Why does pizza have such a bad reputation?

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  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member
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    . That's hard thinking, and might even require math. "Pizza bad" I can remember.

    Looool. Me too. I hate stoopid maths.

    The nutrient density thing is a bit arbitrary as it fails to omit "per calorie".

    Basically, if you compare the number of micro and macro nutrients supplied per calorie of home made pizza to restaurant based then the home made one should deliver more nutrition per calorie (having said that some restaurants have terrific standards so that might not always be true!)

    When dieting you want to maximise nutrition (which is particularly important when in a deficit) and minimise calories generally.
  • mljacobs23
    mljacobs23 Posts: 38 Member
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    I've never understood the pizza= bad mentality. We make homemade pizza about once a week. As long as I stick to two slices, I lose weight just fine. Depending on the toppings we have lying around, some of our pizza's are healthier than others, but I don't think any of them are terrible in terms of nutritional value.
  • K_Serz
    K_Serz Posts: 1,299 Member
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    What do you think?

    MMMmmm Pizza

    GIF-Dog-shows-his-skills-eating-pizza.gif
  • CharityGC
    CharityGC Posts: 499 Member
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    I love pizza whether I make it or get it from our favorite local place. We don't eat it often so I don't care if it has "too much cheese" (is that even possible?!) or anything else that's not supposed to be good for me. And I always keep it to two slices along with salad.
  • Rivers2k
    Rivers2k Posts: 380 Member
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    double post sorry
  • Rivers2k
    Rivers2k Posts: 380 Member
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    Because it tastes good and if it tastes good it has to be bad...Kidding of course.

    Pizza is a weakness of mine. I always thought pizza was my down fall but ever since I started counting calories I realized its inst as bad as some of the other things I was eating. I am comfortable eating just two slices and fits well with in my calories.

    I seriously think it gets a bad rap because people usually drink soda with it and in my opinion soda=poison. Soda is what packs on the calories. I now drink water with my pizza and I still see weight loss.
  • Tw1zzler
    Tw1zzler Posts: 583
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    I eat what I want if it fits my goals. I made pizzza from scratch last week and it was awesome! Thin crust, light on the toppings, fresh mozzarella. ...so good! If I know im going to splurge I plan for it...
  • Songbirdcw
    Songbirdcw Posts: 320 Member
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    Pizza is my absolute favorite food. I have found my best bet is to create it at home with veggies, low fat cheese, my favorite seasonings and shrimp (I don't eat meat). Now I can't even enjoy that take out stuff. There are healthy options for just about everything.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
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    I do make my own pizza. Yes, starting from flour and yeast. And I've done the calorie calculations for it on MFP. And, since there are two of us a serving is half a pizza. I don't make us pizza very often because sadly, it is relatively calorie dense.

    Even a plain pizza is chiefly two calorie-dense categories of food: starch and fat. The crust is just a great big hunk of white bread and the topping is a bunch of cheese. Yes, a pizza has some vegetables on it, but we are really talking about "decorations" not servings. A slice of pizza is "servings" of bread and cheese but only a smidgen of veggies. Add a bit of sausage and olives?

    To make them tasty, many processed chain pizzas are loaded with sugar and extra fat. Take a look at the crust ingredients in Pizza Hut crusts at www.pizzahut.com/files/pdf/ph_ingredients.pdf. Included in the various doughs are things like partially hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, etc.

    My pizza crust is flour, water, salt and yeast -- perhaps with a little olive oil if I'm feeling expansive.

    I love the ingredients list for the beef topping on that Pizza Hut list. Think it's straight ground beef?

    "Beef, water, textured soy protein concentrate, soy protein concentrate, hydrolyzed soy protein, hydrolyzed corn and wheat gluten, salt, maltodextrin, sodium phosphate, autolyzed yeast extract, dextrose, grill flavor from partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil, natural and artificial flavors, bha, bht, citric acid, disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate."

    Yum!
  • cleotherio
    cleotherio Posts: 712 Member
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    I love thin crust or New York City style crust. Thick crust is too doughy and usually undercooked, plus it's where a lot of extra calories come from. When I make pizza at home, I usually take one of the pre-made multi-grain dough balls from the store and stretch it into two crusts instead of one. Then I put a light coating of cheese and whatever toppings I have on hand.

