The sandwich is the perfect lunch on the go, but it is not always easy to find a place for it in a balanced diet.
Anne Le Gall, well-being and health journalist, gives you her advice on how to choose your sandwich.
Sometimes it's hard to take the time to cook or find a healthy meal for lunch.
Anne Le Gall, well-being and health journalist, explains on Europe 1 how to choose a balanced sandwich, if you have to have lunch on the go.
Beware of industrial products
First advice: it is better to avoid the triangle sandwich, made with white sandwich bread, or the four-cheese panini every day.
"It will make you fat," warns Anne Le Gall, relying on the expertise of Doctor Catherine Lacrosnière, nutritionist in Paris and author of the Large book of anti-inflammatory food, at Leducq.
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It is therefore better to favor a homemade ham and butter sandwich.
So that it can be both daily and dietetic, the sandwich must not be industrial and be made, if possible, "of brown bread with cereals or traditional baguette", adds Anne Le Gall.
"Be careful, there must be a sufficient quantity of ham, salmon, protein".
This will allow you to feed you enough, without the calorie additions of industrial products, such as fat or carbohydrates.
Nutritionist Catherine Lacrosnière recalls that the quantity of ham varies from 15 to 35% in a purchased sandwich.
Even if you prefer to choose a salad for your lunch, pay close attention to what comes with it.
"The sauce can quadruple the caloric weight of the salad," warns Anne Le Gall.
To avoid increasing the caloric addition, the ideal is to take the sauce aside or to add only half.
Can we eat a sandwich every day?
Can the sandwich, if it is balanced, can it be your meal every day of the week?
There is no contraindication, indicates Anne Le Gall.
"A monotonous meal is not a problem if this meal is balanced. Two British studies show that 20 to 30% of Britons eat lunch with a lunch box and therefore eat exactly the same thing every day", continues the journalist.
On the other hand, it is always better to have lunch taking your time.
The lunch break should last at least 20 minutes.
"Ideally, each bite should be chewed ten times because it is the active jaws that allow satiety to be achieved", specifies Anne le Gall.
"It's the act of chewing that releases histamine, the satiety hormone."
The ideal is therefore to have lunch accompanied in order to take the time to discuss.
According to a study, a person who eats quietly while talking is full more quickly.
Thus, she consumes on average 90 calories less than her neighbor who eats fast, "it is the equivalent of a banana or an egg", concludes Anne Le Gall.