Comment on Daily Mail article dated Oct 05 2009

Source: You CAN have a healthy pizza... with our guide to the best on the supermarket shelves

This is an interesting article and yes I agree you can have a more ‘healthy’ pizza as demonstrated by Catherine Collins.  However I think if you are trying to lose weight pizza is not the best choice as even the healthier options are quite high in calories, salt and saturated fat. One way of making pizza more healthy, lower in calories and saturated fat is to choose a vegetable (e.g Waitrose char-grilled) or ‘light’ option (e.g. Weight Watchers) which will reduce the saturated fat content. The weight watchers pizza is probably the best option out of those reviewed in terms of calories although the salt is still quite high. Even better than buying a more ‘healthy’  pizza is to make your own as you can pile on the vegetables, eliminate the cheese or use low fat cheese , which will reduce the fat content.  You can also use a minimal amount of salt and a good olive oil.

Although I agree with most of the comments and the health ratings of the pizzas I disagree with Catherine Collin’s point where she claims that pizza containing rapeseed oil is a positive.  Although rapeseed oil does contain omega 3 fats, these unsaturated fats may become damaged by the high temperatures at which a pizza needs to be cooked and therefore in this instance would not be anti-inflammatory. Unsaturated oils should not be used for cooking at high temperatures as they form trans fats and free radicles which are harmful to cell function in the body. Trans fats have been linked to heart disease and cancer.

So to conclude, keep an eye on the calories and the saturated fat content (more than 5g saturated fat per 100g pizza is too high) and check salt content (more than 1.5g salt per 100g pizza is too high). Remember if sodium is quoted you need to multiply by 2.5 to get the amount of salt. Also keep an eye on the ingredients. Many pizzas contain unhealthy fats, preservatives, flour improvers, E numbers and other unnecessary chemicals. Having a good pizza as an occasional treat is fine but if you are trying to lose weight pizza should not be a regular part of your diet.

Expert: Cathy Castle (BSc, Dip ION, NTC, MBANT) www.nutritionimpact.co.uk