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Pizza Is a Healthier Breakfast Than Most Cereals

saintor1
saintor1 Posts: 376 Member
Just in time for the Superbowl.

http://citnutritionally.com/pizza-healthier-breakfast-option-cereal/
https://www.thedailymeal.com/healthy-eating/pizza-healthier-breakfast-cereal
“You may be surprised to find out that an average slice of pizza and a bowl of cereal with whole milk contain nearly the same amount of calories,” explained Chelsey Amer, MS, RDN, CDN to The Daily Meal. “However, pizza packs a much larger protein punch, which will keep you full and boost satiety throughout the morning.”

She mentioned that pizza isn’t a health food per say; it’s certainly not your most nutritious option. But when compared with a quickly poured bowl of sugar flakes, it’s a more balanced meal.

“Plus, a slice of pizza contains more fat and much less sugar than most cold cereals, so you will not experience a quick sugar crash,” Amer confirmed.

As reported, most people eating cereals are using more than twice the normal serving.
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Replies

  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,185 Member
    I read the article this week but I don't eat cereal too often (maybe two or three times a month) and when I do, I weigh the amount. I eat a couple of pizza slices maybe twice a year; no left overs in the house ever, and not the kind of food I would eat for breakfast anyway.

    I am sure that pizza lovers will be very happy with this information. My kids used to love left over cold pizza for breakfast when they were young.

  • Just_Jon
    Just_Jon Posts: 108 Member
    Yes, pizza is probably better than Cap'n Crunch. No surprises there.
  • ladyreva78
    ladyreva78 Posts: 4,080 Member
    Pizza isn't a specific food. It can be as varied as one's imagination.

    I'd totally eat pizza for breakfast.

    I love eating cold, left over pizza for breakfast.

    Perfect on the go food for me when I have to leave the house at 6h in the morning and don't reach my destination until 8h... So yeah... convenient.

    My current favorite is loads of veggies with feta. Comparing macros of that with cereals is... well... a bit unfair for those poor cereals. But, then again, when I have cereals, it tends to be the crunch factor in a Greek yogurt. This means that a single serving is more than enough for me and gives me a yummy 200kcal breakfast (which then requires are pumpkin seed roll at 10h or I starve by lunch :tongue: )

  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,578 Member
    I have always thought of pizza is a good choice for food.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited February 2018
    I love leftover pizza for breakfast, and I hate cold cereal and don't understand why anyone likes it (I know it's weird and I'm still bitter about having it forced on me too often as a kid -- not at home, but whenever staying at someone else's house so I had to choke it down with a smile to be polite). I love steel cut oats, though; I think it's a texture thing and that I only like oats warm.

    Since we are suppose to be careful about only putting debate topics here, I am curious how this is a debate.

    On the health thing, depends on the pizza, depends on the cereal, I suppose. Also on what fills you up, how many calories you want, and what you eat the rest of the day.
  • saintor1
    saintor1 Posts: 376 Member
    edited February 2018
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    Correct the title to say some pizzas are healthier than some cereals.

    "average slice of pizza" as most, not some as only a few.

  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    I had to laugh at this thread because when we go to the little town in southern Italy (Puglia zone) where my husband's parents were born, his brother and cousins always order durum grain pizza from the local bakery in the evening and then eat it for breakfast the next morning. I always thought it was strange--not a breakfast food. Now you've all changed my way of thinking about it--next time, I think I'll join them.
  • ShelbyLynnMFP
    ShelbyLynnMFP Posts: 10 Member
    That’s cool. I greatly prefer pizza to cereal- I like slice real but it’s so devoid of nutrients and substance that I can eat an entire box without feeling full.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    IDK what is meant by a "normal serving" of cereal, but both cereal and pizza can be part of a healthy diet. Eat what you prefer.
  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,578 Member
    IDK what is meant by a "normal serving" of cereal, but both cereal and pizza can be part of a healthy diet. Eat what you prefer.

    Yeah my idea of a normal serving of cereal and the package interpretation of a normal serving are wayyyy different. Just like pasta. Lol.

    My guess is a slice of pizza from a typical 16 inch pie will be more filling than a 3/4 cup / 30g serving of cereal...
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    wizzybeth wrote: »
    IDK what is meant by a "normal serving" of cereal, but both cereal and pizza can be part of a healthy diet. Eat what you prefer.

