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Experts Are Saying Pizza Is A Healthier Breakfast Choice Than Cereal

Updated September 8, 2021

Just for the record, to be completely upfront and fair, I love both pizza and cereal. As a bachelor, they were the perfect foods, requiring little effort, delivering flavor, and pleasingly filling my belly. They might have been a little too perfect at times.

How is anybody to pick between the two? Cereal is so inexpensive and low maintenance — pour one thing into a bowl, pour another thing into the same bowl, grab a spoon and go to town. But apparently the nutrition factor is where it runs into trouble.

If you believe what Chelsey Amer, a nutritionist and dietitian, is saying, pizza is the clear choice over cereal for breakfast.

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I know, I know, it sounds too good to be true.

Pizza for breakfast is typically reserved for those mornings when you've had a little too much fun the night before and even lifting a milk jug seems like too much work. But it could be for the best!

So what makes pizza the better option?

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Well, as Chelsey told The Daily Meal, there are a couple of factors. For one, cereal tends to not be a terribly healthy option.

Unless you're going for some kind of sugarless, fiber-packed cardboard, the nutritional value is slim.

"You may be surprised to find out that an average slice of pizza and a bowl of cereal with whole milk contain nearly the same amount of calories," Chelsey said.

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And just looking at how the grease pools up on a cheesy slice, threatening to harden in my arteries later, yeah, I would be surprised. "However, pizza packs a much larger protein punch, which will keep you full and boost satiety throughout the morning."

So even though pizza isn't the healthiest meal option out there, it's better than most breakfast cereals.

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Especially if your cereal has marshmallows in it. "A slice of pizza contains more fat and much less sugar than most cold cereals, so you will not experience a quick sugar crash," Chelsey said.

Even better than either of them, if you really want to start your day like a nutritional god, might be leftovers.

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And we're not talking delivery.

"Even a second helping of dinner set aside from the previous night can make a healthy breakfast if it's chock full of veggies and balanced — for example, a generous portion of veggies sauteed in EVOO with herbs tossed with a lean protein, or chicken breast or lentils with a small scoop of quinoa," dietitian Cynthia Sass told Health.

She says that if you'd rather the cereal than either pizza or leftovers, you just have to make a smart choice.

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"A cereal made with whole grains, nuts or seeds, and fruit with organic grass-fed milk or plant-based milk is a better choice over a grease-laden pizza made with processed meat like pepperoni on a white flour crust," she said.

Okay, so maybe a slice or two of cold pie for breakfast isn't the best way to start the day.

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But at least we have confirmation that when trying to make that important decision with a sleepy head, reaching for the leftover Domino's rather than the Cocoa Puffs isn't the worst thing you can do that day, and might even have some upsides.

h/t: The Daily Meal

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Food & Drink