Seventeen-year-old Fred DeLuca conceived the idea of opening a submarine sandwich shop as a way to fund his medical education. He and a partner opened the first shop in 1965 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Fred and his partner began offering franchises in 1974, and there are now more than 33,000 Subways worldwide. Subway prides itself on having some healthier low-fat options on its menu, including flatbread sandwiches.
The Flatbread Option
The flatbread sandwiches are some of the newest items on the Subway menu, available as a regular sandwich and a breakfast sandwich. Overall, the flatbread options are lower in fat than some of the other menu items. You can turn any flatbread sandwich into a melt by adding cheese and having it toasted. Eating fast food is easy and often cheaper, but not always healthier. Some ways to make eating fast foods a healthier experience include opting for a smaller item, such as the 6-inch sandwich and, choosing leaner meat like chicken or ham. When adding cheese, have the lower sodium Swiss or mozzarella, and add low-fat dressings or mustard for flavor instead of mayonnaise.
Calories and Fats
Most of Subway's flatbread sandwiches are low in fat. Having a Flatbread Melt involves adding cheese, which does add some more calories and fat. The 6-inch Veggie Delight Flatbread sandwich has 240 calories, 5g total fat with 1g saturated fat. The 6-inch Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki Flatbread contains 390 calories, 7g total fat with 1.5g saturated fat. Adding Natural Cheddar Cheese to the sandwich and making it a melt adds 60 calories, 5g total fat and 3g saturated fat to the totals. The 6-inch Sausage, Egg White and Cheese on Flatbread has 680 calories and 17g total fat.
Carbohydrates and Protein
Carbohydrates and protein form the foundation of a healthy diet and need to be ingested daily. MayoClinic.com states that 45 to 65 percent of the day's calories should come from carbohydrates and 10 to 35 should come from protein. A 6-inch Subway Sunrise Melt with whole egg has 47g of protein and 37g protein. The 6-inch Turkey Breast flatbread has 43g of carbohydrate and 18g of protein. Making it a melt by adding American Cheese provides an additional 1g of carbohydrate and 2g of protein.
Sodium
Sodium is an essential mineral, meaning that it is not produced by the body and must be ingested every day. Penn Medicine advises limiting sodium intake to less than 2,300mg per day if you are healthy and less than 1,500mg if you have heart disease. Most of Subway's flatbread melts contain a lot of sodium. The healthiest choice would be the Veggie Delite, which has 450mg sodium. Making it a melt with the Swiss Cheese adds 30mg of sodium. The lowest sodium breakfast flatbread melt is the Egg White with Cheese, containing 1,080mg of sodium.
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