Canned Sardines in vegetable oil - no go?

(Alex) #1

There was a special on canned sardines in the local supermarket, and I thought it would be great to stock up on a dozen cans as I like sardines and they are ready to eat. What I didn’t notice at the time was the very important “in vegetable oil” part. Is that a deal breaker for keto? Of course before eating them, I would drain them out and put olive oil and some lemon, but has the vegetable oil turned them not keto friendly?
Sorry for all these questions, I am new to Keto and diets in general, this is my first time modifying what I eat ever. Been on Keto for a littler over a month.

(Bob M) #2

You can still eat them. Not ideal, but don’t let perfect be the enemy of good, as you wife says.

(Alex) #3

Thanks!

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #4

The only drawback is the high percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the vegetable oil. It doesn’t make the sardines keto-unfriendly, just not as healthful as they could be. It you see any packed in water that would be a better choice, but I don’t know if sardines packed in water are a thing, the way tuna packed in water is.

(Joey) #5

As noted, it won’t knock you out of ketosis. Vegetable oils are far from ideal for reasons well-covered elsewhere, but much of the concern centers on how they behave chemically when used for cooking at temperatures above their burning points. This won’t be an issue by eating sardines from the can at room temperature.

FWIW, our massive stockpile of wild-caught sardines boxed tins say “Packed in 100% Olive Oil” - but the same company (“Season” Brand) also offers them packed in water.

(Alex) #6

I’ve never seen them packed in water. I guess they aren’t as common like that in Europe?

(Joey) #7

Since they swim in water, it probably wouldn’t hurt them :wink:

#8

Wild Planet sells them packed in water. I don’t know if you have a Whole Foods or Publix near you but both of those stores sell them. You can get them on amazon too but beware that amazon seems to sell a lot of dented food products for whatever reason. I preferred them in water because I could add my own oil if I wanted to. Even when they say packed in organic olive oil I still go for water because I am untrusting when it comes to food.

Shouldn’t affect you keto wise. It’s just like Paul said, not the healthiest. You are eating a really nutritious food with omega 3’s but it’s packed in omega 6 oil. If you rinsed it off you probably didn’t get much of it.

(Allie) #9

Not ideal but do what works for you and fits within your means.
Personally I don’t do any vegetable oils except coconut, olive, and avocado as I realised many years ago (way, way before keto) that they make me ill.

#10

I do olive oil mackerel (and sardines/pilchards) in tomato, katsu curry, olive and herb, and mustard sauce.

These amazing and prolific fish have great health benefits, even from a tin.

(Joey) #11

… at the risk of putting too fine a point on it, I wouldn’t regard coconut, olive, nor avocado as being a vegetable :wink:

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #12

I get them water packed at Costco. Both the tuna and the sardines.

If I bought them in a veg oil, I would at least give them a good washing before consuming them.

(Allie) #13

Yeah fair point… :grin:

(Bob M) #14

Costco has sardines packed in water? The only ones I’ve seen are in olive oil. I think ones in water taste better, but they’re way more expensive not at Costco.

(Joey) #15

Same here re: Costco. But we greatly enjoy the Olive Oil-packed Costco sardines from “Season” brand.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #16

Olive oil sounds a much better choice than soybean oil, that’s for sure!

(Bob M) #17

Those are good. They are very “meaty”.

(Joey) #18

Indeed, we think they’re awesome. Typically around US$10 for a box of 6 tins.

Occasionally, they go on sale for around $7/box, at which point we buy about $100 worth of them or more. We’ve been eating these in salads for years now (and given our current supply, we’ll be eating these for years to come well after the Zombie apocalypse begins).

(Bob M) #19

I did not know they went on sale. I’ll have to look more closely at my Costco emails…

I’ve been buying meat in bulk when it goes on sale, then freezing it. Unfortunately, our freezer died and we did not realize that until too late (everything was warm). There go the savings! :wink:

Working from home to have the new one delivered. Thought about figuring out what was wrong with the old one, and fixing it if possible: I’ve fixed multiple ovens, our current fridge, washing machine, dryer, etc., like this. But this process can easily take 1-2 weekends, and at the same time, our pool light died, the remote system in basement died, the Fire TV streaming stick in the basement died, I need to finish installing the new lock system for the front door that uses a code (so it’ll automatically lock if we forget due to taking the dog out that door, but coming in the back door), the drain in my sink is totally 100% clogged (I have all the parts, just need time), the gate I put in to prevent the dog going upstairs needs to be moved down as it sucks right now… Sometimes “time” is worth more than “money”. (Unless you get a lot of money, then you just pay for everything.)

(Joey) #20

Yikes. What a “to do” list … I’d suggest selling the home, moving into a nice tent with the dog, waiting for sardines to go on sale, stock up big time, and live happily ever after. :+1: