Pizza does not have to be Fattening – Use Health Conscious Pizza Toppings

 

Pizza is a popular food item in many parts of the world. Nowadays you can find Pizza Hut in China. Since pizza is so popular and consumed at such high levels why not try to make this meal a little healthier than before.

When most people think of eating pizza, they assume that they are about to eat a food that is high in fat content and calories. Well traditionally that is true but many changes are taking place to make eating pizza not as fattening as it once was.

You may already beware that pepperoni is the most popular pizza topping. Pepperoni is made from cured pork or beef and is not what we would call a healthy food. This pizza topping is high in fat and to make matters worse the controversial preservative sodium nitrate is used as a curing agent to make pepperoni.

 

Avoid those Trendy Unhealthy Pizza Toppings

Sodium nitrate not only helps with the curing process but is serves as a color and flavor enhancer. However, if you wish to follow a heart healthy diet than one of the first things you need to do is avoid any foods that contain sodium nitrate. According the Mayo Clinic eating foods with sodium nitrate may lead to damaged blood vessels which in turn will make your arteries narrower and allowing them to harden. This is the beginning of heart disease.

So, what does a pizza lover do? Surely we can’t give up pizza; no we just need to be more selective about our pizza toppings. For instance many plant based foods make great pizza toppings. You know what I am talking about; toppings like peppers, onions, spinach, basil, and tomatoes, oh the list can go on and on.

Want to make your pizza healthier than forget about toppings like pepperoni, sausage, bacon and ground beef. Instead select some of the favorable plant based toppings as these items are low in fat and calories but best or all do not contain sodium nitrate.

 

Be Creative, Make Your Pizza Interesting

Personally, I sauté my plant based toppings with a little minced garlic and ground pepper before I place on the pizza. For me I love sautéed mushrooms mixed with spinach, onions and red pepper. Plus I do not feel as quite as bloated as if I had meat toppings.

There are many things you can do make your pizza not so fattening. Some will use a whole wheat pizza crust or a gluten free pizza crust. Others will substitute the pizza cheese for vegan Daiya mozzarella style cheese. You see that is the great thing with pizza is that you can customize this food item to your own personal preference.

You probably have seen some of those television commercials for those trendy weight loss plans which claim that you can still eat pizza and lose weight. Well now you can see how that is possible. You just need to change things up a little but the important thing is that you still are able to have a great tasting pizza without all the nasty fat and calories