Eating out can be challenging when you’re following a low sodium diet. Subway offers many low sodium, fresh options but you will need to choose the right low sodium items when building your sandwich.
Subway provides endless options to load on the veggies, so this makes it a perfect choice for a low sodium fast food meal.
So let’s dive in and see how to build a low sodium Subway meal.
Table of Contents
Who Needs Low Sodium at Subway?
A low sodium diet is less than 2,300 mg of sodium per day. The American Heart Association recommends even lower for those that are at risk for other complications to 1,500 mg per day especially for those that have high blood pressure.
Excess sodium in the diet increases blood pressure, causes fluid retention, and increases your risk of heart disease and stroke.
According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025, the average American consumes 3,393mg of sodium per day.
The following foods commonly consumed foods high in sodium are:
- Sandwiches
- Deli meats
- Cheeses
- Burgers
- Tacos
- Pizza
- Rice and pasta dishes
- Soups
- Bread
As you can see, sandwiches, deli meats, cheese, and breads are major contributors to high sodium intake. This can make it pretty tricky to eat low sodium at Subway.
What Is a Low Sodium Meal?
A low sodium meal will have 500-700 mg of sodium if we are aiming for no more than 2,300 mg of sodium per day and are eating 3 meals a day for instance.
So this leaves room for 1-2 low sodium snacks ranging from 150-200 mg.
Keeping these guidelines in mind let’s build our low sodium subway meal.
How to Build a Low Sodium Subway Meal
The following options are based on the Nutrition information from Subway U.S. Nutrition Information as of July 2023. There’s a lot of fresh veggies at Subway that you can add to your sandwich so you can make a low sodium Subway meal.
6″ Build Your Own Low Sodium Subway Sandwiches
- Veggie Delight, 370 mg
- Grilled Chicken, 580 mg
- Tuna, 690 mg
- Veggie Patty (limited of time), 690 mg
- Veggie Delight Wrap, 600 mg
- Kids Mini Sub options range from 250-490 mg sodium
Low sodium sandwich ideas
- 6” Veggie Delight on hearty multigrain bread + all low sodium veggies + fresh mozzarella + oil and vinegar = 425 mg sodium
- 6” Grilled Chicken on artisan italian bread + all the low sodium veggies + Swiss cheese + mayonnaise = 675 mg sodium
- 6” Tuna + all the low sodium veggies= 690 mg sodium
Salads
Salads are a great low sodium option at Subway since you are eliminating the bread which saves so much sodium. The following sodium content is based on salads including lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, cucumbers, and olives. But the sodium content doesn’t include dressings so be sure to choose from the low sodium dressings and cheese options to keep it under 700 mg.
- Grilled chicken, 280 mg
- Veggie Patty salad, 390 mg
- Tuna salad, 390 mg
- Rotisserie-style Chicken salad, 470 mg
- Roast Beef salad, 500 mg
- Oven Roasted Turkey salad, 550 mg
- Oven Roasted Turkey and Ham salad, 560 mg
No Bready Bowls (Protein Bowls)
All of the available No Bready Bowls at Subway include foot long meat portions, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, cucumbers, olives, but the sodium content doesn’t include cheese so be sure to choose from the low sodium options.
- Grilled Chicken, 480 mg
- Tuna, 690 mg
Breads
Another high contributor of sodium in our diet is bread so we will need to make a low sodium choice here.
- 6” hearty multigrain, 360 mg
- 6” artisan italian, 370 mg
- 6” artisan flatbread, 360 mg
Cheese
Another high contributing source of sodium in American diets is cheese. A good option is to omit cheese, however, there are some low sodium subway cheese options.
- Swiss, 30 mg
- Grated Parmesan, 25 mg
- Fresh Mozzarella, 55 mg
- Shredded Mozzarella and shredded cheddar, 85 mg
Veggies
Loading up with low sodium vegetables can help fill you up with so you can make a nutrient packed meal. The following are are some great low sodium Subway veggies.
- Tomatoes, 0 mg
- Spinach, 5 mg
- Onions, 0 mg
- Lettuce, 0 mg
- Cucumbers, 0 mg
- Green pepper, 0 mg
- Sliced Avocado, 0mg
The following are moderate to high sodium veggies so add these to your sandwich with caution:
- Pickles (3 chips), 160 mg
- Smashed Avocado, 130 mg
- Green Chilies, 95 mg
- Jalapenos (3 rings), 70 mg
- Black Olives (3 rings), 50 mg
Condiments and Dressings
Sauces and dressings can contribute to a significant amount of sodium to your meal so stay below 140 mg per portion for a low sodium option.
- Oil and vinegar, 0 mg
- Red wine vinegar, 0 mg
- Mayonnaise, 65 mg
- Peppercorn Ranch, 100 mg
- Honey mustard, 125 mg
- Sweet Onion Teriyaki, 130 mg
Desserts and Sides
Keep in mind that desserts will add a significant amount of calories, sugar, and fat to your meal so stick with one cookie if you decied to add it to your meal.
- Applesauce, 0 mg
- Oatmeal Raisin, 110 mg
- Raspberry Cheesecake, 115 mg
- Chocolate Chip, 120 mg
- White Chip Macadamia, 125 mg
Chips
Nutrition content for chips isn’t listed on Subway’s nutrition information because they are available on the food label on the individual bag. Most chips will be higher in sodium so look for less than 140 mg per serving to keep sodium intake in check.
High Sodium Items to Avoid at Subway
- Breakfast items all have >700 mg of sodium per serving. This includes muffins and hashbrowns.
- Flatizza and Pizzas all have >700 mg of sodium
- Soups
- All Subway Series Sandwiches
- Wraps are all high in sodium content. However, the only wrap that works is the Veggie Delight Wrap with 600 mg sodium.
Other Low Sodium Fast Food Options
Additionally, if you are looking to find other restaurants that have low sodium and kidney-friendly menu items, you may be interested in Fast Foods That Are Safe For Kidney Disease.
- The Renal Warrior Project. Join Now
- Source: https://healthykidneynutrition.com/low-sodium-subway/