Many people do not realize that there are actually more subway restaurants around the world (more than 37,000!). Not to mention, the restaurant chain does a fantastic job at saying their food is healthier than traditional fast-food restaurants. With their famous slogans and phrases such as “eat fresh” and “less than 6 grams of fat”, it’s hard not to believe that subway is definitely a healthy option when it comes to eating out. Let’s not forget about Jared either – the man who lost an incredible amount of weight eating nothing but Subway sandwiches each day. But is all of this a reality? Is Subway really healthy?
Many people believe that because many Subway sandwiches are low in fat and they are marketed as being healthy, that they can eat as many of them as they want. All you have to do is walk in and you’ll see that Subway compares itself to Mcdonald’s in terms of calories and fat, while listing all of their low calorie and low fat sandwiches next to all of the high calorie and high fat sandwiches at Mcdonald’s. But maybe fat isn’t the killer we all make it out to be – maybe we could all benefit from eating a some more dietary fat. In fact, maybe Mcdonald’s is a better choice than Subway to begin with.
Okay, now I know you think I’m crazy at this point, but there is some research to support what I’m saying. Sure it’s true that many Subway sandwiches are low in fat, but who is to say that eating a low fat diet is good for you in the first place? If you didn’t know by now, nutrition is still seriously flawed in this country – many people still think consuming whole eggs will give them high cholesterol and heart disease! In reality, the opposite is true.
In fact, fat might not be the demon that many people make it out to be anyway. People who go on low fat diets often report fatigue, insomnia, depression, suicidal thoughts and some even start experiencing some serious health issues. If fat were really that bad for you, do you really think that people would be experiencing all of these negative side effects when they went on a low fat diet?
On the other hand, increasing fat intake has been shown to improve LDL and HDL cholesterol, reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and a whole host of other health issues as well. Not to mention, people who consume more dietary fat on a daily basis actually tend to weigh less, due to the fact that fat is a very satisfying macronutrient and only takes a small amount to keep you full. Knowing this, maybe an occasional burger from Mcdonald’s is not that bad after all.
Now don’t get me wrong – fast food is not a good choice to begin with and I rarely eat the stuff. I guess the point I’m trying to get across here is that just because something is labeled as “low-fat”, it does NOT necessarily make it healthy.
Now that we’ve gotten the fat issue out of the way, let’s go ahead and talk about calories. Many people underestimate how many calories are in a Subway sandwich, since the restaurant lists many sandwiches that are low in calories to begin with. Sure sandwiches such as the Subway club and the Grilled Chicken sandwich have the potential to be low in calories, but what many people don’t realize is that this is only for the 6 inch version of the sandwich. If you go with the foot long, you could very easily go beyond the thousand calorie mark. This is not what you want if you’re trying to lose weight.
The Bottom Line
If you’re serious about losing weight and getting healthier, I don’t recommend eating fast food very often. Of course, there are some ways that you can eat healthy at Subway, if you choose the right sandwiches and load the right toppings on.
If you’re trying to eat healthy at Subway, always make sure you don’t put unnecessary toppings on your sandwich such as mayo or creamy dressings. Also make sure you’re ordering your sandwich on whole wheat bread and instead of going for the foot long, go for the 6 inch instead.
Just because Subway might market their food as being healthy, it doesn’t necessarily mean it is. Always look past the marketing hype and make an informed decision before deciding purchasing your sandwich at Subway. Follow the general guidelines I gave you above and you can eat your Subway and make it healthy too.
