This Jersey Mike's Sub Is Way Less Nutritious Than You'd Think

If you're trying to find a nutritious choice on a fast food restaurant's menu, your eyes will almost always drift toward anything that contains the word "veggie." After all, veggies are good for you, aren't they? True, but when you combine them with cheese, dressing, and a submarine roll, like in the veggie sub at Jersey Mike's, you'll be looking in the wrong direction.

The Veggie sub's ingredients are simple enough: Two types of cheeses (Swiss and Provolone), lettuce, tomatoes, onions, green pepper, the shop's own olive oil blend, red wine vinegar, oregano, and salt — all served on white hero bread made fresh in the stores daily. What's not so simple is the amount of sodium and saturated fat this sando contains. Each regular-sized sandwich has more than 1200 mg of sodium – about half of the recommended daily maximum. It also has 21g of saturated fat, leaving you just 1g shy of the 22g daily total recommended for men and women. Diets high in sodium can lead to high blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart disease or stroke. Saturated fat also increases the risk of heart disease by increasing levels of harmful LDL cholesterol in your blood. 

The majority of the saturated fat in the veggie sandwich comes from the two cheeses but there's also 4g of saturated fat in the olive oil blend. And don't think that leaving off the added salt will make much of a difference in the overall sodium content. The big culprit there is the white bread, which accounts for nearly half of the sodium, while the sprinkling of salt is a mere 50mg in comparison.

If you have your heart set on the Veggie, there are ways to cut back on these two potentially harmful nutrients. You can cut back on one of the two cheeses, like the the Provolone, and you'll slash off nearly 440mg of sodium and 9g of saturated fat.

Another option is to order the Veggie as a bowl, also known as a sub in a tub. This will eliminate the bread, along with 600mg sodium. Unfortunately, the saturated fat content will stay relatively the same. However, if you really don't want to ditch the bread, you can always swap the white for the wheat and you'll gain 2g of fiber. Fiber is an important nutrient and one that's lacking in our diets. Unfortunately, it won't move the needle on those other nutrients of concern.

The best option if you want the Veggie and not all of the sodium and saturated fat that comes along with it is to order the mini, a smaller-sized version of the sandwich. This will shave 9g off the saturated fat content and upwards of 450mg off the sodium, and best of all, you'll still get to enjoy the crunch of the lettuce, the sweetness of the tomatoes, and the sharpness of the cheese. 

No matter how you slice it, it's hard to cut back on the sodium with other options at Jersey Mike's. Of the 14 unhealthiest sandwiches you can order at Jersey Mike's, the Veggie has the lowest amount of sodium, yet is still quite high. If you think switching to the salad side of the menu will help, keep in mind that the Grilled Chicken Salad has about the same amount of sodium as the Veggie, 1245mg. To truly cut back on sodium, go to the hot subs section and find the sandwich with the lowest level, the Portabello Mushroom and Swiss sandwich. With slightly more than 750mg, that's still one-third of the daily recommendation.

If you're focused on cutting back on saturated fat rather than sodium, you'll have an easier time finding a better option. All of the cold subs, with the exception of the Salami and Cheese, have less saturated fat than the Veggie. Even the Super Sub, with three different kinds of meat, has pretty much half the saturated fat of the Veggie, while the Club Supreme still comes in under at 16g. 

The best option overall at Jersey Mike's in regards to both sodium and saturated fat is a veggie-based dish but not the Veggie. It's the Portabello Mushroom and Swiss bowl. You'll enjoy the meaty flavor of the mushrooms, plus it has less than 10g of saturated fat and a mere 166mg sodium.