing various meats back into her diet – with the assistance and guidance of a doctor.

Crummett shared these before-and-after photographs with Fox News Digital. The picture of her in the blue shirt was taken before she began a "carnivore" diet. (Jane Crummett)

"My plan is to eat sardines with two tablespoons of MCT oil for breakfast and then will introduce about three ounces of beef with [a few] tablespoons of beef drippings for lunch, then sardines for dinner," she said. 

"I will have to take things day by day and just see how my blood sugar reacts to the new food," she said, noting that she's noticed her blood glucose levels have increased if she eats too much protein at once. 

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"My ultimate goal is to have sardines for breakfast every day with MCT oil and incorporate normal beef, pork and/or chicken back into my diet," she said. 

A dietitian, however, raised concerns about the "carnivore" lifestyle.

Omega-3 fatty acids "should be part of a balanced diet."

"In the short term, I would imagine that any type of change she's making is going to show immediate results. And it sounds to me like she had some issues with her gut and that she's removed some of the foods that [may have been] causing inflammation," Kim Shapira, M.S., R.D., told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview. 

Shapira, based in Los Angeles, is founder of the Kim Shapira Method and author of the book "This is What You're Really Hungry For." (Shapira was not involved in Crummett's dietary choices.)

A balanced diet – which can include sardines – is a better choice than giving up carbs entirely, a dietitian in Los Angeles told Fox News Digital. (iStock)

A zero-carb diet, Shapira said simply, is "not a sustainable way to live." 

Crummett's choice of sardines is an "amazing form of omega-3s – a really good fatty acid," she said. 

Omega-3 fatty acids "should be part of a balanced diet," said Shapira, stressing "balance" as the key word. 

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"The Mediterranean diet – the type of diet that includes a balance of everything – is really what we need long term," she said. 

"When you go on a low-carb diet, you're actually dehydrating your system. So when you say ‘quick weight loss,’ it is quick weight loss only in the fact that it's water loss. It's not actually fat loss," she said.

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"If you would like to lose weight, you actually need a combination of so many things," Shapira continued — "including lifestyle changes, better eating habits, exercise, sleep, and water intake." 

She added, "I wish people would see historically that any time there is a diet trend and people jump on it, it doesn't last, it's not sustainable."

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She said it can also lead to "bigger issues."