Just Say No to Pizza

Pizza may have become the most important food group in the American diet, but the USDA has recently labeled it as being fat laden with no nutritional value, a food that is temporarily filling but has its fans coming back for more. That sounds like a catchphrase for Cosimo's Brick Oven Pizza, but the reality is that pizza appears to be the culprit in the increasing girth of American waistlines.

Since pizza dough in itself is fried, which makes it a fattening food by itself without the toppings, it is generally in the same class with other fast foods such as McDonald's cheeseburgers and Taco Bell enchiladas. Once you add the toppings, such as cheese that is gooey enough to pass for rubber cement, and tomato paste which is not as fattening but is loaded with sugar, you have a meal that has quite a few calories in one slice alone. Pizza Hut's 3 Cheese Stuffed Crust - Super Supreme has a total of 430 calories per slice, Domino's Chicken Tikka Pizza has 2373 calories in a personal slice, and DiGiorno's Pizza Harvest Wheat Rising Crust Four Cheese has 260 calories per slice. Cosimo's Brick Oven Pizza does not post any nutritional information on their website, although their reputation for tasty and fattening pizza is probably better known than that of Pizza Hut's.

So why so much pizza? Because it is fast food and most kids love it. French fries are no longer the number one food of children in America. As with other nutritionless fast food, pizza does not provide one with the minimum daily requirements of fruits and vegetable to keep one healthy. Cheese is loaded with fat which also contributes to clogged arteries and heart problems in addition to an increase in body weight. Since parents do not have to take time to cook healthy meals that involves lots of vegetables such as broccoli and asparagus which are better for everyone, not just children, they support an industry that contributes health problems for Americans.

Instead of resorting to pizza for the entire family every day of the week, make it a special monthly trip to Cosimo's Pizza. For the rest of the month, make time to cook wholesome meals for everyone. That way everyone eats healthy and can look forward to a special treat if one is unable to completely cut out pizza from their entire diet.

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/food/did-you-notice-the-usda-declared-war-on-pizza-2457957/

http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/10/only-a-third-of-cheese-on-dominos-new-wisconsin-pie-is-from-wisconsin.html