    Yeah my idea of a normal serving of cereal and the package interpretation of a normal serving are wayyyy different. Just like pasta. Lol.

    My guess is a slice of pizza from a typical 16 inch pie will be more filling than a 3/4 cup / 30g serving of cereal...

    Serving sizes on the package have little to do with what would be considered a normal serving. It's just whatever fits the number of fat, calories, fiber, etc. that the marketing department decides will look good on a label.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    wizzybeth wrote: »
    IDK what is meant by a "normal serving" of cereal, but both cereal and pizza can be part of a healthy diet. Eat what you prefer.

    Yeah my idea of a normal serving of cereal and the package interpretation of a normal serving are wayyyy different. Just like pasta. Lol.

    My guess is a slice of pizza from a typical 16 inch pie will be more filling than a 3/4 cup / 30g serving of cereal...

    Serving sizes on the package have little to do with what would be considered a normal serving. It's just whatever fits the number of fat, calories, fiber, etc. that the marketing department decides will look good on a label.

    Not in the US. In the US, serving size is determined by the average reported intake of certain types of foods. What they suffer from is the tendency of people to underestimate their serving sizes so they're not very accurate.

    Serving sizes aren't determined by marketing departments, although they certainly can confuse things by putting pictures of very large servings on the front of a package (leading us to think that a huge bowl of cereal is the suggested serving size even when the label says something like 1/2 a cup).

  • fionawilliamson
    fionawilliamson Posts: 110 Member
    pizza is the perfect food, breakfast, lunch or dinner :)
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    pizza is the perfect food, breakfast, lunch or dinner :)

    amen.
  • DX2JX2
    DX2JX2 Posts: 1,921 Member
    edited February 2018
    wizzybeth wrote: »
    IDK what is meant by a "normal serving" of cereal, but both cereal and pizza can be part of a healthy diet. Eat what you prefer.

    Yeah my idea of a normal serving of cereal and the package interpretation of a normal serving are wayyyy different. Just like pasta. Lol.

    My guess is a slice of pizza from a typical 16 inch pie will be more filling than a 3/4 cup / 30g serving of cereal...

    Serving sizes on the package have little to do with what would be considered a normal serving. It's just whatever fits the number of fat, calories, fiber, etc. that the marketing department decides will look good on a label.

    Not in the US. In the US, serving size is determined by the average reported intake of certain types of foods. What they suffer from is the tendency of people to underestimate their serving sizes so they're not very accurate.

    Serving sizes aren't determined by marketing departments, although they certainly can confuse things by putting pictures of very large servings on the front of a package (leading us to think that a huge bowl of cereal is the suggested serving size even when the label says something like 1/2 a cup).

    I'm not saying that I disagree but I'm not sure that this is entirely accurate? I've seen too many snack foods recently where the recommended serving size was exactly one ounce for it to be coincidence. I'm guessing that the surveys used to collect information on serving size are multiple choice?

    If so, then the determined serving sizes are absolutely the average of the responses but those responses are somewhat pre-determined by potential answer choices made by the survey administrator to make the data easier to tabulate.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    DX2JX2 wrote: »
    wizzybeth wrote: »
    IDK what is meant by a "normal serving" of cereal, but both cereal and pizza can be part of a healthy diet. Eat what you prefer.

    Yeah my idea of a normal serving of cereal and the package interpretation of a normal serving are wayyyy different. Just like pasta. Lol.

    My guess is a slice of pizza from a typical 16 inch pie will be more filling than a 3/4 cup / 30g serving of cereal...

    Serving sizes on the package have little to do with what would be considered a normal serving. It's just whatever fits the number of fat, calories, fiber, etc. that the marketing department decides will look good on a label.

    Not in the US. In the US, serving size is determined by the average reported intake of certain types of foods. What they suffer from is the tendency of people to underestimate their serving sizes so they're not very accurate.

    Serving sizes aren't determined by marketing departments, although they certainly can confuse things by putting pictures of very large servings on the front of a package (leading us to think that a huge bowl of cereal is the suggested serving size even when the label says something like 1/2 a cup).

    I'm not saying that I disagree but I'm not sure that this is entirely accurate? I've seen too many snack foods recently where the recommended serving size was exactly one ounce for it to be coincidence. I'm guessing that the surveys used to collect information on serving size are multiple choice?

