The showdown: Subway vs. McDonald's

You've steered clear of the Big Mac and opted for the 6-inch cold cut sandwich at Subway. What may be surprising is that Subway may not be much healthier than McDonald's, according to a recent study done by a team of researchers at UCLA.

A group of adolescents (12 - 21 yr, 42% were college graduates) were asked to go to both Subway and McDonald's on different days of the week and purchase whatever they liked, using their own money. It turns out that they bought meals of similar number of calories from both fast food outlets! Purchases from Subway averaged 955 calories; McDonald's averaged 1038 calories. Technically speaking, the calorie intake was not significantly different.

Let's have a look at the breakdown of averages:

	Subway (kcal)	McDonald's (kcal)
SANDWICH	784	572*
DRINK	61	151
SIDES (chips, fries, veggie cups)	35	201

*FYI, a Big Mac is 540 calories.
I've excluded non-significant differences such as condiments and desserts, which is why it doesn't add up to the average number of calories.

In terms of nutrient analysis (averages):

	Subway	McDonald's
CARBOHYDRATES	102 g	128 g
PROTEIN	41 g	32 g
SUGAR	36 g	54 g
SODIUM	2,149 mg	1,829 mg

Some of you may be surprised at the high sodium content for Subway. This is because a lot of the sandwiches have processed meat/cold cuts, which are notoriously high in sodium for preservation purposes. Bearing in mind that the upper level for sodium is 2300 mg/day, excessive intakes have been linked to an increased risk of high blood pressure, and in turn, stroke, heart and kidney disease. Interestingly, the amount of fat was similar (Subway 42 g, McD's 45 g).

Even though Subway is marketed as a "healthy" alternative for fast-food, the shredded lettuce and 2 slices of tomato don't add much nutritional value over the single lettuce and tomato at McD's. However, this is not to say McD's is superior to Subway. The study failed to show a more detailed analysis for cholesterol and other vitamins/minerals - an important aspect to consider when judging which one is the winner.

So, which would you opt for?

Sources:

• Lesser, L. I., Kayekjian, K., Velasquez, P., Tseng, C., Brook, R. H., & Cohen, D. A. (2013). Adolescent purchasing behavior at McDonald's and Subway. Journal of Adolescent Health. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.02.014
• Health Canada. (2009). Sodium (Catalogue #H13-7/71-2012E-PDF). Retrieved from http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/alt_formats/pdf/iyh-vsv/food-aliment/sodium-eng.pdf