Cauliflower Pizza, An Eye Healthy Alternative

You all! I had no idea pizzerias made pizza with cauliflower crust. No, I haven’t been living under a rock, and yes apparently it’s a thing! I have heard of cauliflower crust pizza - homemade. And, it always sounded like too much work to try something that... ehhhh sounds not as good as the original.

Why we choose eat healthy

My boyfriend and I have a real problem with loving to eat all the foods that are not healthy for us, y’all. We do give in to our cravings sometimes by planning treat days or treat meals. However, for the most part, we try to eat healthy for a few reasons.

First and foremost, for the health of our bodies and more specifically, the health of my eyes. It’s important to me to do everything I can to keep my eyes healthy and working as long as I can. Nutrition is one big way I know I can do that. Unfortunately for me, the foods I enjoy the most and crave don’t exactly carry too much nutritional value.

The pros and cons of pizza

I love pizza! Who doesn’t? I mean, I’m sure there are plenty of people that don’t actually like pizza, but I feel pretty safe in saying a lot of people do. Given the title of this article, and the fact that you chose to read it, you probably do like pizza!

Pizza is unhealthy. Yeah, you can put some protein on it and even some veggies. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but unless you have more veggies on top than dough, cheese, and sugar-filled sauce, the benefits of those items are kinda negated by the ‘bad’ stuff.

Venture out of your comfort zone

We have two kids who love pizza. Once a week or so, Eric grabs dinner for us on the way home so I can get a break from cooking (Love him!). When the kids want pizza, I always feel kinda torn.

Do I want pizza? Absolutely! But, is that a part of my nutritional plan and healthy eating lifestyle? Not currently during the work week; we tend to treat ourselves on the weekends. Recently, Eric suggested the cauliflower crusted pizza for the adults and regular crusted pizza for the kiddos as a solution and I’m so glad he did! I was a little bit skeptical at first, but it was super delicious.

Pizza can be healthier

Besides choosing the cauliflower crust, we also forfeited the protein we normally love to top our pizza with and added veggies. Though it’s true that protein is a super important part of the nutrition puzzle, common pizza proteins like pepperoni and sausage are high in fat and low in nutrition. (Side note, chicken is a great alternative pizza protein topping!)

It’s important to note that even cauliflower crusted pizza is not exactly healthy, it’s just a healthier choice when it comes to pizza. It satisfies just like ‘regular’ pizza does and I definitely feel less ‘guilty’ about it when I know it’s the healthiest version of pizza I can order from a restaurant.

Don't completely give up the foods you love

Many of us here at MacularDegeneration.net are on a health journey that involves some changes to our diet, eating habits, and lifestyles. But, we don’t have to completely give up our favorite foods, there are alternatives out there!

P.S. You should totally indulge with your favorite not-so-healthy pizza sometimes, too. Completely depriving ourselves of the foods we love only causes more stress, creates more opportunity to give up on eating healthy, and is just plain not fun.

Choose healthier when you can, but don’t forget to treat yourself too. You deserve it all!
Andrea Junge