Is pizza healthy?

[Arthur]

I frequently discuss this issue with friends - since I'm ALWAYS talking about pizza!

First of all, is pizza healthy for you....now let me define the pizza I'm talking about.

Dough:
- uses KASL flour - hi gluten
- a little yeast, salt, water

Sauce:
- uses only san marzano tomatoes with some fresh basil

Cheese:
- fresh mozz - 8oz on a 15" pie.

I'm curious what others believe and even more curious to hear from a nutritionist.    I'm also interested in hi gluten flour.  Another member mentioned that other flours are heathier than hi gluten.  Why is this?   
Also, I know cheese has lots of cholestrol, but is this what makes pizza "bad for you"?   

[canadianbacon]

I believe it is,

if you don't have a pizza like a deep dish that sits in about 1/4" of oil like Pizza Hut does, and if you keep the the oil under control
in the pizza, and you put good for you toppings on the top, you can make a great healthy pizza.

It's when you start loading it with 5 lbs of pepperoni or any very salty meat where it gets bad.

If you want to keep it healty, then use chicken breast, grilled etc.... ask Qfan, he's an expert on that .

but yes, depending on what you do, it's great.  And...... don't eat 6 slices of it 

[pftaylor]

Arthur,
While I'm not a nutritionist, I do understand the macro-nutrient composition of food. In this case pizza. I have calculated the macro-nutrient composition of the average fresh mozzarella pizza I make to include the following:

Projections are based on the following assumptions; each pie is made with a 12.9oz ball of high gluten KASL, 6oz of mozzarella, 1 T of OO, 3oz of tomato sauce AND (there is always an and isn't there?) you do not eat the rim crust. If you do eat the crust then some adjustments will have to be made. So the nutritional values per finished pftaylor pie are:

110 grams of carbohydrate
62 grams of protein
24 grams of fat
1,037 calories

The reason why so many people say pizza is not good for you comes down to the high caloric intake of eating a whole pie and the wrong kind of fat that the cheese has (saturated). But eaten in moderation, with a few minor adjustments, it can be okay for you.

The dietary plan (note: I did not use the word diet. Dietary plan means life-long plan) I'm on, The Zone, suggests to balance P,C, F in a 30%-40%-30% configuration. Actually, for my dietary plan, high gluten flour is much healthier than any other flour type due to the higher protein level. I am of the opinion that your stomach is politically incorrect when it comes to macro-nutrients and as long as you keep them in a certain range it all adds up to the same end result (not counting the glycemic index of foods).

So for me to enjoy a perfectly balanced pizza experience, I simply eat 3-4 rimless slices and then drink a 2oz protein shake or eat an additional 2oz of cheese.

Guiltless pleasure - I love it.

[snowdy]

man, i wish the crust rim wasnt my favorite part  hehe

[canadianbacon]

Snowdy, the crust is one of my favs also 

The trick to eating right  .... just eat moderate portions, and eat healtier choices. 

Making pizza at home can be very good for you, you make all decisions in what goes into it.

I remember seeing a segment on TV where they tested pizza from a few places in the Toronto area in Canada,
the results were terrible...... pizza made at pizza joints are just terrible in all areas, sodium, fat, etc, when you saw the
results, it really made you think ( yeah for about 2 seconds and then you forgot about it ), but it made you think.  Yeah pizzas
so loaded with fat, that you had enough fat for a week, enough sodium for a month, etc.....


When it goes down to it 99% of pizza places want to give you the best taste, they aren't worried about your
belly or heart.  That's the way it is,  but we as the consumer had the choice of not buying that slice of pizza.

Anyway good topic.  Now to make myself a breakfast pizza, as Jeff on Canada AM does when he visits
people when he goes to different houses ( it's a TV show up here, where the weather guy goes to households across
Canada, and he most always makes a breakfast pizza )

scrambled egg on it, bacon, breakfast saucage, looks darn good 


P.S. - Thank GOD, that dolt that made "SuperSize Me" didn't win for the category for "Best Documentry" at the Academy Awards the other night,  I was so happy to see that they considered real pieces of work, and not this "entertainment" they called a movie, and tried to call
a documentry, what a farce.

[pftaylor]

I trust you'll find the information below useful.

Here are the base nutritional facts for KASL flour when 22.5oz of KASL is mixed with 1 T of OO and about 1 3/4 cup water:
Carbohydrate = 486.86 grams
Protein = 90.6 grams
Fat = 14 grams
Calories = 2,442.32
Yields a dough ball of about 40oz

So to determine what the finished pizza nutritional values would be, you would need to add in the data for all your other ingredients such as cheese, sauce, etc. to whatever ball size you use. I make three pizzas out of the above.

The raw facts for KASL which I recieved directly from the manufacturer are:
The flour has 364 calories per 100g, 0g fat, 14.2g protein, 76.31g carbohydrates, and 2mg sodium.  Milled from 100% Spring Wheat and contains approximately, 19 to 20 cups per bag. Gluten Protein is 14.2%.

Snowdy, I love the crust too - in fact it's my favorite part. But I've learned that by giving up the rim crust, I can have my cake, I mean pie, and eat it too. That's a small price to pay in my book.

One of the things you'll notice about my pies are how small the dough ball is relative to industry standards. I've read where for a 16" size pie the standard dough ball weighs 20+oz. Well, I use a much smaller ball at about 12 - 13oz just to avoid the massive extra amount of carbs which are uneccessary and tend to put visceral fat on my once elite-atheletic type body (LOL).

[snowdy]

i say just dont think about it!!! as long as youre not makin pizza 3 times a week (and if you do only eat a slice at a time)! 

just follow the weekend warrior pizza diet. Eat healthy and dont drink any beer or booze on every single day of the week... except your pizza night. Im pretty pathetic but my entire diet is worked in a way so that on one day of the week  i can give the dough a go!!!!

my typical weekday:
- small boal of multi grain cereal with soy milk
- can of tuna for lunch with cayenne pepper and lemon
- piece of salmon with salad and asparagas for dinner
- and i drink water or green tea all day
that varies day to day by either having chicken instead of fish or something.

my typical friday:
- 6-10 beers
- 1 15 inch pizza with pepperoni, sausage, mozz, onions
- and usually a few slices off the 2nd pizza i make too
- deep fried dough balls in cinnamon and sugar

I have maintained my weight pretty good. My daily diet cant always be 100% healthy of course.... its inevitable that someone in my family invites me to mexican food or something and it all goes out the window, but for the most part this is how i eat.

I just hope that friday night isnt shocking the crap out of my liver and the rest of my body with all those carbs and fat and booze!!!! 
but ohhhhhh how i count down to friday.