1. Learning New Dietary Habits
Pizza is one of those foods that can either be a healthy treat or violate all of your dietary guidelines. If you're buying pizza from one of the popular fast food chains, you're probably exceeding your daily allotments for fat, saturated fat, sodium and calories. A typical medium-sized pizza contains over 65 percent of your total fat allowance, 116 percent of your allowance for saturated fat and 70 percent of your daily allotment for sodium. But it doesn't have to be that way. For instance, the next time you order a pizza, request that they cut down the amounts of cheese, sausage and pepperoni and replace them with extra vegetables like broccoli, mushrooms, onions and peppers. By special ordering pizza, you can have your pie and eat it too.
2. All Pizzas are not Born the Same
Naturally, the type of pizza you order will determine how well it fits into your diet. Smaller, thin crust pizzas that feature more vegetables and low-fat cheeses are healthier alternatives to extra large pizzas with cheese-stuffed, deep dish crusts that are loaded down with extra cheese, sausage and pepperoni. Another solution is to make your pizza at home using commercially prepared crusts. By making your own creations in the kitchen, you are in control of what you're eating on your pizza. Try adding things to your pizza that are out of the mainstream like seafood, grilled chicken, dried bean or lentils. Almost anything goes.
3. How Pizza Fits In with Your Daily Nutritional Requirements
For many people, pizza isn't pizza unless it's loaded down with cheese, sausage and pepperoni. But keep in mind that choosing high calorie, high fat toppings can exceed your entire day's allotment for saturated fat, calories, fat and sodium. If you're on a heart-healthy diet, there's no need to completely eliminate pizza from the dinner table. You'll just have to make better choices for toppings and ask for specially ordered pizzas. Avoid falling prey to the advertised "specials" as most of them are laden with extra calories and fat. If you find that you can't get the type of pizzas you want from your take-out store, consider buying the "pizza kits" that are available in the freezer section of your supermarket and build your own.
4. There Are New, Healthier Types of Pizzas
In many ways, pizza has gotten a bad rap when it comes to healthy food alternatives. Granted, the type of pizza that you buy from fast food restaurants is probably loaded with saturated fat, calories and sodium, but you might be surprised to learn that there is a pizza available that is actually good for you! An Indiana man has invented a new type of thick crust pizza dough that is injected with plant sterols, the same types that have been proven to reduce your risk for heart disease. According to the Food and Drug Administration, eating at least 1.3 grams of plant sterols in addition to adhering to a diet that is low in saturated fat and cholesterol can significantly reduce your risk for heart disease.
5. Pizza for Breakfast
If you're looking for ways to lose weight and make better menu choices, try thinking outside of the box--the pizza box, that is. By coming up with your own unique recipes for imaginative pizzas, you'll find that you don't have to eliminate all of your favorite foods from your diet. For instance, how about pizza for breakfast? We're not talking about the double-pepperoni, extra cheese pizza that's left over from last night, but rather something that you invent in your own kitchen. Try taking some of the ingredients you would normally use in a breakfast omelet and add them to thin-crust, whole wheat pizza dough. The possibilities are endless and only limited by your imagination.