    If so, then the determined serving sizes are absolutely the average of the responses but those responses are somewhat pre-determined by potential answer choices made by the survey administrator to make the data easier to tabulate.

    Here is an explanation (from Wikipedia): "The FDA defines the "Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed" (RACC) tables used by food manufacturers to determine the serving size on the Nutrition Facts Panel, and the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Services labels.

    The nutrition facts label is designed to give consumers important nutritional information about a product and allow comparisons with other food. The serving size indicates the amount of food for which the nutrition information is shown. RACCs were established by regulation in 1993 in response to the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act and were based on how much food people typically eat, balanced with desired portion size. Ice cream is the classic example where the RACC is 1/2 cup, but people more often consume more."


    The data used is old, like from the 70s and 80s, and this also tends to skew serving sizes smaller.

    One important thing to note is that for smaller containers, food companies are encouraged to list it as a single serving if a consumer might "reasonably" consume it all at once (like a 20-ounce bottle of soda), but this is optional and most food companies don't do that (because it looks more reasonable if that 20 ounces is a couple of servings). But this is for smaller containers, it doesn't extend to food companies being able to change cereal serving sizes just because a marketing department prefers a smaller serving.

    Again, not arguing that this is accurate or that serving sizes are reasonable (I think most of us in the game of measuring food would argue that they're not!), but it's more complex than just a marketing game being played with consumers.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    I was getting a posting error when I tried to put the link for the Wikipedia article in that post, so here it is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serving_size

    Here is another source: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2010/01/this_pint_of_ben_jerrys_is_four_servings.html
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    DX2JX2 wrote: »
    wizzybeth wrote: »
    IDK what is meant by a "normal serving" of cereal, but both cereal and pizza can be part of a healthy diet. Eat what you prefer.

    Yeah my idea of a normal serving of cereal and the package interpretation of a normal serving are wayyyy different. Just like pasta. Lol.

    My guess is a slice of pizza from a typical 16 inch pie will be more filling than a 3/4 cup / 30g serving of cereal...

    Serving sizes on the package have little to do with what would be considered a normal serving. It's just whatever fits the number of fat, calories, fiber, etc. that the marketing department decides will look good on a label.

    Not in the US. In the US, serving size is determined by the average reported intake of certain types of foods. What they suffer from is the tendency of people to underestimate their serving sizes so they're not very accurate.

    Serving sizes aren't determined by marketing departments, although they certainly can confuse things by putting pictures of very large servings on the front of a package (leading us to think that a huge bowl of cereal is the suggested serving size even when the label says something like 1/2 a cup).

    I'm not saying that I disagree but I'm not sure that this is entirely accurate? I've seen too many snack foods recently where the recommended serving size was exactly one ounce for it to be coincidence. I'm guessing that the surveys used to collect information on serving size are multiple choice?

    If so, then the determined serving sizes are absolutely the average of the responses but those responses are somewhat pre-determined by potential answer choices made by the survey administrator to make the data easier to tabulate.

    Here is an explanation (from Wikipedia): "The FDA defines the "Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed" (RACC) tables used by food manufacturers to determine the serving size on the Nutrition Facts Panel, and the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Services labels.

    The nutrition facts label is designed to give consumers important nutritional information about a product and allow comparisons with other food. The serving size indicates the amount of food for which the nutrition information is shown. RACCs were established by regulation in 1993 in response to the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act and were based on how much food people typically eat, balanced with desired portion size. Ice cream is the classic example where the RACC is 1/2 cup, but people more often consume more."


    The data used is old, like from the 70s and 80s, and this also tends to skew serving sizes smaller.

    One important thing to note is that for smaller containers, food companies are encouraged to list it as a single serving if a consumer might "reasonably" consume it all at once (like a 20-ounce bottle of soda), but this is optional and most food companies don't do that (because it looks more reasonable if that 20 ounces is a couple of servings). But this is for smaller containers, it doesn't extend to food companies being able to change cereal serving sizes just because a marketing department prefers a smaller serving.

