Eating healthy has not been as important as it is now. People have gradually begun to question what goes into their mouths and its effects on our health and have noticed that the reality that haunts us is that we have prioritized what tastes good over what really does good to our body.
Eating healthy goes beyond having a perfect physique. Everything that goes into our stomach has a specific function in it and depending on the quality of the food may be a positive or negative effect.
As we want to help you get into a healthy life, we will tell you how many calories are in a slice of pizza, the importance of regulating your consumption, and why it is so important for you to know the nutritional characteristics of everything you eat. Without further ado, let’s get started!
How many Calories do you get from a pizza slice?
We can’t tell you exactly how many calories are in a slice of pizza, but we can give you an estimate of the nutritional data of an average 30 cm pizza with basic ingredients, among which we can highlight the Pepperoni, tomato sauce, cheese and bread.
This indicates that a single slice of pizza, if it is homemade, could be between 190 or 240 calories depending on its preparation and the number of ingredients.
We have to take into consideration the way the pizzas are prepared, the quality and quantity of the ingredients, and that an average person usually consumes two slices, so we could summarize the calories at 300/400 when we decide to go out to eat or order pizza delivery, although it also depends on the place where it is made since the pizza slices we eat on the street tend to have a higher caloric content than the homemade ones.
Average Calories in a Slice of Pizza From Popular Places
As we mentioned in the previous point, it depends a lot on the preparation, the ingredients and where the pizza slice comes from that determines how many calories in a slice of pizza and what its nutrition facts slice of pizza will be.
Luckily, we have been able to gather the data from different famous pizza franchises and we will try to represent the comparisons of a 30 cm slice of pizza from Pepperoni.
01. Domino’s Pizza
The average slice of Domino’s Pizza Pepperoni pizza contains 330 calories, and of those calories, you can itemize:
- Fiber: 0.5gram
- Protein: 11gram
- Fat: 19gram
- Carbs: 27gram
02. Little Caesars
Little Caesars pepperoni pizza slice contains approximately 280 calories. And from there we can calculate:
- Carbs: 32gram
- Fat: 11gram
- Fiber: 0.4gram
- Protein: 14gram
03. Papa John’s Pizza
Papa John’s Pizza’s Pepperoni pizza slice contains 210 calories, making it the healthiest of the top. And we can split it up:
- Protein: 8gram
- Fat: 9gram
- Carbs: 25gram
- Fiber: 3gram
04. Casey’s Pizza
Last but not least, Casey’s Pizza’s Pepperoni pizza slice contains on average 390 calories and is the worst health of all of the above. We can itemize it as follows:
- Fat: 10.5gram
- Protein: 16.5gram
- Carbs: 47.9gram
- Fiber: 2.1gram
What is Calorie Count?
Calorie count is a way to determine how many calories you eat daily to avoid overeating. But what’s an excess?
Well, everyone has a daily caloric intake that should be maintained in order to have a good weight, and this amount can only be determined by a specialist through a general study of your physical and social conditions, which will take into account your weight, your sex, your height, your habits, among other things.
To count calories, you will need to know the number of ingredients your meals usually have, their nutritional characteristics and your physiological needs.
And make plans for your daily diet; for example, if your daily caloric intake is around 1500 calories (this is an assumption), you should prioritize that your breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner calories are divided equally so that at the end of the day they are around 1500.
So even if you eat a slice of pizza, you should count its calories or slice of pizza calories.
Why Do You Need To Know Calorie Food Count?
Counting the calories we eat each day and the quality of those calories is critical to determine if we are actually meeting our nutritional needs.
Most people say they eat almost no harmful or high-calorie foods during the day until they put down on paper everything they eat and do some math.
On an average day, they can eat more than 3000 calories without realizing it!
The calorie count is not only useful to determine if you are overeating, it also helps people who need a higher calorie requirement and are not getting it from their current diet.
For example, runners need to consume 300 kcal of carbohydrates after running a marathon, but they can’t fill up on food to achieve that amount either.
So, they must rely on calorie counting to determine the best food to help them meet their physiological needs.
What Are The Ingredients Required For a Regular Pizza?
Despite looking like a simple layer of bread with sauce and cheese on top, pizzas have multiple types of toppings that make the end result very caloric.
For example, to make a standard Pepperoni pizza, you need:
- White flour: 100 grams
- Basil: 1 pinch
- Pepperoni: 1/2 cup
- Grated Cheese: 1/2 cup
- Dry yeast: 2.5 grams
- Garlic:1/4 clove
- Salt: 1 pinch
- Pepper powder:1 pinch
- Sugar: 1/2 teaspoon
- Extra virgin olive oil: 1/2 teaspoon
- Tomato paste: 21 grams
Step By Step Process of Preparing a Pepperoni Pizza
Step 1
Make a small volcano of flour in a round bowl large enough to knead, and we will add in the center hole 2.5 grams of yeast, ½ of sugar, a little salt and 50 milliliters of warm water.
Step 2
With the help of our hands, we will mix little by little all the preparation until we are left with a homogeneous dough and consistent enough so that it does not stick to the bowl. After a few minutes, add oil and knead until smooth.
Step 3
Place the dough in another empty bowl, cover it with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let it rest in a dark and warm place for an hour so that the yeast can take effect.
Step 4
After leaving the dough to rest for an hour, we will take the dough to a flat and clean surface and stretch it with the help of a rolling pin to give it the shape we want.
In this case, it should be circular. When finished, we will place it on a tray and set it aside to proceed with the sauce.
