Americans eat an average of 46 slices of pizza per person each year, according to MayoClinic.com. While pizza can be healthy if you make it the right way, most of the pizza you buy counts as junk food because of the high amount of refined carbohydrates, fat and sodium it contains.
And it isn't healthy. Depending on the type of crust, the amount of cheese and the toppings used, pizza can rank anywhere from nutritionally decent to a diet disaster. Even healthy pizzas deliver a good amount of sodium from tomato sauce and cheese, so if you are watching your salt intake, you should eat with caution.
However, with highly refined dough, heavily processed meat and extremely high calories, pizza is one of the unhealthiest junk food in the world.
If you love pizza and balance a slice weekly with vegetables like a salad, it can certainly be a part of a healthy diet. However, if you start eating three or four slices (or more!) on a regular basis that is where your diet can have health consequences.
Remember that junk foods are okay to eat occasionally, but they should not make up more than 10% of your daily energy intake. In a day, this may be a simple treat such as a small muffin or a few squares of chocolate. On a weekly basis, this might mean no more than two fast-food meals per week.
If you're eating KFC almost every day, your cholesterol levels are likely higher than they should be. However, this leads to high LDL(low-density lipoprotein), a harmful type of cholesterol.
Pizza can help you absorb the antioxidant Lycopene. Lycopene is found in tomatoes, which are used to make the base sauce for pizzas. Lycopene helps to lower blood pressure and bring down high cholesterol. It's also more easily absorbed from cooked tomatoes as opposed to fresh tomatoes.
Although low in total calories, a burger is higher in fat content than pizza slices. Regular intake of food rich in fats can lead to obesity increasing risk of lifestyle diseases such as heart conditions, diabetes and hypertension.
“Choose thin crust versus thick crust or even stuffed crust to help reduce the total calories and sodium,” says Kimberlain. One slice of a small thin-crust pizza with no cheese has 141 calories and 282 mg sodium, according to the USDA.
In general, one to two servings of pizza a week is a reasonable amount. It is important to keep in mind that too much of a good thing can be unhealthy; pizza is typically high in sodium, saturated fat, and Calories.
When made with the right ingredients, pizza is a great part of a clean, healthy diet. Here are 15 of our favorite pies—plenty of toppings, without a single ounce of guilt.
While chicken is an obvious Men's Health staple, KFC's reliance on greasy oils and subsequent sky-high calorific content makes Maccy's an unlikely victor. The more varied menu and healthy options, as well as classic, gut-busting fare, make it the ideal spot to play fast and loose with your nutrition plan.
McDonald's promote their food as 'nutritious', but the reality is that it is processed junk food - high in fat, sugar and salt, and low in fibre and vitamins. A diet of this type is linked with a greater risk of heart disease, cancer,diabetes and other diseases.
Most international foods are not exempt from the junk food category: Chinese food (high in sugar, starch and or flour), sushi (white rice with added sugar), sweetened teriyaki foods, deep fried fish and chips, and others.
How often can I eat junk food? Junk foods are not required as part of any diet. If you are a healthy weight, try to eat junk foods occasionally and in small amounts. If you are trying to lose weight, you will be more successful if you limit junk food.
A review of studies on fast food and heart health found having fast food more than once a week was linked to a higher risk of obesity, while eating fast food more than twice a week was associated with a higher risk of metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes and death from coronary heart disease.
Although it may be beneficial to eat junk food once a week, make sure that you eat just one such meal throughout the day, or your body might end up stocking all those calories which may end up getting stored as fat.
If you have two slices, it's not going to derail your progress, but swapping out one slice for a salad or other veggies could help stay satisfied longer — and save you extra fat and calories.
Serotonin is produced from carbs
You'll be shocked to know that the carb-fest that is pizza actually fills you with serotonin. This is partially because when you're craving pizza and that craving is satisfied, your brain produces serotonin. This is also because carbs are used heavily to make serotonin.