Is Pizza Good For You?

Did you know that EACH SECOND, 350 slices of pizza are eaten in the United States1? That’s 21,000 slices every minute. 

After all the times I’ve heard from clients that they feel guilty about eating pizza, I can only wonder about the percentage of people who are truly enjoying their pizza without shame for the act of eating it.

I’m a registered dietitian who has worked with almost 300 clients, and I can’t think of one who could eat pizza without worry that it was hurting their health or would instantly lead to weight gain. Where did we get this idea that pizza is an inherently “unhealthy” food? When did we learn it should be restricted and demonized?

Diet Culture and Pizza

Through the different iterations of fad dieting, we’ve learned a couple things about what it means to eat healthy: restrict carbs, restrict fat, prioritize protein, if it tastes good then it isn't healthy, etc etc etc. With these rules, pizza of course doesn't fit the mold of a “diet culture friendly” food. But please know that these are NOT actual health promoting guidelines, these are lies from diet culture that are followed by inevitable failure. The real truth about healthful eating is it should be delicious, balanced with macronutrients, and nothing is off limits.

Nutrition Breakdown of Pizza

Let’s take a look at pizza and compare it to what a balanced meal might include. A balanced meal includes protein, fat, carb, and a fruit or veggie. Usually we aim to have protein, carb, and fruit/veggie to each be about 1/3 of our plate, and fat is included in the cooking method, as a macronutrient in other foods, or additionally as desired.

Considering pizza, we have carbohydrates in the crust, protein and fat in the cheese and meat topping, and veggies in the topping (if you so choose). BUT, would I say that this is completely balanced, even if there are veggies on the pizza? No. I think we can do better.

Enter, the ✨side salad✨.

Side salads are such an underrated way to add quick nutrition to any meal. Consider the meal in the image above. We have a delicious, hot, cheesy pizza that is begging for a fresh vegetable to balance it out in texture, flavor, and temperature. By adding a side salad you increase the satisfaction of the meal by diversifyings flavors, textures, temperatures, and color and by adding nutrients and fiber.

My favorite side salad for pizza is either a caesar, or a simple garden salad (romaine, tomatoes, red onion, cucumber) with a fresh vinaigrette.

This recommendation to clients has a 100% success rate of improving the overall experience of eating pizza. If side salads aren’t your thing, you can do a side of fresh veggies with ranch or even have a veggie tray out if you’re in a big group. Both of these options take no time to prepare and accomplish the same goal of adding veggies to your meal.

Another opportunity to level up your pizza experience is to add more protein, either on the pizza or on the side salad! I recommend 1 more serving of protein (about 7-8 g) and it could be as easy as rotisserie chicken, leftovers from the night before, or frozen meatballs. 

You shouldn’t feel guilty for eating. Period.

I know I just wrote paragraphs about adding a veggie side to pizza, but you do NOT have to add a veggie side to your pizza. If you love pizza on its own or just don’t feel like it sometimes, then don’t. You still don’t have to feel guilty about it!

It’s just pizza… what’s so bad about eating it? Does it make you a bad person? Did you do something wrong? Unless you stole it or killed someone to get it, let the guilt you have about food go - you aren’t doing anything wrong. You deserve to fuel your body with foods you love.

This is just a suggestion to add nutrient density, but you’re in charge of your eating experience.

Comparison of 5 Frozen Pizza Options

In order to help you get the most out of your frozen pizza, check out the comparison of 5 popular brands below, and then keep reading to learn more about what it means.

The first thing you decide when choosing a frozen pizza is which one you’ll actually enjoy that you can afford. It doesn’t do any good to choose the most nutrient dense option if you don’t truly enjoy eating it! When looking at the nutrition label of these 5 popular brands, I was checking for serving size, protein, carb, fat, and as an added bonus, fiber.

Per serving, I’d be looking for an option that had a protein to carb ratio of 1:2 or 1:3. All of these options have that (pretty much), which is great! You might notice a big difference in the fat content of these pizzas. If it were me, I would choose the pizza with a more moderate amount of fat, like the Banza pizza, for maximum satisfaction. With a veggie on the side, all of these become a balanced meal with the serving listed on the box.

Note: the serving size isn’t a “rule” about how much you can eat- it’s simply a way to measure and report nutrients in food. Your portion size depends on your hunger and fullness cues.

Go Forth and Enjoy Pizza

In summary, pizza has an unwarranted bad reputation. Pizza can absolutely fit into any balanced diet and I encourage you to eat it intuitively. To practice gentle nutrition, eat it when you want, as part of a balanced meal, to a point of comfortable fullness.

If you struggle to identify your hunger and fullness cues or to make peace with foods that diet culture has demonized, you might want to work with a registered dietitian on our team! We can help AND we accept many insurances (basically, you could work with us for free🫶).

Check your insurance benefits and book a call with one of our RD’s with this link: https://www.happystronghealthyrd.com/insurance

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Written by Chelsea Shafer, RD, LDN, CYT

Hey, I'm Chelsea!

I’m a Registered Dietitian, 200-hr certified yoga instructor, and cat mom! As an HSH RD I love all things intuitive eating + movement and I’m glad you’re here! Learn more about me and the HSH offerings here.