By Dean L. Jones
The 49th Super Bowl is upon us and a lot of thought goes toward what snack to eat and/or serve during the big game. It is likely that pizza will be high on the list of snack choices and it is not too late to draw attention to some of the dangers associated with consuming it.
A big issue is that there are no whole grain pizza servings in America. Pizza outlets are regulated to using refined grains in its dough, thereby raising the risk for becoming ill from over consuming it, especially from being a low fiber and magnesium deficient foodstuff.
Since everywhere you turn pizza is nearby, it possibly comes as no surprise that USA pizza sales exceed 40 billion dollars annually. Schools, nonprofits and athletic programs all throw pizza parties, in spite of how pizza adds unfavorable calories from fat, sodium, and sugar. All of which centers at the root cause of nutrition deficient-related diseases, including weakened immune system, heart disease, cancer, type-2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity.
Statistically, on any given day one in five young children and nearly one in four teens eat pizza for a meal or snack. A significant portion of pizza consumers believe that it is tasty and inexpensive, but rarely do we think about the frequency of its consumption. For example, a study of 14,000 children and teens, aged 2 to 19, reported all had eaten pizza in the previous 24 hours.
Tomato sauces are essential to pizza and most have added sugars, as well as processed sugar is often part of the dough ingredients. If it were just pizza with the refined grain dilemma it would not be such a big deal, except that our society routinely consumes refined grains in the form of bread, pies, cakes, cookies, biscuits, spaghetti, cream of wheat, morning cereals, white rice, etc…
Refined grain products are excessively starchy, high in gluten, and practically devoid of natural fiber. Science reveals that there can be up to 25 different chemicals added to refined grain and bread products, not to mention how refined grains are fumigated, bleached, and preserved with artificial flavoring and coloring.
Overall, businesses are endlessly attempting to maximize the shelf-life of their product ingredients, which is far more important to the health of profits than the personal health of consumers. Corporate executives are not concerned with the 400 to 600 added calories consumed each time someone snacks on pizza, nor are they alarmed about the high blood pressure being found in our younger population from eating too much pizza. On the other hand, this industry probably takes pride seeing how pizza runs a close 2nd to desserts as the largest calorie contributor.
Business thrives on growth and without it profits decline, so executives carry out whatever it takes to keep expanding sales. Therefore, live SugarAlert!
www.SugarAlert.com
Dean Jones is an Ethics Advocate, Southland Partnership Corporation (a public benefit organization), contributing his view on certain aspects of foodstuff.
