Whether for a party or a relaxed dinner with your family, ordering a pizza is a convenient solution that almost everyone can agree on. Although it may have a reputation of being junk food, pizza can be healthy for your heart. Make a few healthy choices when you order to fit pizza into a heart-healthy diet.
Good Choices
The Mayo Clinic states that dietary fiber reduces levels of bad LDL cholesterol in your blood, and you can make a pizza more heart-healthy by ordering a whole-wheat crust, extra tomato sauce and plenty of fiber-rich vegetables, such as green or red peppers, spinach, onions, artichokes, eggplant and broccoli. The Harvard School of Public Health states that the unsaturated fats from olives and anchovies may reduce your risk for heart disease, so those make heart-healthy toppings for a pizza.
Pitfalls
Keep yourself from sabotaging your heart-healthy pizza by being aware of some potential pitfalls when you order. The 2005 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommend limiting your saturated fat and dietary cholesterol to reduce your risk for heart disease, and cheese and fatty meats provide both of these. Order your pizza without extra cheese, and avoid fatty meats such as pepperoni, sausage and bacon. Do not order stuffed crust or high-fat dipping sauces, such as buttery garlic or ranch.
Portion Size
Obesity increases your risk for heart disease, and a heart-healthy pizza meal does not provide an excessive amount of calories. Your portion size is important, so limit the amount of pizza that you eat to one or two small slices. Regardless of what goes on your pizza, restricting your portion size will help keep your calories, fat and sodium in check. If your pizza meal seems small, make it more satisfying by having it with a vegetable salad.
Strategy
Chances are good that you can order a heart-healthy pizza that fits into your diet plan, and the best strategy is to plan for it. Look at your meal plan for the day to see how pizza fits and to decide in advance how much you can have. Also, look at the nutritional information for your pizza and toppings before you order so that you can make the best decisions and know what you are getting. Remember that your pizza should be part of an overall healthy diet, and one meal does not determine whether your diet is heart-healthy.
References
- American Heart Association: Making Fast Food Friendlier
- American Heart Association: Tips for Eating Italian Food
- United States Department of Health And Human Services: Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005
- Mayo Clinic: Dietary Fiber: Essential for a Healthy Diet
- Harvard School of Public Health: The Nutrition Source: Fat And Cholesterol: Out With The Bad, in With The Good
