It has been estimated that each person in the US eats an average of 46 slices ( 23 pounds) of pizza a year. At a calorie count of 120 to 280 calories per slice and considering that people usually eats 2-3 slices per occasion then you can see that Pizza may be not a good choice for weight loss and perhaps not for a healthy diet. Pizza is loaded with high fat toppings (cheeses, pepperoni, sausage, etc) and then you can see why pizza may not be a good choice.
There are many Pizza places in America and around the world.But, alt least in the US, Papa John’s is one of the Big Three traditional Pizza Restaurant chains. Let’s review the nutritional information on Papa John’s Restaurant food products.
The Works
“The Works” is the oldest and traditional Pizza of Papa John´s. It has as toppings pepperoni, ham, spicy Italian sausage, fresh-sliced onions & green peppers, gourmet baby portabella mushrooms and ripe black olives. The works has 210 calories (an 8” slice of pizza). If you choose a 16” pizza slice then you will consume 350 calories. Half of the calories of those slices of pizza come from fat. They have 9 and 14 g of fat respectively.
A garden pizza slice (which has fresh-sliced onions and green peppers, baby portabella mushrooms, black olives and fresh-sliced Roma tomatoes) has 180 calories per 8” slice and 300 per 16” slice. A Spinach Alfredo Pizza slice have similar calories counts. So, they healthier choices are not that healthy.
Are healthier potions?
Perhaps the easiest way to reduce calorie ingestion at Papa John,s is to choose the thin crust pizza instead of the traditional crust pizza. The calories count difference is not very impressive (a slice of 14” original crust Alfredo spinach has 230 calories while the thin crust version has 190). But is a calorie reduction anyway.
Overall, Papa John’s is not a good choice for healthy diet. Stay away from it if you want to lose weight and eat healthier. Calories count and fat contents of Papa John´s restaurant products are high. Consider other options. Perhaps once in a while you could indulge in eating at Papa John’s.
Source:
Papa John’s Nutrition Information. http://www.papajohns.com/menu/nutritional_info.shtm