Step 5
We will take our tomato paste and put it in a blender with 40 milliliters of water, two tablespoons or 10 milliliters of olive oil, a pinch of salt, ¼ of garlic, pepper to taste and any other spice of preference. Blend until a homogeneous sauce is obtained.
Step 6
With the help of a spoon, sprinkle the sauce on the dough, avoiding making lumps or filling it too much. Then, add the final toppings such as cheese and Pepperoni. If it is to your liking, add basil or oregano on top.
Step 7
We will place inside the oven at 250 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes. In any case, it is advisable to check the pizza occasionally to avoid overcooking it.
And enjoy!
Negative Effects of Pizza on Your Health
Although delicious, pizza can bring serious problems to our physical health. Gaining weight is not wrong, what is wrong is the way in which we gain weight.
Pizza can help you gain weight, but in a negative way, thanks to the amount of saturated fats and heavy carbohydrates it contains, which do not contribute anything positive to our body if we are not burning them or using them as fuel for any physical activity.
And gaining weight is really the least of our problems when we refer to the constant intake of pizza, as it can also contribute to increased cholesterol, diabetes, cardiovascular problems, dermatological problems and can even lead us to develop eating problems associated with control.
There are many types of pizza that are healthier than others, but most types of pizza contain cheeses or ultra-processed ingredients such as Pepperoni, so it is difficult to get something that benefits us, especially when it comes from a franchise where they add more additives to make it more appetizing.
How To Prepare Pizza With Healthy Ingredients
Sometimes we really crave pizza, but we want to opt for a healthier option and don’t know what to do.
But it is possible to achieve it without having to put negative ingredients for our health, for example, there is cauliflower pizza, sweet potato, oatmeal or whole wheat flour that allow us to have a much healthier but delicious option.
For a simple recipe for natural pizza, we will need:
- A sweet potato
- 50g Oatmeal
- Three egg whites
- 30g whole wheat flour
- 100g of fresh cheese
- 2 tomatoes
- 100g of mushrooms
- One onion
- Olive Oil
Step 1
Making a healthy pizza only has different ingredients since we will also have to mix the wheat flour, oatmeal, the eggs, and the sweet potato previously cooked in a bowl.
Where we will mix with our hands, and although we will not get a homogeneous dough if we can handle it and make a ball with it.
Step 2
We will take a non-stick pan and place the mixture there. With the help of a spatula, we will give it the circular shape we are looking for and try to make it as uniform as possible.
Step 3
Fill it with whatever you like! We recommend adding onion, tomato, and fresh cheese. But this is up to each person’s interpretation since you can even add tomato or anchovies.
Step 4
Bake it in the oven for 10 minutes and at the end, pour a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil on top. And eat!
As you can see it is very easy to make a healthy pizza, and it brings you many more benefits than an average pizza.
Especially for the amount of fiber, vitamins, and proteins, it provides thanks to the fact that all its ingredients are natural and without heavy processing.
What Are The Remedies To Have Pizza and Stay Fit At The Same Time?
The key to being able to eat pizza and stay healthy at the same time is not to exaggerate the portions, prioritize physical exercise on a daily basis and try to look for alternatives on most occasions when you crave a pizza.
As we can see, a slice of pizza can contain up to 300 calories, and usually, the human being tends to eat two slices.
So if you know you are going to eat pizza in the evening, reduce the calories of the other meals of the day so you can enjoy your pizza without going over your daily calorie allowance.
In addition, it’s also important to stick to your daily workout.
You can also avoid sides that add unnecessary calories, especially chips, carbonated beverages, desserts, or other extra snacks that will only increase the caloric intake of that meal.
To keep a balance, you can go for pizza twice a week at most. This way you don’t deny yourself to enjoy, but you keep yourself in control and avoid affecting your health.
People Also Ask For
What is The Most Fattening Thing About Pizza?
The downside of buying pizzas from supermarkets or fast food franchises is that there are few natural ingredients.
Most of the ingredients contain saturated fats, sugars and additives that are not very good for our body, and very heavy carbohydrates that are not easy to digest. In addition to high amounts of sodium.
But in general, what we could attribute a real weight gain to is saturated fats because they are not only those that are added to the dough during the kneading process but also those that we add on top such as sausage, Pepperoni, cheese, among others.
How Can I Eat a Slice of Pizza in a Healthy Way?
Although pizza does not have healthy ingredients, it is acceptable to eat it once or twice a week.
But to avoid affecting our body more, it is necessary to reduce the intake of other things that can accompany pizza, such as soft drinks, pastries, and chips, among others. If you need to drink something, prioritize a fruit juice or a glass of water.
What is The Healthiest Processed Pizza?
In the world of pizzas, there are more than 20 options, but if we are looking for the one with the least calories per slice, it would be the Margarita pizza, which only contains tomato, mozzarella, and fresh basil.
The estimated calories per slice of pizza of a Margarita is approximately 200 calories. It also depends on the place and the type of preparation.
Why Not Eat Pizza Late At Night?
Although it is the time at which many people eat it, eating pizza at night can be very negative not only because of the number of calories we are ingesting but also because it can cause sleeping problems due to the amount of carbohydrates and fats that can cause stomach acidity, which will make you have a hard time while trying to sleep.
The Bottom Line
To conclude, we remind you that no food is bad, but we have to be smart and create control of what we eat when we eat it, and in what quantity we eat it so that we can benefit and enjoy something delicious from time to time.
