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Pizza can be good for you

Posted on Sep 11th 2007 8:52AM by Lauren Greschner

Filed Under: Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements

I love pizza. It's actually one of my favorite foods, not only because it tastes great but also because it is so versatile. You can try different sauces (tomato, Alfredo, pesto), different cheeses (mozza, feta or even no cheese at all) and more topping combinations than I can possibly list.

Since I'm such a fan, it irritates me when people assume that pizza must be unhealthy. While it's true that fast food pizza is greasy, overly-cheesy, covered in processed meats and high in calories and fat, it's still possible to make a delicious and healthy pizza. Many restaurants offer nutritious pizza options as well.

If you're jonesing for a slice but want to keep it healthy, consider the advice listed here. Try to choose wholewheat or multigrain crust, stick with a reasonable amount of calcium-rich cheese (rather than ordering double), load up on veggies and even fruit (pineapple and banana peppers is a personal favorite because of the mix of hot and sweet flavors) and choose lean meats like ham or chicken over processed stuff like pepperoni and salami. If you choose these nutritious options, you can actually feel good about scarfing a slice.

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Tags: avoid, cheese, crust, fruit, healthy, lean, meat, multigrain, nutritious, options, pizza, processes, slice, vegetables, veggies, whole-wheat

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

kris 9-11-2007 @ 1:42PM

To satisfy my deep seeded cravings for all things cheesy... I use a 100% whole wheat crust made by Boboli, that i buy at my local grocery store, add some nonfat ricotta and mozzarella... some turkey pepperoni... veggies and "poof"... just like that I made a tasty healthy dinner...

bigbo806 9-13-2007 @ 9:45AM

If you want health eat something else. Pizza has alot of thing's on it you shouldn't have . But you can't live forever anyways . So eat while you can. Eat grass or gravel sure they are low cal. Everything you eat can be bad . So go eat a big Pepperoni Pizza right now.

eric6161 9-12-2007 @ 11:13PM

I eat pizza all the time BUT I make it from scratch so I can control how many calories I'm going to take in. The plus side of pizza made from scratch is... easy to make, tastes totally great, is a fully balanced meal, and a snack is quick and easy.
The downside to pizza... people eat too much of it when the buy it or have it delivered. Restaurants add way to much oil 'cause it just makes it taste good.
I think I'm making pizza tonight... mmmmm

Sarah 9-13-2007 @ 9:44PM

I worked at a pizza place, you can guess which, it's "America's favorite" . . . and I had to find a way to eat the wonderful stuff without subjecting myself to what i knew to be hideously processed and fatty - - so here it was: Thin crust, always, no sauce, light cheese, with onion green peppers and pineapple. Delightful! the lack of the acidic and highly processed sauce allows the veggies and fruit (the only unprocessed 'stuff' in the whole store) to play off eachother on the mild tasting mozzo. Another favorite, is banana peppers and black olives, though olives are awfully fatty, for what they are. At any rate, mixing up untraditional toppings often got me into interesting conversations with my cooks, and it also gave me a ton of options to report to my customers at the table. Healthy options are always welcomed by weight-conscious patrons.

Phillip 9-14-2007 @ 11:09AM

When I was at school I was told that a hamburger was a healthy meal because it contained elements from all food groups. Now I hear Pizza is healthy, for the same reasons, and I'm not convinced - and for the same reasons.

The reason is simple - portion size. Sure a burger has vegetables (lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber (pickled)), but they're a garnish. Decoration. You get a meal's worth of meat, now try piling a meal's worth of lettuce onto the bun and see if you can get your mouth around it. Now try adding the rest.

Same for Pizza. You''re starting with a lot of bread and using cheese and sauce to glue on a variety of toppings. It tastes pretty good but try making a pizza with with a full meal's worth of veggies alone on the standard 2 slices. Now see if you can pick it up.

Now don't get me wrong. I like pizza, I like a hamburger, and I don't think either is going to do me any great harm - occasionally. A diet is the sum total of what you eat (I do not mean the desperate attempt to lose weight by controlled starvation), and IF other meals redress the balance then all is well.

You can reduce the nutritional impact, but don't try to tell me pizza is 'healthy.'