Pros and Cons of Pizza

If you live in America, you know that eating pizza is as much of a pastime as going to the movies or watching a baseball game. Back in the day, pizza was considered a pleasure food – something you would eat once in a blue moon as a treat. Friday nights would mean pizza and drinks with good friends before going to the drive in. Today, Americans have become so reliant on quick and easy food that pizza is being eaten daily. You might be saying to yourself, what's wrong with that? And that is exactly what this article is about. Don't get me wrong, I love pizza. But there is a difference between making your own pizza and enjoying it once a week, and eating pizza from Domino's or your favorite local oven every day.

Pizza was originated in Greece, as a part of the Mediterranean cuisine. However, this pizza looked a little different than our pizza today. Originally, it was a dough and tomato dish – flat rolled dough, sprinkled with oils, herbs, honey, and tomato, that resembled more of a pita bread with very light toppings. Later, Romans created what was called a placenta, and was a sheet of dough topped with honey, cheese, and bay leaves. In the 16^th century, a Naples flat bread was referred to as pizza, which was considered food for the poor people and sold on the street. This “pizza” was not even allowed to be made in a kitchen at this time, as it was not worthy of a kitchen recipe. During these times, pizza was mostly covered in a tomato sauce with light oil and fish. It wasn't until 1889 when the first cheese was added to pizza, making the first ever Pizza Margherita, a pizza made to represent the colors or the Italian flag.

Think about the history of pizza for a moment. Compare what the Italians and Greeks were eating back then with what Americans are eating now. Then, compare the Italians and Greeks health with the health of Americans now.

Unbelievable. No wonder the Greeks and Romans could fight in battles and Americans can hardly fight a cold. Anyways, lets discuss nutritionally how pizzas compare. I have been browsing the nutritional information of pizzas from American fast food places such as Domino's, Pizza Hut, and Papa Gino's, and have found some interesting facts. As pepperoni pizza is one of America's favorite slices, I decided to compare this pizza from different restaurants based on calories per slice, total fat, grams of saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, and calcium.

One slice of pepperoni pizza:

	Calories per Slice	Total Fat (g)	Saturated Fat (g)	Cholesterol (mg)	Sodium (mg)	Calcium (% DV)
Domino's	300	12.5	5.5	30	700	17
Papa Gino's	280	11	5	30	780	2
Pizza Hut	250	12	4.5	25	530	15
Papa John's	330	15	6	30	830	15
Bertucci's	330	15	5	N/A	560	N/A

Interestingly enough, most of these pizza slices are very similar. I was not able to find the calcium or cholesterol information for Bertucci's pizza, but I can imagine it not being far off from the others. One thing that I thought was very interesting was the low calcium content of Papa Gino's pizza, and still the high fat content. I am guessing this is because of the amount of oil they use and less cheese (or fake cheese), but you never know what they are doing behind the counter. Anyways, these numbers may not mean anything to you, so I can go a little more in depth. All fast food pizza is high in calories, salt, and fat. These are three major concerns for almost all of the health issues in America today. The amount of sodium found in these pizza slices is unbelievable. For one day, healthy Americans should consume no more than 2,300 mg of sodium daily. If you already have diabetes, high blood pressure, or kidney disease, it is recommended to not consume more than 1,500 mg of sodium daily. Papa John's tops the charts with 830 mg of sodium per SLICE. Do you know ANY American who only has one slice of pizza? I don't think so. The regular American consumption of pizza is 3 slices, which would give you a whopping 2,490 mg of sodium...almost 200 mg over what you should be eating for that entire day! High sodium in your diet has been associated with stroke, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, edema, and stomach cancer. It can also make you very dehydrated, lead to muscle cramps and cause dizziness. The high fat content of these pizza slices can contribute to obesity, which itself is a risk factor for cancer and diabetes. In fact, if we keep up our eating habits until 2025, 85% of our population will be considered obese. The saturated fat content can block your blood vessels, leading to stroke or heart disease. In turn, this is increasing your body fat content, which is not pleasant for you, or your girlfriend.

Like I said before, I love pizza. What I have discussed so far is the nutritional information of fast food restaurants the use low quality ingredients to make fast, cheap food for fat Americans to eat on the run. I don't know when it happened, but all of a sudden everyone and their mother is in a rush to get from point A to point B, and nobody sits down for meals anymore. Everyone is so caught up in their everyday lives that they don't stop to think about their health and what they are putting in their mouths. Our generation is lazy and vulgar, and we need to clean up our acts.

Solution? Get off the couch, and make your own pizza! Probably the easiest meal to make...if you weren't so lazy. Think about this...all of the ingredients used to make pizza in a restaurant can be easily substituted with a healthier alternative that has more health benefits and a better taste.

Exhibit A: Whole wheat dough! WOAH!!! You mean refined grains don't have any nutrients?? No. During the grinding process many nutrients from the grain are eliminated because the germ and bran are removed, which contain 90% of the nutritional content of the kernel. All that is left is the endosperm (starch), which is ground up to make your purposeless all-purpose, refined flour. Whole grains keep the WHOLE grain, thus giving you back 90% of the nutrients you would have missed out on if you chose the regular pizza dough. It has been said that farmers actually report bugs DYING when they try to sustain themselves on refined white flour, so remember that next time you eat refined grains! Whole grains are a better option because they contain 90% more vitamins, minerals, fiber, essential fatty acids, antioxidants, and phytochemicals. The nutrients found in whole grains have been shown to play a key role in reducing risk of disease, and should be integrated into everyone's diet.

Exhibit B: Skimmed cheese! If you are making your own pizza, look for a low-fat cheese topping to seriously cut back of total fat and saturated fat intake. By choosing a lower fat cheese product, you can lose a lot of the fat and still get all of the protein and calcium that cheese offers. This is a smart and easy way to make your pizza a healthy meal, and you will cut back on a good amount of calories.

Exhibit C: Vegetables! So this can be a stretch for some people, especially those who are still stuck in their 4 year old body and refuse to eat vegetables. If you like pizza, you like tomatoes, since you are eating a tomato sauce. Try to include whole chunks of tomatoes in the sauce, to increase bulk through produce. Tomatoes are high in lycopenes and also have antioxidant powers which can prevent prostate cancer. Use fresh tomatoes instead of an entirely canned sauce product for more health benefits. You can also add onions, peppers, corn, broccoli, eggplant....pretty much any vegetable you want, and it will be delicious.

Exhibit D: Protein! This is when I scold the people who only eat pepperoni pizza. Yes, pepperoni is delicious, even your dog likes them! But they are mostly fat and bring hardly any nutritional value to the table. Switching to ham is a very close option and can save you a little fat and a handful of calories, but I still wouldn't recommended either one. If you MUST have meat on your pizza because you are so manly and vegetables are only for girls, please choose lean meats like ground turkey or chicken breast, so you can get some good quality protein for a lot less fat. Eliminating the pepperonis will also help reduce your sodium intake, and help your blood pressure stay in a healthy zone and reduce your risk of disease.

Making pizza is very easy, and very fast. Once you have added all of your desired toppings, it takes only 15-ish minutes to cook in the oven. When you order pizza for delivery, it can take up to 45 minutes to be delivered, which may or may not include the time it takes for them to rub their greasy hands all over it. It's still cheap, its still fast, and its HEALTHY.