Domino's Pizza is a chain restaurant offering a wide variety of pizzas, pastas, hot sandwiches, chicken wings and soft drinks for pick-up or delivery. Although in the print at the top of their nutrition information Domino's claims "using the Food Pyramid as guide, Domino's Pizza can be part of a healthy, balanced diet," order carefully, or you could end up with a meal that goes overboard in calories, saturated fat and sodium.
Calories
Calories can really add up at Domino's Pizza. Just one slice of a large Domino's Legends Pacific Veggie Pizza -- the recommended serving size -- has 320 calories. Add a side order of chicken wings, ranch dipping sauce and a 20 oz. Coca-Cola, and the meal adds up to 970 calories. The Italian Sausage Marinara Bread Bowl Pasta totals 730 calories for the recommended serving size of just 1/2 the bowl. Ditch the bread bowl and order the same pasta in a dish, and eat the whole bowl for 670 calories. Domino's lighter options include their regular hand-tossed cheese pizza at 290 calories per slice. One Chicken Bacon Ranch sandwich contains 870 calories -- almost half a day's worth of calories, based on a 2,000-calorie-per-day diet.
Saturated Fat
After a survey voted Domino's one of the top two worst-tasting pizzas, they launched their Legends line, which features more cheese. The new, cheesier pizzas were developed and marketed with the help of Dairy Management, the marketing branch of the USDA, to improve Domino's business and use the surplus of milk fat from the U.S. dairy industry, according to an article by Michael Moss in the Nov. 6, 2010 issue of "the New York Times." At the same time, the USDA is actively involved in efforts aimed at reducing American's consumption of saturated fat. Just two slices of the Legends Wisconsin 6-Cheese Pizza it's helping to promote contain 15 g of saturated fat -- 74 percent of the agency's recommended daily allowance for a 2,000 calorie diet.
Sodium
Too much sodium can be bad for your health. The recommended daily amount for a healthy adult is 2,300 mg, and for adults with high blood pressure the limit is 1,500 mg, according to MedlinePlus. If you're concerned at all about your sodium intake, choose your Domino's Pizza meal wisely to avoid an overload. Just one slice of a large America's Favorite Feast pizza has 980 mg of sodium, or 41 percent of the daily allowance, and one Chicken Bacon Ranch sandwich contains 2,380 mg of sodium -- very close to an entire day's worth.
Refined Carbohydrates
Domino's Pizza only offers crusts and breads made with refined white flour. Highly-processed refined grains have there hull and germ removed, rendering them very low in fiber, vitamins and minerals. Your body converts this refined starch into blood sugar nearly as fast as pure glucose, according to the Harvard School of Public Health, causing a rapid rise in blood sugar. Diets high in refined grains increase your risk for obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Whole grains -- which are absorbed slowly and have much less of an effect of your blood sugar -- are a much healthier choice, but Domino's does not offer whole wheat crust or bread.
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