Eating at Subway is Healthy or Unhealthy

By Ten Blogger

We all know that Subway (fast food restaurant) is one of the healthier alternatives to McDonalds or KFC. Well, if you just order lettuce, cucumber, onion and tomato on your sub with a lean meat, how harmful can it be.. correct? So how can eating a subway can be unhealthy? What am I missing here? Read on..

In a research study it was observed that customers at Subway, consistently underestimated the number of calories in each meal. Second, customers at Subway are more likely to choose higher-calorie side dishes.

I agree that, most of the subs that you could order at Subway are healthy as long as you use whole wheat bread and stay away from cheese and mayo. There are some bad choices in subs as well, for example "Footlong Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki" will give you 110 grams of carbs and 770 calories.

But what about the side orders and drinks? One of the biggest choices one can make when buying a meal is the DRINK you gulp along with your sub. Why? Well a 16 oz apple juice or Snapple from subway has about 320 calories (160 per 8 oz. serving). You get roughly 300 or so calories for a 20 oz coke. Not to mention these calories are from SUGAR. Did you know that there is 65 grams of Sugar in 20 oz Coke? I mentioned this because when you drink high sugar content, the pancreas go in overdrive mode and they get stressed out. Note that there are free refills on Soda, and if you go for that free refill, it is a doubly whammy on your health.

Also the chips, cookie, that go with the meal can add appox 200-400 calories of high glycemic carbs and or fats to the total caloric total. Especially if you are dining at a subway you get 300 calories from Soda, and the 200 from the whole grain chips equals 500 calories that go against your goals of trimming up, not to mention the insulin response from all the added carbohydrates.

Now coming back to my original point of how eating at Subway could be harmful. If you would repeat the daily routine of Soda/Juice and Chips / cookies along with your sub frequently, your pancreas are bound to get tired of going in overdrive to produce insulin. That could results in a condition called, pre-diabetes.. which if not corrected.. would result in Diabetes. Diabetes and associated heart disease are the leading causes of death in USA and worldwide.

I hope this is an eye opener and you quit making unhealthy choices at seemingly healthy places such as Subway. Why I picked on Subway? Well, most people know that fried products of McDonalds and KFC have high calories and are unhealthy. Subway offers a choice that combines healthy as well as unhealthy food.. and you could get caught off guarded. Some people may just give themselves credit assuming they have eaten a healthy food, while in reality they would have loaded up carbs and sugar.

I understand, changing eating habits toward a more healthy life style can be difficult but if you follow the simple rules of drinking water, or occasionally diet soda, and avoiding chips (no matter what kind) and mayo and cheese than you can pretty much win the battle when eating out.

Details on Jared Fogle: You would have also heard the story of “Jared Fogle”, the young man who lost 245 lbs. by eating nothing but Subway sandwiches for almost a year. He had a 6-inch “Subway turkey” for lunch and a “foot-long Veggie Delite” for dinner. He sometimes drank “DIET Soda” and rarely ate Chips. Jared also included lots of walking as part of the diet program that he invented, which allowed him to lose 245 lbs. in about a year.

See all 2 photos

Chicken Teriyaki

Coke Nutrion Facts

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How eating at Subway can be harmful to you

Who would think eating at Subway could be unhealthy ? Well, if you just order lettuce, cucumber, onion and tomato on your sub with a lean meat, how harmful can it be.. correct? So how can it be unhealthy? What I am missing here?

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hubber-2009 2 years ago

Your wallet will tell the harmfl expereince?

compu-smart 2 years ago

I have never eaten at one of these! Everytime i ask for the subway directions, i end at up the underground!!

Seriously, I want to try a subway one day, and like most things, i guess moderation is the key!

Patti Ann 2 years ago

You're right - most people don't think about the chips and sodas.

Rebecca E. 2 years ago

so true so true.

nicomp Level 6 Commenter 2 years ago

Everything in moderation. Subway is no more dangerous than Wal Mart.

loua Level 1 Commenter 2 years ago

Great practical post... Now you need to do one for everything else, lol... If only you could get people to be practical the problems of the world could be solved...

Micky Dee Level 4 Commenter 2 years ago

Great blog. I was driving on the interstate and dropped off for gas. Thought I'd Subway myself a $5 tuna sandwich. It cost me over $7. This was against national advertising and maybe the biggest reason I may avoid Subway. This is all great advice you have. Great job. I'm a new fan.

Keith 2 years ago

This is basically a rant against the pitfalls faced by ANY fast food restaurant customer, i.e., be aware of the side dishes you order.

Subway's great. Good, lean meat, good comprehensive salad, and affordable prices.

Teresa Laurente 2 years ago

Subway is great too. The fresh veges and all others. But the bread and chips will have to be by choice. I am allergic to Gluten and I wish they too will have Gluten free bread. Thank you for sharing this Ten Blogger. More power.

stuart heslop 2 years ago

everything you get in subway is not fresh it comes in frozen.

s 2 years ago

i love subway!!!!!

Michelle 2 years ago

I love Subway, I've been eating it since I was about seven (I'm twelve now - and yes, to all you adults who think us pre-teens cannot spell and are very stupid on topics like this, read my post, and you'll think otherwise.) and I've always taken one of the more healthy choices, a Whole Wheat tuna sub with no dressing or cheese, just lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, olives, etc, and I thought that was pretty healthy, but I've not been taking into account the chips and sodas. I think I'll be watching that stuff next time I go, but overall, I believe it's very healthy is you make the right choices.

Sharon 20 months ago

They have Baked Chips with no saturated fat. 130 cal per bag. Never drink soda, don't take the cheese or mayo as I have the fat free at home. Drink lots of water. Definitely glad I found this site for fat-free, sugar-free desserts.

thatguy 19 months ago

Quite simply choose the healthier options, ie water, brown ''wheat'' bread & stay away from all the meatball marinade.

Its not rocket science that composing a sandwich entirely of meat & sauces + fizzy drinks isn't going to be any healthier than you making such a meal at home.

From: Regular subway visitor, vegetarian (that being said before i was one chicken/tuna were my preferred meat choices alongside the healthy options i just mentioned)

sub artist 18 months ago

The wheat bread has more calories than the regular Italian or white bread. The wheat bread is made with the same enriched flower that the white is and has added to it chemicals to turn it brown. (Subway.com) No option is healthy when considering all the preservatives and chemicals pumped into the meat and the veggies arrive at the store from mexico not even close to ripe a small amount of research done into veggies from Mexico will reveal, just like the meats, a product ppupmed full of chemicals to allow fast growth in large quantity in very poor soil conditions. Poison is the only description to be given. Subway, unlike others makes a false claim for healthy

Blahblah 12 months ago

Seriously you guys, who eats a footlong?

When I go to subway, I order a 6 incher, which is 500 calories. I don't get a drink, chips, or cookies.

A whole meal that is 500 calories is not bad at all, considering I probably consume three times that amount a day (3 meals). Duh. Yes, the meat is unhealthy, but whatever. Not like I eat it every day, it's just an occasional treat for me.

Fitdave 9 months ago

After watching the documentary "Fat Head" and learning the truth about the best diet, I don't believe Subway is all that healthy. All their bread is full of refined carbs including wheat since white bread is only a bleached version, their meats and cheeses are pre-packaged, and depending on the salad dressing, some are higher in sugar and it doesn't help when they drench the sandwich with excessive amounts of dressing. So they are pretty much the bad "low-fat" diet and possibly sodium content is high. Also don't forget their sides and drinks. The chips are processed and full of bad carbs and sodium along with most of their drinks and sizes.