Bagel or croissant: which is healthier?
Full comparison · Protein · Calories · Carbs · Healthier
Neither food is healthier in every way. Per 3.5 oz (100 g), here is where bagel and croissant differ against FDA Daily Values, so you can choose for what you need more or less of.
Bagel
- More of: calcium (17% vs 3% DV), iron (20% vs 11% DV), magnesium (7% vs 4% DV).
Croissant
- More of: vitamin a (23% vs 0% DV), vitamin b12 (7% vs 0% DV), fiber (9% vs 6% DV).
- Also more of what the FDA treats as nutrients to limit: saturated fat (58% vs 2% DV), cholesterol (22% vs 0% DV).
Beyond the nutrient table
Health effects depend on more than composition: how much you eat, what it replaces, and the studies on each food. These pages grade that evidence:
What the numbers don't tell you
Most people asking this want the lighter breakfast. Weight for weight, the butter croissant is richer: 406 calories per 3.5 oz (100 g) against 264 for a plain bagel. The gap is fat, 21 g against 1.3 g, 11.7 g of it saturated. But a USDA bagel weighs 3.5 oz (99 g), about 261 calories, and the USDA croissant portion is 1 oz (28 g), about 114. One bagel equals about 2.3 oz (64 g) of croissant. Portion size decides more than the pick.
In a trial of 21 men, people were hungrier 3 hours after a bagel breakfast than after an egg breakfast of the same energy. In 34 adults, study-made croissants with a fat substitute, at about half the energy, did not change how much people ate later. That was one lab test.
If croissants sit heavily on you, the dough may matter. In 17 healthy adults, two sourdough croissants left an 11% smaller stomach volume over 3 hours and 30% less breath hydrogen over 4 hours than two made with brewer's yeast, after one meal.
One bagel carries about 418 mg of sodium, close to a fifth of the 2,300 mg daily limit for adults, against about 108 mg in 1 oz (28 g) of croissant. With kidney disease, your limit may be lower and is set by your clinician.
Evidence behind this note
- Level B After a bagel breakfast, 21 men were hungrier at 3 hours and ate more over the following 24 hours than after an isoenergetic egg breakfast, with higher glucose, insulin and ghrelin areas under the curve. Nutr Res, 2010
- Level B Croissants of 1.80 MJ made with a fat substitute and ordinary croissants of 3.45 MJ left the same energy intake afterward in 34 normal-weight adults, so the lighter croissant bought no saving across the day. Physiol Behav, 1995
- Level B Two sourdough croissants emptied from the stomach faster and produced 30 percent less breath hydrogen than two brewer's yeast croissants, and postprandial symptoms were 36 percent milder over 4 hours. J Nutr, 2018
- Level E NIH's kidney institute restates the US Dietary Guidelines limit of no more than 2,300 mg of sodium a day for adults. It says many people with chronic kidney disease need to limit sodium even more, with the limit set by their health care professional. NIDDK (NIH), Eating Right for Chronic Kidney Disease
Written from the studies and agency guidance we hold for both foods, reviewed by the Bioma editorial system. How we verify.
Keep exploring
Read more about these foods
- Bagels: mostly studied as the thing something else was compared against
- Croissants: the ones in the studies were not the ones in the bakery
Rankings and guides
Where the numbers come from
- Bagel: USDA FoodData Central, Bagels, plain, enriched, with calcium propionate (includes onion, poppy, sesame), FDC ID 174899 · full profile · all forms of bagel
- Croissant: USDA FoodData Central, Croissants, butter, FDC ID 174987 · all forms of croissant
Each food is one USDA entry, chosen as it is usually eaten. Other cuts, brands and preparations differ; the links show them. % DV uses FDA Daily Values for adults. How we verify.