Is Pizza Healthy? Myth VS Reality
Updated: Mar 3, 2020
Long-standing myths grips and forms hardened perceptions that are difficult to dispel. Even pizza has its own sets of myths that will continue to linger on as a given fact with its general consensus. It’s time to liberate pizza from the negative scrutiny!
Myth: Pizza Is A Junk food
Fast food has always been judged and labelled as junk food, as pizza is also categorized as fast food. So, should pizza be considered as junk food? It is, after all, a good argument, to say the least, based on your careful judgement. It all depends on what is used as the toppings on the pizza whereas the dough is basically a fixed variable unless it comes with a certain stuffing. When you use a ‘well-balanced meal’ ingredients such as vegetables, meat, mushroom, fruits and peppers, you will inevitably have a healthy meal.
Oh wait, if pizza is not categorized as junk food, why is it making us fat? On the contrary, pizza does not make us fat. It is just our own unhealthy eating habits and practices which contributes to the risk of obesity. In fact, there are some people who actually got thinner by just eating pizza. Of course, it’s the same trick, the right toppings with the right proportion! The calorie intake also makes the difference here. In general, to maintain an existing weight, average per day calories intake for men is about 2,600 calories while it is 2,000 calories for women. This figure is just an approximate and it varies from person to person depending on their age, size and lifestyle. Domino’s whole pizza, for example, contains about 2,500 calories. The key point is don’t overeat beyond your capability, otherwise, your body will grow together with your appetite.
Myth: Pizza Ruins Our Diet Plan in Losing Weight
If eating pizza is not making us fat, can we lose weight by eating pizza? The answer is yes! If and only if we are eating from a selection of fine healthy pizza. This means that you will have limitations in the choice of toppings and to remove any unnecessary carbs carefully. Besides the contribution of pizza for the required nutrients for diet, it will also help to kill your cravings for junk food, keeping you in shape. This diet, of course, may not be favourable to those who love to masticate slices upon slices, doused heavily in cheese and sauce, you would always need to sacrifice something to achieve the optimal results.
Myth: Pizza Is Not a Food Staple for Asians
At first glance, everything about pizza is just so-not-Asian. In Malaysia for example, rice and noodles have been our daily staple, leaving no room for pizza to our palate. This is, however, further from the truth. We Malaysians love pizza very much! Just look at the number of pizza restaurants available in Malaysia, both in fast food and gourmet pizzas. Take Domino’s Pizza, for example, they even localized and adapted the Asian culinary by releasing an Asian variant known as the Ssamjeang Pizza which has been making waves and delighting fans of pizza.
There are just so much more reasons to love pizza, once we are enlightened and released from the shackles of pizza myths. Have a pizza everyone!