What are the fundamental requirements of any individual? Clothes, food, and shelter, right? Let’s take out food from the set and investigate it a bit. You must be fond of fast food just like us and have almost tried every fast-food chain. What they offer is certainly lip-smacking. But are they healthy enough? We know the food is not healthy but still, we love it, don’t we? Whether you’re having pizzas, burgers, fries or anything from the menu, that does add excessive calories to our body to which we don’t exercise suffice to burn them out. Do you also wonder if there is any fast-food chain or restaurant where you can enjoy the same delicious items without making you obese? By this time, there would too many restaurants you could think of who serve delicious salads. We already know the precise name that is wandering in your mind right now.

Subway, the fast-food restaurant that primarily sells salads and sandwiches. Started 50 years earlier by a nuclear physicist named Dr Peter Buck is a rapidly growing fast-food chain and fastest-growing franchises in the world. Subway, which lives by the tag line – Eat fresh. We might have the same opinion on the piece of information that the ingredients they use are fresh and they make their own bread. But are the ingredients as nutritious and healthy as they’re claimed to be?

While this restaurant serves an alternative to pizza, shakes, fries, and burgers, what if you were consuming the same number of calories as that of McDonald’s Big Maharaj Mac. And you thought you were making a healthy choice by eating at Subway’s. But is dining at Subway as bad as it is in eating in Dominoes or McDonalds? Well, not really. It becomes a bit healthier when you keep control of the serving size. An average meal at McDonald's generally has more calorie, fat, carbohydrates, and cholesterol as compared to Subway. It is not that Subway is as unhealthy as McDonald's but it may be, so you must know what you’re ordering.

Let’s take a look at what subway offers around the world in their menu and what is the calorie count and their nutritional values.

First, the main part of the sandwich, Bread. If we are to rate fast-food restaurants by the aroma, it would definitely be Subway. Their fresh-baked bread smells just remarkable. But if you’re someone who is trying to lose weight, you better skip the bread and order a salad. Here’s why - a list of 6-inch bread choices available at Subway and their calorie count.

• Sourdough                                   190 calories
• Rye                                              190 calories
• Italian (White)                               200 calories
• Parmesan Oregano                      210 calories
• Hearty Italian                                210 calories
• 9-Grain Wheat                              210 calories
• Multigrain Flatbread                      220 calories
• Roasted Garlic                              230 calories
• Flatbread                                      230 calories
• Honey Oat                                    230 calories
• Italian Herbs & Cheese                240 calories
• Monetary Cheddar                       240 calories

Surprised? This is just the 6-inch bread, wait till you read about your favourite sandwiches. If you’re someone who is on a diet or trying to lose weight and keeping an eye on your calorie intake, you must avoid these three:

1. The Turkey Italiano Melt – A Sub containing 510 calories and 1490 Mg of Sodium and that too without the cheese or sauces).
2. The Spicy Italian Melt – 480 calories and 1490 Mg of Sodium.
3. The Italian BMT – Just a little better than the rest two mentioned above with 410 calories and 1260 Mg of Sodium.

The calorie count is also affected by the type of sauces that you choose along with the bread. On the basis of the most regularly ordered sandwiches, an average sandwich contains 480 calories. This is just for the 6-inch serve, double the calories for any 12-inch Sub. The total calorie of any sandwich is calculated by adding the calorie count of all the ingredients such as tomato, cucumber, olives, tomato, lettuce, etc. Being smart while ordering a Sub is good but switching between veggies won’t help as they all contain less than 5 calories. Now coming back to the best available options for a sandwich at the Subway, here’s our top 4:

1. The 6-inch Veggie Delight – This has to be Subway’s best and healthiest sandwich among all with just 230 calories and 280 Mg of Sodium. So less Sodium because it doesn’t contain any meat. Simple logic.
2. Oven Roasted Chicken – 320 calories and 610 Mg of Sodium. Since there’s meat, there’s Sodium. And since there’s chicken, there got to be protein as well – 23 grams.
3. Rotisserie-Style Chicken or Fresh Fit – 350 calories and 540 Mg of Sodium with 29 grams of protein to keep you going till post-lunch.
4. 6-Inch Tuna Sub – 400 calories, 600 Mg of Sodium and 20 grams of protein.

We have heard people talking and you must have also noticed in their advertisements at that Subway is approved by American Doctor’s Associates Inc. Let us just clear the air about it. There’s no doctor in the Doctor’s Association. As a matter of fact, it is the parental organisation which owns and operates Subway. This organisation controls 44,692 restaurants in 111 countries and territories with 2,000 outlets here in India and 24,350 solely in America. The renowned food chain has been in and out controversies when a couple of years ago, a little girl's trip to Subway turned into an emergency visit to the hospital after a mother allegedly discovered a piece of glass inside her daughter's sandwich.

Apart from the unsung reality, we bring you some intriguing facts about subway which has nothing to do with your health but are worth reading:

1. The Subway was launched by a 17-year-old to pay off his tuition fee.
2. Subway serves about 5,300 sandwiches every second, which means round about 320,000 sandwiches per minute.
3. There are 9,000 non-traditional Subways. That means some restaurants are in zoos, casinos, Laundromats and even in a church.
4. Subway uses 16 acres of lettuce per day which is roughly equivalent to 35 football fields.
5. The most underused ingredient used at Subway is “Oregano”.
6. There are more than 38 million Subway sandwich combinations.
7. Almost next to the McDonalds, Subway spends the most on advertising in the USA.
8. There are more Subway locations than McDonald's worldwide.
9. All Subways smell the same. This is due to the caramelisation smell of the sugar.
10. www.subway.com was launched in 1996. The same year when the first store in the U.K was opened.
11. Each olive in your sandwich is personally hand-picked. Isn’t that too much work for just a sandwich.
12. On the first day of opening the store, Subway sold nearly 312 sandwiches.
13. The person who designed the Subway’s logo is one of their employees and is believed to be still working.
14. In Washington State, Subway offers gluten-free sandwiches.
15. Each Footlong is 12 inches long.

We have to admit that the facts are pretty extraordinary. But when it comes down to trustworthiness and reliability of the organization, it is still debatable. Before launching yourself on your food blindly, it is recommended to make sure you’re eating the right stuff.