I love Panera! Even though I rarely get bagels or sweets there any more, I love their salads and appreciate the fact that they provide some nutrition info right up front. The calories are listed right on the menu. Pretty bold!
However, I don't believe that counting calories is all that useful. (Here's why, at least partially.) So I went to Panera's website and downloaded the nutrition info and did a little spreadsheet work. If you're focusing on controlling diabetes and/or eating low carb (South Beach, etc.), a useful thing to consider is the protein to carb ratio. That is, are there more protein than carbs, and in what proportion?
Based on my personal study into food's effect on insulin and blood sugar, my approach to healthy eating is to try to keep an approximate balance between carbs and protein. More protein than carbs is okay; more carbs than protein is not. So in my protein-to-carbs (P-to-C) approach, I'm looking for a ration that 1 or higher.
Here's an example: If your "protein bar" has 10 grams of protein, but 30 grams of carbs, it has a P-to-C ratio of 0.33 -- not good! However, a spoonful of sugar-free peanut butter has 8 grams of protein and 6 grams of carbs; a ratio of 1.25 -- much better!
I looked at all of Panera's whole salads, including the dressing. Here are their four lowest-carb salads, with their respective ratios.
ALL of the other salads on their menu are below 1.0.
Of course, there's more to healthy eating than carbs and protein, but as I said, if you're looking to control your blood sugar (glucose) or trying to lose weight by watching carbs, these are some important numbers to know.
I am not employed by or affiliated with Panera Bread, and this is not a sponsored post. I am not a medical or nutrition expert; just someone who cares about my health enough to dig for the facts.
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