Precooked pizza

It is becoming more and more common to see in supermarkets all kinds of precooked pizzas, because these products are in demand due to their low cost and easy preparation. Working people, and those who have little time to prepare their meals at home turn to this type of products, and in many occasions it becomes a common practice, without taking into account the damage they are causing to their health.

Holistic Nutrition defends that the concept of nutrition goes beyond the simple action of eating. Taking care of the body, dedicating time for oneself and attending to the maintenance of a healthy organism are bastions of this lifestyle. Precooked foods are almost never more nutritious than those we prepare at home, and such is the case of precooked pizza. If pizza is already a food that nutritionists do not recommend or allow it in low quantities sporadically, precooked pizza is even worse.

In order to understand the basis of the damage that can be caused by the excessive consumption of precooked pizzas, we will address their basic characteristics in the following guide, so that you have the necessary information when making an objective assessment on the use of this product.

How are precooked pizzas made?

Pre-cooked pizzas are manufactured in food industries through mechanized processes, since there are no people behind the elaboration of these products, but the machines knead, make the cuts and elaborate the sauces. The pizza dough goes through several processes where the ingredients are added in phases to finally enter the oven for a few minutes.

What is wrong with precooked pizzas?

This type of pizzas contain many additives harmful to human health. To analyze this we are going to divide them into two types: those that are declared on the label of the package and we can see at a glance and those that the brands do not declare because they are not obliged to do so. Many of the companies that boast of manufacturing 100% natural precooked pizzas actually use preservatives and/or colorants; an example of this is the monosodium glutamate present in meat pizzas. This additive is used to enhance the flavor of the pizza, and there are studies that claim that this compound causes severe headaches.

Another example is the sausages present in precooked pizzas; these contain nitrate and nitrite. The latter, when reacting with amines in the digestive process, can generate carcinogenic nitrosamines. Also inferior quality cheeses, very common in precooked pizzas, contain additives such as E339 or sodium salts of orthophosphoric acid, which can cause bone decalcifications in small children.

Another negative aspect to highlight is the type of fat present in precooked pizzas: trans fats. These are the most harmful to human health and products made with them should be avoided.

Nutritional properties

Let us now analyze the nutritional value of this product:

• First of all the calories: for every 100 grams of precooked pizza portion, it contains approximately 215 kcal.

• Fat- 9.8 grams

• Proteins- 8.2 grams

• Carbohydrates- 22.2 grams

• Cholesterol- 16 mg

• Iron- 1.5 mg

• Vitamin C- 3 mg

These are the values for a standard precooked pizza. These figures will vary depending on the ingredients of the pizza.

As we can see, it is a product low in vitamins and minerals and high in harmful fats, cholesterol and simple carbohydrates.

Pre-cooked pizzas, like other foods of similar nutritional composition, often trigger obesity-related disorders and lead to long-term cardiovascular problems. The greatest amount of damage caused to health is observed after an excessive consumption of products such as precooked pizza. The call is not to never consume these foods, but to avoid them as much as possible and look for other creative and nutritious solutions at mealtimes.