Healthy Pizza Good Enough for Three Meals a Day
Though the world is filled with a disparate group of individuals, one thing may unite us all – our appreciation for pizza. Despite – or perhaps because of – the taste, there are few healthy nutritional pizza options, particularly in the frozen pizza aisle at the local grocer. That was why Scottish scientist Mike Lean and businessman Donnie Maclean, who founded Eat Balanced, created a healthy pizza. It could conceivably be eaten for every single meal, every single day.
Each pizza contains 30 percent of the nutritional requirements for vitamins, minerals, and a third of the adult requirements for carbohydrates, calories, and protein.
Often, frozen pizzas have the complete nutritional requirement for salt intake and saturated fats for an entire day. The team sought to change that – with often surprising ingredients. Seaweed, for example, is used because the sodium content is comparatively much lower, just 3.5 percent of your daily intake, as opposed to frozen pizzas’ average 40 percent. Seaweed is also used because of its use in several artisan breads. It also provides iodine and Vitamin B-12. Red pepper is crushed and added to the tomato paste to add more Vitamin C. The pizzas also include hearty servings of magnesium, potassium, folates, and Vitamin A.
But how does it taste? Professor Lean said during an appearance on the United Kingdom’s Radio 4 that 100 taste-testers said that they were as good as or better than normal frozen pizzas.
The pizza will be in stores in the United Kingdom later this year. At least one grocer has agreed to stock the pizza, with current toppings including venison. They will be sold frozen, because Lean and Maclean found that was the best way to preserve the nutritional value.
Next, the team plans to tackle a nutritional curry, followed by healthy fish and chips. Hopefully, if the pizzas do well in their native country, they can make an appearance across the pond.