Fast Food – sandwiches to skip and some to enjoy

 

The next time you are out and about, look at the lines at the Fast-Food places.  Many people have their favorite sandwiches and Fast-Food meals they like to choose.  WebMD has a great slide show on the Worst Sandwiches – not only the worst but “Double-Fisted Diet Wreckers”.   One doesn’t have to be on a diet to be concerned about healthier choices at Fast-Food places.  I had many students in my class that actually needed more calories in their day as they were very active.  Some were athletes and as noted in a previous blog, a carpenter who easily took in 5,000 calories a day.  Playing basketball, my daughter burned up so many calories, it was a struggle getting in enough calories each day.

Some Fast-Food sandwiches pack in the calories, fat, and the sodium.  Let’s look at some popular Fast-Food places and look at poor choices and then some healthier options.

Burger King

Poor choice:

• Triple Whopper with Cheese.  Yes, it does have some lettuce, tomato and onion but the 3 beef patties add up to a lot of calories (1299) and almost 90 grams of fat.   Sodium is also high.

Better choice: 

•           Original Chicken Sandwich.  Not only a better choice but WebMD indicates it is “among BK’s healthiest sandwiches”.  The chicken patty is breaded and topped with lettuce and some mayonnaise.  It comes in at about 680 calories with about 39 grams of fat and less saturated fat than the Triple Whopper.  Want less fat and less calories?  Skip the mayonnaise as just 1 Tablespoon of mayonnaise adds about 100 calories to the sandwich. 

 

Burger King	Triple Whopper with Cheese	Original Chicken Sandwich
Calories	1299	680
Fat	90 g	39 g
Sodium	1829 mg	1380 mg

McDonald’s

Poor Choice: 

• Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese.  WebMD says this choice is even worse than the Double Big Mac.  Why?  The 2 beef patties, 2 slices of cheese, pickles and onions provide 740 calories which is a little more than the Double Big Mac which clocks in at 730 calories.  But the Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese has more fat, cholesterol and sodium.

Better Choice:

•  Filet-O-Fish sandwich.  Although it is fried it has less calories even with the cheese, lettuce, tomato and some tartar sauce.  It comes in at 390 calories, 19 grams of fat, only 30 grams of cholesterol and 580 milligrams of sodium.  According to McDonald’s this sandwich is made with wild-caught fish.  

McDonald’s	Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese	Filet-O-Fish Sandwich
Calories	740	390
Fat	42 g	19 g
Sodium	1360 mg	580 mg

 

Chick-fil-A

Poor Choice: 

• Spicy Deluxe Chicken Sandwich.  A not so good choice as the chicken is breaded, fried with a buttered bun and some cheese.  Calories and fat aren’t as high as some other options at 550 calories and 25 g of fat but sodium is still high at 1810 mg. 

Better Choice: 

• Grilled Chicken Sandwich.  A much healthier option as it comes with grilled chicken, tomato, lettuce and even a multigrain bun.  Only 320 calories, less sodium at 680 mg and only 6 grams of fat.  Add in some fruit, some milk and you have a pretty healthy meal. 

 

Chick-fil-A	Spicy Deluxe Chicken Sandwich	Grilled Chicken Sandwich
Calories	550	320
Fat	25g	6 g
Sodium	1810 mg	680 mg

Subway

I am still mad that Subway no longer offers the oven roasted chicken patty.  It was my favorite Subway sandwich.  I added some provolone cheese and just about every vegetable offered and got it on the whole grain bun.  As Dennis Lee wrote in his article in October 2022, “The sandwich chain no longer offers oven roasted chicken breast, and people are only finding out now, months later…..  Apparently, nobody was going to tell us about the discontinuation of the oven roasted chicken breast, and it went out with a whisper.”  People in the Twitter universe complained as did customers on Facebook.  Why a Fast-Food place would take away one of its most popular options is beyond me.  They do offer other chicken choices but, in my opinion, these choices aren’t nearly as good. 

The calories and nutrition information below are for the 6-inch sub.  If you order a 12-inch sub, then double everything.

Poor Choice: 

• Chicken and Bacon Ranch Melt.   Subway is actually known for its healthier choices.  At least one can get an assortment of veggies, although I have seen many customers skip over every veggie option and just ask for extra mayo.  (As noted above, each extra Tablespoon of mayo adds about 100 calories to the sandwich.)  The 6-inch Chicken and Bacon Ranch Melt comes in at 570 calories, 29 grams of fat and 1280 mg of sodium.  Remember, calories can be higher if more ranch dressing is added is added.

Better Choice:

• Black Forest Ham Sandwich.  A pretty low-cal option at only 260 calories, with only 4 grams of fat and not too bad on the sodium at 810 mg.  Choose mustard for the condiment as mustard is low in calories and skip the mayo to keep calories in check.

Subway	Chicken and Bacon Ranch Melt	Black Forest Ham Sandwich
Calories	570	260
Fat	29 g	4 g
Sodium	1280 mg	810 mg

Conclusion:  It is very hard to eat out and eat healthy.  So much Fast-Food is fried and loaded with fat and salt.  But there are better options to choose.  Skipping the fried foods and choosing grilled is almost always is a better choose.  And one doesn’t have to order the fries which are also loaded with fat and sodium.  At Subway I order the chicken, cheese on the multigrain bread, load on the veggies and then choose some baked chips or whole grain Sun Chips.  We often take our sandwiches home and drink real cow’s milk as our beverage.  You also want to take off the wrappers as fast as you can.  Why?  Because of the “forever chemicals” in many fast-food wrappers.  (See:  What dangerous chemicals might be in fast food wrappers? ).   When we get home from Subway, we immediately unwrap the sandwiches and remove the wrappings to try to limit the forever chemicals.  It may be healthier to eat your Fast-Food at the restaurant to limit the time the fast-food is in the wrapper.  More and more restaurants are taking out these dangerous chemicals which is a good thing.

Sources:  slide show , calories , Sandwich , choice , sandwich , article , What dangerous chemicals might be in fast food wrappers?    Image Sources:  Original Chicken Sandwich , Filet of Fish  , Grilled Chicken Sandwich