Healthy Fast Food Guide | Jimmy Johns | Detailed

4 min readJul 31, 2019

Overview

Generally, Jimmy Johns sandwiches are uniform throughout the menu aside from the meat on each sandwich. Thus, we’ll be focusing on ensuring our sandwiches have the most nutritious toppings and the leanest protein source.

The strategy will be to exclude the bread while including healthy carbohydrates from veggies, as well as ordering a side of Thinny Chips to ensure that you are filled up from the meal for a sustained period of time.

Recommendations

#12 The Beach Club Unwich

Turkey Breast — this is one of the leanest protein sources you can choose, however since it’s deli meat, there’s a lot of sodium. This is one downside of the turkey option, but this will be an issue with any of the meat chosen for your sandwich because they’re all deli meats.

Consider doubling up on meat if you need more protein for the day, but keep in mind that your sodium intake will go up as well.

Provolone — I would highly recommend removing this from your sandwich since it will reduce the saturated fat and sodium intake. You’re trading off calcium and protein for the reduction in saturated fat and sodium, so this should be a net positive exchange

Avocado Spread — this includes avocado, onion, garlic, tomato, fresh lemon or lime juice, and chilis

Unwich — choosing this option will replace your bread, which doesn’t have much nutrition and serves as empty calories, with a lettuce wrap that has nutritional benefits and cuts down your carbohydrate intake significantly

We’ll be replacing this french bread, a source of empty calories, with something else that will serve you better both nutritionally and for keeping you full for longer.

Add-ons — when you are ordering your Unwich, you can add additional toppings… this is where we’re going to get a lot of our nutrition:

Avocado Spread Xtra — more good fats from avocado, as well as a small number of additional vegetables
Cucumbers Xtra — anti-inflammatory, keeps you hydrated and helps skin
Onions Xtra — lots of nutrients, antioxidants, and improves heart health
Oregano-Basil Xtra — anti-inflammatory, lots of antioxidants, and fights aging
Sprouts Xtra — improves digestion, prevents anemia (iron deficiency), and boosts metabolism
Tomatoes Xtra — improves heart health, fights cancer, and improves skin health

Optional Add-ons:

These toppings have trade-offs so it’s up to you whether or not to include them based on your nutrition for that day (i.e. if your sodium is high, you may want to exclude any optional add-ons with high sodium content):

Sliced Pickles Xtra — lots of nutrients, antioxidants, and improves digestion. If your sodium intake is high for the day, you can exclude this.
Jimmy Peppers — helps digestive tract, mitigates migraines, and relieves joint pain. If your sodium intake is high for the day, you can exclude this.

Thinny Chips

This is the secret weapon to making sure you stay full for longer. The ingredients are simple (potatoes, peanut oil, and salt), but it’s quite impactful. I’ll typically save this for an hour or two after eating the unwich so that just as I’m getting hungry, I can fill myself back up.

Potatoes — anti-inflammatory, improves blood pressure and strengthens bone health
Peanut Oil — controls cholesterol levels, boosts heart health, and lowers blood pressure
Salt — important for digestion, preventing iodine deficiency, and helps improve contraction and movement of muscles; in general, sodium is good in moderation