Is Eating Pizza for Breakfast a Healthier Option than Cereal?

Most nutritionist and health experts would advise you to ditch eating processed foods like pizza or burgers if you want to be healthy and eat healthier foods like cereal or oatmeal.

However, this one nutritionist claimed that pizza can be a healthier option than a bowl of cereal for breakfast, and this celebrity blogger and assistant editor of Health.com did just that.

The Claim

When Julia heard the claim from a health nutritionist, she got intrigued and started switching her usual cereal or Greek yogurt with pizza for breakfast. She tried eating pizza for five days straight to test the theory. Not only that, but she also made sure that she was eating pizza for breakfast the right way.

According to Sass, if you eat a pizza filled with cheese and processed red meat, it may leave you feeling bloated, sleepy, and sluggish all day. However, if your pie is loaded with healthier options like lean protein, little cheese (or no cheese), and veggies, then you’re filling your body with energy and nutrients as you start your day.

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Cynthia Sass MPH, RD, Health’s Contributing nutrition editor, gave Julia a few tips on how to make her daily pizza a healthy food.

She even claimed that eating a healthy pizza can aid in your weight loss too! As for the crust, Sass suggests you create a crust made of almond flour or cauliflower for a lower carb count rather than using multi-purpose flour.

It’s also recommended to use a dairy-free tomato or pesto sauce for your pizza, the same as true with your cheese options. Instead of topping your pizza with lots of meat, topped it with lots of veggies instead to get the vitamins and nutrients your body needs. At the same time, it keeps your food light yet fulfilling to eat.

With these tips in mind, Julia headed to the grocery store to shop for the ingredients she’ll need to bake her breakfast pizza. Let us uncover how her first five days of eating pizza looked like.

Day 1: Homemade Breakfast Pizza with Green Veggies Toppings

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She felt delighted to switch her breakfast routine with her favorite, savory food rather than a sugary food option.

Julie started her day by eating a cold pizza wrapped in an aluminum foil as she headed to her work. She topped her slice with extra greens like arugula and drizzle it with balsamic vinegar instead of tomato sauce. She noticed she felt full for three hours until lunch, way longer than eating a bowl of cereal.

Day 2: Pepperoni Pizza

Since she baked her pizza last Sunday night, she felt like eating healthy pizza for two consecutive days might’ve bored her. This prompted her to order a pizza to spice things up a little.

Since she already consumed the last slice of her concoction, she ordered a pepperoni pizza to test how eating a not-so-healthy pizza for breakfast could affect her health too. She heated the pepperoni pizza for 25 minutes and her breakfast for the next three days was already good to go. She admitted she loved how it was easier for her to prepare for breakfast by just reheating it.

Day 3: The Hunger Finally Kicks In

When she ate her slice of pepperoni pizza, her coworkers were looking at her funnily. However, she didn’t bother minding them and happily ate her slice of golden buttery crust pie.

She topped her pizza with greens like arugula to make it slightly healthier. According to Julia, it was strange to only eat bread, cheese, and pepperoni when her breakfast was normally filled with nutrients like fruit, cereal, and Greek yogurt.

Day 4: Sugar Crash Cravings

When Day 4 struck, Julia admitted she was getting more bored eating her beloved pizza. She started craving for sugars and sweets for breakfast. She confessed she wanted to eat a banana with peanut butter or even a Raisin Bran. She couldn’t resist the sugar anymore and so, she opted to eat a croissant and fruit along with her pizza for breakfast. However, her breakfast didn’t keep her full for a long time. She found herself being hungry before lunch. According to Sass, a nutritionally balanced and healthy pizza can keep you feeling full and satisfied for about 4 hours. However, Julia admitted she failed on that since eating pepperoni.

Day 5: Bloating and Boredom

On her fifth and final day, she wasn’t in the mood to eat pizza at all. That’s when she realized that eating the same food for five days straight bored her. So it’s recommended to vary your food options. However, she noticed how eating pizza has helped ease her post-dinner pizza cravings.