A Serious Look at Pizza and Health

Pizza is healthy.

Are you a pizza lover? Most people in North America enjoy pizza on a regular basis, but many of them are aware that there can be potentially serious, health concerns with respect to pizza consumption.

These potential health concerns may include the following:

High salt content
High fat content
High cholesterol level
Gluten intolerance
Potential allergies
High carbohydrate level

Note that these potential health concerns are not limited to pizza. A person's health and well being is determined to a large extent by his or her personal, dietary management. This is true with respect to pizza consumption, as well.

What is pizza?

Traditionally, pizza comes from Italy, as a round, flat bread with tomatoes or tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and various toppings and is baked in an oven. Pizza is purchased at a pizzeria, a pizza parlor or made in a person's own home. (1)

A wide variety of toppings can be ordered, when one is purchasing a pizza or used, when one is making a pizza. The choice will depend upon one's country, culture or personal preference.

Traditional pizza toppings may include any of the following:

Tomato sauce tomato mixture, pesto, alfredo or barbecue sauce
Cheese mozzarella, provolone, cheddar, parmesan or a blend of various cheeses
Herbs and seasonings basil, oregano, red pepper 
Fruits and vegetables garlic, artichoke hearts, eggplant, olives, onions, spinach, tomatoes, bell peppers, banana or jalapeno peppers, pineapple
Mushrooms of various kinds
Meat sausage pepperoni, salami, Italian sausage
Other meats ham, bacon, ground beef, chicken
Seafood anchovies, tuna, salmon, shrimp (2)

There are many different ways these or other toppings can be combined, when one is ordering a pizza from a pizza place or making a pizza at home. With respect to a person's heath or a possible health risk, it is possible to avoid the majority of potential health concerns.

Consider the following suggestions:

High salt content: For those who have salt restrictions in their diet, pizza can be made without pepperoni or other meats that have a high salt content. Fresh tomatoes can be substituted for tomato sauce, if the salt content is too high.

High fat content: Pizza can be made with lean meat and low fat cheese. Reducing the amount of meat and cheese used in making pizza, can be helpful.

High cholesterol level: For those on high cholesterol diets, pizza can be made from only the foods that have lower cholesterol levels.

Gluten intolerance: For those with gluten intolerance, other kinds of flour they can tolerate, may be substituted for the flour in the pizza crust.

Allergies: Most people who have allergies, know what they are sensitive to and can have a pizza made without food products to which they might react in a negative way. Making a pizza at home has the added advantage of knowing exactly how it is made and what is included in it.

High carbohydrate level: To avoid high carbohydrates, one may order a pizza with a thin crust.

There are no hard and fast rules, as ordering or making a pizza has unlimited possibilities.

The majority of potential health concerns can be circumvented, with proper dietary management. The important thing to know is what the potential health risk might be and how to work around that in terms of ingenuity and common sense.

Moderation in all things is advisable, even in terms of pizza consumption.

Is pizza healthy? Yes! But, it depends upon how much pizza one chooses to eat and how the pizza has been made. In comparison to many of the other foods people all over the world consume, pizza is far healthier than many of them.

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza

(2) Ibid.