    My kids love Dominos. I don't think it's as bad as it used to be, but their sauce is too sweet for my taste.
  • csuhar
    csuhar Posts: 779 Member
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    One of the big issues is that "pizza" is actually a pretty vague concept. Quality can vary between sources. I remember the cafeteria pizza in college having so much oil on it we'd go through a handful of napkins to get it off. (Even then you still had enough left on there to do basic maintenance on a light truck.) Then you can have different styles of pizza, from thin crust to regular crust to deep-dish, all with different toppings, and it really leaves a wide range of nutritional possibilities.

    There was actually someone locally who took on a "live on pizza" challenge and he ate only pizza for a while and doctors said he was no worse for wear. BUT... he was making healthier choices and he was careful about the calories and nutrient makeup on the pizza, so it was still a pretty balanced diet. He was able to do things like a whole grain crust, fresh vegetables, and lean meats. He didn't live off of the Little Caesar's $5 hot-and-ready pepperoni pizza.

    When I have pizza, I usually opt for thin-crust, light cheese, and extra sauce and I try to have more plants on top than meats. Then, because I'm single, I usually stetech one pie out over a weekend or more.
  • TrishLG
    TrishLG Posts: 173 Member
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    There was a book out on feeding children healthier about 35 years ago. The name: Pizza for Breakfast.
    Pizza can be healthy.

    Thin, whole wheat crust, tomatoes, peppers, onions, mushrooms, light on the cheese, brocolli, olives.
    One important thing if you are buying it, choose a place that uses corn mean on the bottom instead of gallons of questionable oil. If it is swimming, you can be sure it is not the more healthy choice EVOO!.

    Back to Pizza for Breakfast. Pizza is way healthier than the traditional breakfast of bacon, eggs, cheese, greesy muffin, and home fries. Tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, veggies are where your nutrients are.
  • CoachReddy
    CoachReddy Posts: 3,949 Member
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    OP it's simple. because the pizza they're referring to when they say low nutritional content is not made from whole wheat dough or ANY high quality ingredients.

    when people refer to pizza as a "bad" food, they're talking about typical store bought, refined white flour crust, HFCS sauce, and heavily processed cheese product - which is nutritionally inferior to the pizza you described.

    a pizza can be incredibly healthy or incredibly unhealthy depending on how it's made and from what ingredients.
  • ms_leanne
    ms_leanne Posts: 523
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    Hey Guys,

    Can someone advised me on a wholewheat crust dough for this? I love eating all things wholewheat/wholemeal and have made pizza dough with strong bread flour before but not wholemeal flour.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,583 Member
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    Because per slice it's usually high in calories and fat, and hardly anyone can stop eating at one slice. I know I won't, but I ALWAYS compensate for the calories with more exercise. Sucks, but I like pizza occasionally.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • drusilla126
    drusilla126 Posts: 478 Member
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    Because people are stupid and not informed. Pizza can be a very good food that includes all food groups. Now that being said my old go to was a Meat Lover's. These days it's ham, chicken, tomatoes, green peppers and feta cheese on a thin crust. I actually like the new one much better and rarely miss the old.
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
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    Because most people order a pizza, and ordered pizza doesn't come on multigrain bread with lean meats.
  • ArchangelMJ
    ArchangelMJ Posts: 308 Member
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    I don't think pizza should be considered a "bad" food either. That's just insulting! A local restaurant in my home town makes the most delicious deep dish pizza I've ever experienced and it's very popular among students. They use fresh ingredients, offer whole grain dough on Mondays, and it really tastes like a wholesome meal as opposed to the gut bombs of chain restaurants.
  • Getyourshineon
    Getyourshineon Posts: 114
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    Why does pizza have such a bad rep?

    Because if you're like me, you can never eat just one slice... And I happen to love the extra cheese, meat lovers, deep dish or stuffed crust that ISN'T good for you!!

    That's it, in a nutshell!!!

    I only indulge every couple of months now... When I crave pizza, which is often, I choose Lean Cuisine's Deep Dish, Spinach & Mushroom pizza...I love it, it's only 340 calories and it fixes my craving. I eat it at least once a week :)

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