Nestle's Lean Cuisine foods are reduced calorie and low fat frozen meals. Lean Cuisine meals are ready to eat after you microwave them, and products include meat, seafood and pasta entrees, panini sandwiches and pizzas. Lean Cuisine Four Cheese Pizza has mozzarella, asiago, parmesan and romano cheese, and you might consider its nutrition facts if you want to have pizza while on a diet.
Background
The serving size for the Lean Cuisine Four Cheese Pizza is the entire 6 oz. pizza. It has 360 calories, 6 g fat and 2 g each of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. It is free from trans fats. The pizza has 51 g carbohydrates, 3 g dietary fiber, 6 g sugars and 20 g protein. LeanCuisine.com states that the pizza has about seven points on the Weight Watchers diet program, but that this is an estimate because the points system is proprietary to Weight Watchers.
Sodium
Diets low in potassium and high in sodium may lead to high blood pressure and increase the risk for coronary heart disease or stroke. Recommendations in the 2005 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are to increase potassium from fresh fruits and vegetables and decrease sodium. Processed and prepared foods provide the majority of the sodium in Americans' diets. The Four Cheese Pizza has 650 mg sodium, or 27 percent of the daily value for a healthy adult on a 2,000-calorie diet. It has 260 mg potassium, or 7 percent of the daily value.
Calcium and Iron
Calcium is an essential mineral for building and maintaining strong bones, but many Americans may not get enough. The 2005 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services lists low fat dairy products as healthy sources of calcium. Lean Cuisine Four Cheese Pizza has reduced fat mozzarella cheese and 30 percent of the daily value for calcium. The pizza has 15 percent of the daily value for iron, a mineral that is necessary for avoiding iron deficiency anemia.
Vitamins
You should eat plenty of whole grains for their dietary fiber and potential to lower the risk for heart disease, but the 2005 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services state that enriched refined grains can also be part of a healthy diet. The Lean Cuisine Four Cheese Pizza has refined wheat flour with the vitamins niacin, thiamin, riboflavin and folic acid. The pizza also has 8 percent of the daily value for vitamins A and C.
Vegetable Additions
According to MayoClinic.com, energy density is the number of calories in a certain amount of food, and low energy dense foods can help you lose weight by decreasing your hunger while you eat fewer calories. Most fresh vegetables are low in calories but filling, and you can try adding vegetables as toppings for your Four Cheese Pizza to lower the energy density by adding weight and volume but few calories. This can also increase the vitamin and fiber content of your meal.
Member Comments