The Olive Garden, a popular chain of Italian restaurants offers a variety of different foods. One of their offerings are breadsticks, which are available for free and in unlimited quantities along with a meal. Although these snacks are relatively low in calories, portion control can easily become a problem.
Calories
There are 150 calories in one serving of breadsticks from Olive Garden, according to the restaurant chain's website. Because the serving size is one breadstick, this means that each breadstick contains 150 calories. Based on the standard 2000 calorie per day diet, this means that one breadstick equals 7.5 percent of a person's recommended daily caloric consumption.
Calorie Breakdown
Each breadstick contains 2 g of fat, which means that 16 of the calories or slightly under 11 percent of the calories come from fat. There are 28 g of carbohydrates in each breadstick, Nutrition-Chart.com explains, which corresponds to 112 calories, which means that slightly under 75 percent of the calories are from carbohydrates. The remaining calories come from 5 g of protein.
Additional Nutrients
There are 400 mg of sodium in each Olive Garden breadstick, the restaurant's website notes. There is no significant amount of dietary fiber, sugar or saturated fat in a breadstick. In addition, Olive Garden breadsticks do not contain any notable amount of vitamins A or C, iron or calcium, FatSecret.com reports.
Significance
When planning a diet, you should allow only a certain amount of fats, carbohydrates and sodium each day to help keep the diet balanced. Based on the standard recommended 2000 calorie daily food intake, one breadstick from Olive Garden contains 2 percent of a person's daily recommended fat intake, 9 percent of the daily recommended carbohydrate intake and 11 percent of the recommended amount of sodium.
Considerations
The low calorie and fat content of a breadstick from Olive Garden means that this appetizer can easily fit into a diet plan. The high carbohydrate and sodium content can be problematic, particularly for people who are actively trying to limit their carbohydrate and sodium consumption. In addition, note that the nutritional information provided is for only one breadstick; consumption of multiple breadsticks can make this appetizer unsuitable for most diet plans.
Member Comments