The best and worst high street pizzas for your health revealed

Pizza needn't derail your health and fitness goals

Domino’s is trialling a plant-based pizza option

It’s all very well trying to eat healthily, but we all know that cutting out all the foods you most love from your diet isn’t sustainable.

If you’re trying to lose weight, build muscle or generally eat a bit more healthily, it’s best to try and eat well 80 per cent of the time and allow yourself to eat whatever you fancy for the remaining 20 per cent, which is known as the 80:20 rule.

Because let’s face it, life’s too short to live without pizza.

However when it comes to the delicious Italian staple, there’s pizza and pizza, and there’s certainly a big range when it comes to the health credentials of what’s available on the high street and in supermarkets.

Most people who’ve tried “cauliflower crust” pizzas will be able to attest that it’s not a patch on the real thing, but there are pizzas out there that are delicious and also won’t hamper your fitness goals.

Good quality pizza isn’t actually that unhealthy either - Italians eat almost double the amount of pizza as Brits (7.6kg per person per year compared to 4kg in the UK), yet just eight per cent of Italians are classed as obese compared to 26 per cent of Brits.

So yes, there’s a big difference between the high quality authentic pizzas generally eaten in Italy and the thick crust, greasy, American-style pizzas we all enjoy from time to time.

Of course, enjoying your favourite type of pizza from time to time - be it at the healthier end of the spectrum or not - isn’t something you should feel bad about. But if you want to make more informed choices, healthy eating app Nutrifix has revealed the best and worst choices you can make:

The healthiest pizzas:

1. Best all-rounder: Rosso Pomodoro Le Proteiche Vegane

“The wholewheat and quinoa dough base of these pizzas make them rich in protein and fibre,” says Nutrifix nutritionist Ruth Tongue. “Get the Pomodori Capricciosi: It’s by far the lowest in saturated fat and contains a good 35g of protein. It’s topped with lots of tomatoes, artichokes, black olives, mixed mushrooms and oregano.”

2. Lowest in calories: Zizzi Skinny King Prawn Diavola

“Made on a wholemeal, white and spelt base and served with an Italian naked slaw, all of Zizzi’s Skinny pizzas are under 550 cals,” Ruth points out. “The King Prawn Diavola is the lowest cal of the lot (487) and also the lowest in added sugar and salt.”

3. Best for protein: Muscle Food Spicy Beef & Jalapeno High Protein Pizza

“This really is a magic pizza,” says Ruth. “Made from a natural pea protein base, it’s also gluten free and even though it contains 67g of protein, it’s only 654 calories per pizza – that’s 82 cals a slice!”

The least healthy choices:

1. The hidden high calorie hit: Zizzi Pulled Pork Rustica Pizza

At 1,543 calories, 37g saturated fat and 4.6g salt per pizza, this is a pizza that puts you well on your way to your recommended daily calorie intake (2,000) and salt intake (6g), and goes over saturated fat guidelines (30g for men and 20g for women per day).

2. The high saturated fat hit: Pizza Hut Large Stuffed Crust Pizza

This one comes in at 2,740 calories, 64g saturated fat and 8.5g salt per pizza, so best enjoyed only occasionally.

3. The high salt hit: Papa John Large All The Meats Stuffed Crust Pizza

“Considering adults should only have 6g of salt per day, this one should be off-limits,” Ruth advises. “3,200 calories, 62g saturated fat and 19g of salt.”

So as a rule of thumb, what should you be looking out for?

“A healthy pizza is going to have lots of veggie toppings,” Nutrifix Founder and CEO Joel Burgess explained to The Independent. “Think tomatoes, olives, mushrooms and artichokes.

“A thin Italian-style base is a safe bet but you can now find higher fibre or protein bases that are made from quinoa, spelt or pea protein.”

And best to avoid?

“Keep away from stuffed crusts and meat toppings,” Burgess recommends. “This could save yourself over 500 cals and 40g of sat fat! And be careful of marketing ploys - just because it’s gluten-free does not necessarily mean it’s also healthy.”

Burgess hopes that by revealing the nutritional differences in commonly consumed pizzas, people will be able to make informed choices.

“When you know what’s in your food, you can make educated choices,” he says. “Some of the high street pizzas we found contained a shocking amount of salt and we think people should know this before they decide to eat their full RDA in one fell swoop!

“On the other hand, there are some surprisingly smart options that mean your regular Friday night date with the pizza delivery guy could actually be good for you!”

We don't need telling twice.