Though often vilified as junk food, pizza can actually be a complete, healthy meal. Pizza includes all of the major food groups when loaded with the right toppings. Build your next pizza with the food groups in mind.
Crusty Grains
The foundation of pizza is the crust. Whether thick or thin, the crust provides the grain group to the meal. Crust is made up of primarily flour along with a little water, yeast, sugar, and salt. Products made primarily of flour, such as bread and pasta, fall into the grains category. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Guide Pyramid recommends eating at least 3 oz. of grain foods each day.
For a healthier crust, try going whole grain. Many restaurant pizzas offer a whole grain option. For examples, California Pizza Kitchen makes all of their pizzas available on their whole grain crust. Or homemade pizza can easily substitute in whole grain flour to pump up the fiber content. The Pyramid also recommends making at least of half the grain foods in the diet a whole grain because of the extra fiber the whole grain adds.
Veggies and Fruit
Tons of different veggies make great pizza toppings. Adding items like bell peppers, mushrooms, and onions can add up to a full vegetable serving, which is equal to 1/2 cup. The American Dietetics Association recommends eating at least five servings of fruits and veggies each day. Extra veggies on pizza also brings extra vitamins and minerals to the meal. For example, 1 tbsp. of green bell pepper over two slices of pizza adds about 10 percent of the Recommended Daily Allowance for vitamin C.
Many people don't know tomatoes are actually a fruit. The tomato sauce adds great flavor as well as a high amount of the antioxidant lycopene. One cup of tomato sauce has over 34,000 micrograms of lycopene. This is eight times more lycopene than raw tomato, since cooking tomatoes actually increases the availability of this antioxidant.
Cheeses
The dairy group is covered, literally, on pizza with the cheese.Typically mozzarella makes up the main pizza cheese. Mozzarella actually contains less fat than many hard cheeses, adding a healthier source of protein and calcium to the meal. One ounce of mozzarella has 7 g of fat, compared to cheddar which has 9.5 g of fat. For homemade pizza use a part-skim mozzarella cheese to reduce fat more, since it has 5.5 g of fat per ounce. Other cheese types like cheddar and Parmesan can be added in smaller amounts for extra flavor. The ADA recommends eating three dairy servings each day.
Meats
Meat is the final food group topping this pizza meal. The Pyramid recommends that most of your meat selections should be lean ones. Use high fat favorites, like pepperoni and sausage, in small amounts. Their big flavor goes a long way. Get creative with leaner meat options such as cooked chicken, Canadian bacon or shrimp. Leaner options will also be higher in protein. For example, 1 oz. of pepperoni has 6 g of protein while the same amount of chicken breast provides almost 9 g of protein. While there are no specific meat serving recommendations, include a variety of protein-rich foods each day to meet your protein needs.
References
- "American Dietetic Association's Complete Food & Nutrition Guide", Roberta Larson Duyff, 2006
- USDA's Food Guide Pyramid
- USDA's National Nutrient Database
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