Pizza has developed a bad reputation in the health and weight loss industry. Somewhere between the cheese stuff pizza crust and the deep-dish pans, the reputation of pizza took a turn when people started going into carbohydrate comas. With the smothering cheese and the oil laid toppings, pizza slices can jump as high as 900 calories. In fact, one of the America’s worst pizzas comes from Uno Chicago Grill with the Chicago Classic Deep Dish Individual Pizza ranked at 2, 310 calories, 165g of fat, 4,920g of sodium . . . If that doesn’t give you a heart attack, than I don’t know what will!
With 61,269 pizza parlors in America, statistics show that Americans eat at least 23 pounds of pizza a year. That’s a lot of cheese to clog those arteries! But what American’s don’t know is that pizza can actually be beneficial to one’s health if choosing the right slice.
Tomato sauce has a powerful antioxidant called lycopene that is known to reduce the risk of cancer. In fact, one study shows that eating pizza could lower one’s chances of developing esophageal cancer by 58%. Additional vegetable toppings will create one powerful antioxidant, including mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, spinach, and black olives. These heart healthy vegetables aid in lowering blood pressure, control blood sugar, and aid in preventing strokes and heart attacks.
The health benefits of pizza are astounding, but the creativity of pizza has lost its health in the mix of added handfuls of cheese, extra thick dough, and topped with fatty meats and oils. Instead of hitting up your local pizza parlor and adding a few pounds of your waistline, try these low calorie, low fat pizza dough recipe.
Healthy Pizza Dough Recipe
Ingredients:
* 1 tsp honey
* 1 1/2 cups warm water
* 1 tbs active dry yeast
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 tsp Italian seasoning
* 3 1/4 cups Whole Wheat flour
Directions:
* Follow your bread machine recipe for the dough setting
* Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees
* Roll out pizza to make a thin-layer crust
* Cook dough for 5 minutes
* Add toppings and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes or until lightly brown
While dough is the basic foundation of pizza, toppings are what are going to make of break your health conscious pizza. With the unlimited amounts of toppings to choose from, pizza toppings alone can add up quickly. Below is a list of healthy pizza toppings.
Healthy Pizza Toppings
- Low-fat cheese should always be measured out and used sparingly
- Opt for a cheese-less pizza
- Laughing cow cheese or light Parmesan cheese
- Sandwich turkey slices
- Ham Slices
- Diced Chicken
- Spinach
- Onions
- Mushrooms
- Bell Peppers
- Broccoli
- Eggplant
- Squash
- Artichokes
- Sun Dried Tomatoes
- Pineapple
- Fresh Basil
- Fresh Rosemary
- Chopped Garlic
Ones creative can run wild with the array of healthy pizza toppings to choose from. With a few minor changes, one can enjoy great tasting, healthy pizza without the guilt of it drowning in oil and fats.
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Being 100% Italian, I am destined to love pizza. I am always on the lookout for ways to make it healthier. I sometimes make my own crusts, but I’ve never made it with whole wheat flour. I’ll have to give your recipe a shot sometime soon!