• Calories: Whether you want to lose weight with a calorie deficit or maintain your weight with a constant calorie intake, the number of calories in a fast food sandwich can vary greatly depending on the size and ingredients.
• Protein: Protein has been shown to reduce both body weight and fat mass, so even if you’re heading to the drive-thru, a protein-rich sandwich can help you feel full while reaching your health goals.
• Trans fats: Trans fats are not an essential food, but they are often found in processed foods. Trans fats can lead to weight gain and increase the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
• Net carbohydrates: Limiting refined carbohydrates, as in the Mediterranean diet, can help you lose weight, but the effect of carbohydrates is reduced by foods that contain fiber; subtracting the amount of fiber from the total amount of carbohydrates gives you net carbs.

Key findings

• The healthiest fast food sandwich is the Sourdough Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich from Jack in the Box.
• The unhealthiest sandwich is Burger King’s Big Fish, mainly because of its relatively low protein and high carbohydrate content.
• Firehouse Subs and Chick-fil-A each have three of the top 10 healthiest sandwiches.
• Four sandwiches from Burger King are on the list of the unhealthiest sandwiches.
• The healthiest sandwiches included chicken or turkey sandwiches instead of burgers, which provided a good source of protein without too many calories and could thus help with weight loss.
• Grilled chicken sandwiches were more likely to appear on the list of healthy foods, while fried chicken dishes were more likely to appear on the list of unhealthy foods.

This is what the complete lists look like.

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The 10 healthiest fast food sandwiches

1. Grilled chicken and sourdough club sandwich (Jack-in-the-box)
2. New York Steamer Sandwich (Firefighter submarines)
3. Cajun Chicken Sandwich (Firefighter submarines)
4. Deluxe Sandwich (Chick-fil-A)
5. Asiago Ranch Classic Chicken Club (Wendy’s)
6. Chick-fil-A Sandwich (Chick-fil-A)
7. Hero Sandwich (Firefighter submarines)
8. Grilled chicken sandwich (Chick-fil-A)
9. Classic chicken sandwich (KFC)
10. Engineer Sandwich (Firefighter submarines)

The 10 unhealthiest fast food sandwiches

1. Large fish sandwich (BurgerKing)
2. Classic Smashed Jack (Jack-in-the-box)
3. Original chicken sandwich (BurgerKing)
4. Classic Chicken Sandwich (Popeye’s)
5. Crispy grilled cheese on sourdough (coffee machine)
6. Chicken Jr. Sandwich (BurgerKing)
7. Meatball Marinara (subway)
8. Big Mac (MC Donalds)
9. Whopper sandwich with cheese (BurgerKing)
10. Jumbo Jack Cheeseburger (Jack-in-the-box)

The healthiest fast food options by city

We also looked at the cities in the U.S. where it’s easiest to choose a quick and relatively healthy fast food option. To find out, we looked at the 50 most populous American metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) and calculated the number of fast food chains per 100,000 residents. The more healthy options available, the more likely you are to choose them when you need a convenient meal or snack.

Here’s what we found out.

• Jacksonville, Florida, And Raleigh, North Carolina, have the highest concentration of Firehouse Subs locations (where you can find four of the healthiest sandwich options).
• Birmingham, Alabama, And San Antonio, Texas, took the top two spots for the highest concentration of Chick-fil-A locations. (Chick-fil-A came in just behind Firehouse Subs, with three of the top 10 healthiest sandwiches).
• Las Vegashad the highest concentration of Burger King outlets (four of the unhealthiest options came from Burger King).

Methodology: How the ratings were calculated

To calculate the best and worst fast food sandwich options, we looked at the top 10 restaurants that offer sandwiches, ranked by the top-grossing chains in the U.S.: Starbucks, KFC, Burger King, McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A, Subway, Wendy’s, Popeyes, Jack in the Box and Firehouse Subs.

From there, we rated all the sandwich and burger options at each restaurant.

From there, we determined the nutritional information for each menu item in each of the following categories:

• protein
• Calories
• Trans fat
• Net carbohydrates

The healthiest sandwiches were high in protein and low in calories, trans fat and net carbs. Protein was weighted with a 3x multiplier while trans fat was weighted with a 2x multiplier. We then calculated the average of each sandwich to determine the final ranking.

Get the data.

Tips for healthy eating in fast food restaurants

Before you start ordering, consider these three strategies to optimize healthy decision making when you go to a fast food restaurant to buy a sandwich.

• Focus on proteins. Studies have shown that high-protein foods keep you fuller longer and even help you lose weight. However, it’s important to keep your protein and calorie intake in balance. For example, the highest-protein fast food sandwich is Wendy’s Big Bacon Classic Triple Burger – but at 1,220 calories and 4.5 grams of trans fat, it’s anything but healthy.
• Watch out for trans fats. The use of trans fats is decreasing because they have no nutritional value and are also bad for your health. In fact, 56 out of 106 of the sandwiches we examined contained no trans fats at all, so you have plenty of options to avoid them.
• Replace water with lemonade. Drinking water regularly can help you lose weight because it boosts your metabolism and burns fat. While it may be tempting to order a soda from the vending machine every time you go to the drive-thru, regularly drinking sugary drinks can hinder your weight loss goals.

Make smart food choices everywhere

Eating a healthy diet overall doesn’t mean you can never eat at your favorite fast food restaurant again – everything in moderation! Knowing which dishes are likely to fill you up while also fueling your body can help you make healthier choices that you feel good about.

Contacting a doctor can help you understand your body’s needs and incorporate lasting behavioral changes into your daily routine.

This story was produced by Her and reviewed and distributed by Stacker Media.