Pizza Recommendations For Several Common Diets
Pizza can hardly be considered a diet food. However, it does not have to be a food that completely blows up your diet, either. If you're trying to follow a specific diet and you are invited out to a pizza restaurant, you do not have to say "no" or just order a side salad. There are ways you can modify your pizza to be more friendly to most common diets.
Traditional Low-Calorie Diets
If you are mainly eating balanced meals without excluding any one food group, but you're counting calories, then your primary goal will be to order a pizza that contains as few calories per slice as possible. There are many approaches you can take here, but basically, you want to limit the higher-calorie ingredients, which are the crust, cheese, and meat-based toppings. You can instead add low-calorie toppings, like onions, tomatoes, peppers, and mushrooms.
A good order, in this case, would be a thin-crust pizza, light on the cheese, with extra sauce, mushrooms, peppers, and onions. The mushrooms add protein and fiber without many calories, so they'll make your low-calorie pizza more filling.
Low-Carb Diets
There are a couple of low-carb diets that are popular these days. The keto diet and Atkin's diet are perhaps the best-known. Each low-carb diet has its nuances, but the idea behind all of them is the same: get more calories from protein and fat, and less from carbs.
Unfortunately, traditional pizza crust has more carbs than these diets typically allow for. The restaurant may have a low-carb or cauliflower crust, which is a good option. If they don't have this choice, then order thin crust pizza, and just don't eat the edges of the crust. You may still get a few more carbs than you hoped for, but not too many. Top your pizza with some extra cheese, plus lean chicken or beef, to make it more filling.
Low-Fat Diets
If you're following a low-fat diet, it's actually pretty easy to design a pizza that meets your needs. You can get regular or thin crust, as crust is typically pretty low-fat already. Just ask that the crust not be drizzled or brushed with any oil. Ask for no cheese, and load up that pizza with veggies, such as broccoli, onions, mushrooms, and peppers. If you don't think you can handle pizza without the cheese, ask for just a sprinkle of Parmesan. It's very flavorful, so a little goes a long way without adding too much fat.
Whether you're following a low-calorie diet, a low-fat diet, or a low-carb diet, there are ways to make pizza fit your needs. It truly is a versatile food!
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