    Again, not arguing that this is accurate or that serving sizes are reasonable (I think most of us in the game of measuring food would argue that they're not!), but it's more complex than just a marketing game being played with consumers.

    then why are Len and Larry cookies not one serving?

    because one cookie in a package in theory should equal one serving- and it's not.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    saintor1 wrote: »
    Just in time for the Superbowl.

    http://citnutritionally.com/pizza-healthier-breakfast-option-cereal/
    https://www.thedailymeal.com/healthy-eating/pizza-healthier-breakfast-cereal
    “You may be surprised to find out that an average slice of pizza and a bowl of cereal with whole milk contain nearly the same amount of calories,” explained Chelsey Amer, MS, RDN, CDN to The Daily Meal. “However, pizza packs a much larger protein punch, which will keep you full and boost satiety throughout the morning.”

    She mentioned that pizza isn’t a health food per say; it’s certainly not your most nutritious option. But when compared with a quickly poured bowl of sugar flakes, it’s a more balanced meal.

    “Plus, a slice of pizza contains more fat and much less sugar than most cold cereals, so you will not experience a quick sugar crash,” Amer confirmed.

    As reported, most people eating cereals are using more than twice the normal serving.

    For me yes as when I eat cereal I want a mountain of it. Fill that bowl up, bb.

    It's a really sad moment when you weigh your cereal and discover what an actual "serving" (as listed on the box) is. Almost as sad as a "serving" of peanut butter.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    saintor1 wrote: »
    Just in time for the Superbowl.

    http://citnutritionally.com/pizza-healthier-breakfast-option-cereal/
    https://www.thedailymeal.com/healthy-eating/pizza-healthier-breakfast-cereal
    “You may be surprised to find out that an average slice of pizza and a bowl of cereal with whole milk contain nearly the same amount of calories,” explained Chelsey Amer, MS, RDN, CDN to The Daily Meal. “However, pizza packs a much larger protein punch, which will keep you full and boost satiety throughout the morning.”

    She mentioned that pizza isn’t a health food per say; it’s certainly not your most nutritious option. But when compared with a quickly poured bowl of sugar flakes, it’s a more balanced meal.

    “Plus, a slice of pizza contains more fat and much less sugar than most cold cereals, so you will not experience a quick sugar crash,” Amer confirmed.

    As reported, most people eating cereals are using more than twice the normal serving.

    For me yes as when I eat cereal I want a mountain of it. Fill that bowl up, bb.

    It's a really sad moment when you weigh your cereal and discover what an actual "serving" (as listed on the box) is. Almost as sad as a "serving" of peanut butter.

    I don't really eat cereal- but yeah- nothing hurts worse than the first time you measure out what 33 grams of peanut butter *Actually* looks like.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    JoRocka wrote: »

    then why are Len and Larry cookies not one serving?

    because one cookie in a package in theory should equal one serving- and it's not.

    My understanding: If the package is small enough that one could "reasonably" assume a person would eat it all at once but it's technically more than one serving based on the RACC ("Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed" from the database), then the food company is "encouraged" but not required to list it as one serving. But because it looks better to have a smaller calorie number, many companies don't choose to do this and that's why you have things like 2.5 servings of soda in a 20-ounce bottle and, of course, a single cookie that is listed as two servings.

    But this loophole only applies to smaller packages, it wouldn't come into play for an entire box of cereal (the original example). And it doesn't allow food companies to massage serving sizes on larger packages of food either.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    saintor1 wrote: »
    Just in time for the Superbowl.

    http://citnutritionally.com/pizza-healthier-breakfast-option-cereal/
    https://www.thedailymeal.com/healthy-eating/pizza-healthier-breakfast-cereal
    “You may be surprised to find out that an average slice of pizza and a bowl of cereal with whole milk contain nearly the same amount of calories,” explained Chelsey Amer, MS, RDN, CDN to The Daily Meal. “However, pizza packs a much larger protein punch, which will keep you full and boost satiety throughout the morning.”

    She mentioned that pizza isn’t a health food per say; it’s certainly not your most nutritious option. But when compared with a quickly poured bowl of sugar flakes, it’s a more balanced meal.

    “Plus, a slice of pizza contains more fat and much less sugar than most cold cereals, so you will not experience a quick sugar crash,” Amer confirmed.

    As reported, most people eating cereals are using more than twice the normal serving.

    For me yes as when I eat cereal I want a mountain of it. Fill that bowl up, bb.

    It's a really sad moment when you weigh your cereal and discover what an actual "serving" (as listed on the box) is. Almost as sad as a "serving" of peanut butter.

    The first time I weighed out granola my mind was *blown.* I haven't bought it since.