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| Is it possible to make a healthy pizza? |
The base is the location of a lot of calories in deep pan or
stuffed crust pizza’s. It’s safer to use a thin and crispy base, giving you
room in your stomach for tasty fillings. Start your base with 100g of whole
wheat flour. It contains 73g of carbohydrates, with 12g of fibre, and no sugar.
It has only 2g of fat, and none is saturated, and 14g of protein. This way,
your base is adding quality nutrition. It packs some real quality in the form
of vitamins and minerals. It has excellent amounts of your B vitamins,
essential for good digestion and proper energy metabolism. It also contains 22%
of your RDA of iron, good for red blood cells, and excellent amounts of the
antioxidants manganese, selenium and zinc. This flour will create excellent
levels of good nutrients for immune support and healthy living. Mix the flour
with a pinch of salt, good for flavour and muscle function and a ½ tsp of dried
rosemary, to give the base some kick. Mix 90ml of warm water with 1.2 a tsp of
sugar, for flavour and 3.5g of dried yeast. Add this liquid to the flour and
salt and knead into dough. Cook for 10 minutes at 180 centigrade.
The Sauce
Use natural ingredients for your sauce and you can’t go
wrong. Start with 50g of pasata, which includes no fat, only 3.5g of
carbohydrates and a single gram of protein. It only contains 2.5% of your RDA
salt, but is packed with nutrients. It contains 7% of your RDA of vitamin A and
8% of your daily vitamin C, both of which are antioxidants. It also contains
good levels of copper, potassium and iron. It is naturally low in sugar, and
low in calories. Add 10ml of soya cream, which contains only 17 calories, and
its small amount of fat (1.7g) is almost entirely monounsaturated. This adds
texture to the sauce. Add a tablespoon of tomato puree for flavour, as it is natural,
if you buy it without added salt, and builds on the benefits of the pasata. To
add extra bang to the sauce, both in flavour and nutrients, add the following
spices to your pan.
·
A tablespoon of garlic adds 12% extra vitamin B6
good for metabolism, and extra antioxidant properties.
·
A ½ tablespoon of cumin adds extra iron, great
for people who are exercising for improved aerobic capacity, and manganese, for
enzyme creation.
·
A half tablespoon of chili powder will give your
sauce a kick, add 5% of your RDA of vitamin E, 20% of your vitamin A and extra
capsaicin improve fat metabolism and usage.
·
2 tablespoons of oregano are packed with
benefits. Of your recommended vitamins and minerals per day, it gives you 17%
of your vitamin A, 12% vitamin C, 13% vitamin E, 10% of your folic acid, and
22% of your daily calcium.
Heat the sauce to boil, before simmering for 10 minutes. Following this spoon onto your base once it is ready.
The Cheese
The average pizza will use a range of cheeses that might be full in fats, adding a lot of calories to your pizza. If you choose your cheese wisely, you can add flavour without ruining the pizza’s calorie content. If you stay Italian and go for a not fat mozzarella, you can keep the cheese, but loose the calories. It has only 84 calories in the serving of 60g, with no fat, reduced salt and hardly any carbohydrates or sugar. It contains 18g of protein, and an amazing 55% of your RDA calcium, which is essential for muscle contractions and healthy bones and teeth. This cheese is also high in phosphorus, which is important for DNA formation and works with calcium to improve health of bones and teeth. Grate the cheese and spread across the pizza base.
The Topping
The topping is where you can tailor your pizza to suit your training goal. If weight loss is your aim, add vegetables, like peppers, which will improve fat metabolism, and red onion, which is high in antioxidants. You can add chicken if you want some meat, as this is low in fat. If you are aiming for flavour, you can add dustings of paprika or pepper. You can add other meats, but be careful about fat content and things like pepperoni are high in salt and saturated fats, so try and avoid these. Whatever your topping choices, follow our golden rules for a healthy pizza…
1.
For every meat topping, add a vegetable topping.
2.
Never have more than 4 toppings, and a maximum
of two meats.
3.
Do not so many toppings that you double the
height of your pizza
4.
Avoid adding oils on top
Add your toppings to the pizza, and put in the oven, for a further 10 minutes, until golden brown.
Conclusions
This pizza is a filling, tasty meal, with a great nutritional content. Before toppings, its nutritional stats look like this.
|
|
In
1 pizza
|
RDA
%
|
|
Calories
|
459.8 kcal
|
23
|
|
Fat
|
3.7g
|
6.6
|
|
Saturated
Fat
|
0.2g
|
1.1
|
|
Cholesterol
|
10mg
|
3.3
|
|
Sodium
|
491mg
|
36
|
|
Carbohydrates
|
79.5g
|
29
|
|
Fibre
|
14.3g
|
71
|
|
Sugar
|
1.7g
|
6.8
|
|
Protein
|
33.4g
|
57.5
|
It is low is all the macronutrients, has an excellent balance of fibre and protein, and good sodium levels for one of your main meals. If you follow the golden rules of topping your pizza, you’re sure for a healthy, low calorie meal that’s packed with vitamins and minerals, antioxidants and good quality carbohydrates and proteins. This is a superfood pizza!
For some ideas of superfood toppings, have a look at our superfoods you didn’t know were superfoods blog here.
If you’re wondering about antioxidants, and you want some advice on increasing your amounts of them, or wonder if you need them at all, check out our latest blog here.
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Happy Eating!
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