Experts Say Pizza Is A Healthier Breakfast Than Cereal

Pizza for breakfast might be healthier than cereal, so just go ahead and put Domino’s on speed dial

Pizza for breakfast is a staple of the American diet. Cold, of course, because only heathens attempt to reheat pizza. And while a slice of ‘za has historically been considered a junk food to be eaten in moderation, dial up Domino’s, because nutritionists are now saying having pizza for breakfast is generally healthier than having cereal.

Honestly, we could have guessed this. Cereal is known for being pretty much a nutritional black hole, despite being a breakfast table mainstay for basically forever. According to New York-based nutritionist Chelsey Amer, many breakfast cereals have a super high sugar content, which means they’re not doing anything for your body except guaranteeing you a hard sugar crash long before lunch rolls around. The Daily Meal also got on the cereal-hating train, calling the breakfast staple “nutritionally bleak” because it doesn’t often contain a lot of protein or healthy fats.

But you know what does have protein and healthy fats? Yep, pizza.

“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,” Amer explained. “However, pizza packs a much larger protein punch, which will keep you full and boost satiety throughout the morning.”

Have our pizza-loving ears ever heard sweeter statements than this? No. No, they have not.

And OK, so it’s going a little too far to call pizza a healthy breakfast. But cold cereal has long been accepted as a perfectly OK thing to eat for your morning meal, and here we have evidence that pizza is at the very least healthier than that.

As Amer puts 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.”

BRB, running to Little Caesar’s real quick.

As you might expect, much of the internet turned out to rejoice over this modern take on the food pyramid, but others came with a healthy dose of skepticism about the actual health merits of pizza. Which, understandable.

Unfortunately, these are not blanket statements that are always true. Some pizzas, like high-calorie white-sauce-based pies, are gonna pack too many calories to be a healthier choice than cereal. And some cereals, like those that focus more on healthy ingredients and less on sugar, are gonna beat out pizza for the best breakfast choice.

“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,” Health‘s nutrition editor Cynthia Sass MPH, RD, explained.

So while you should probably not reach for a slice of leftover cheesy goodness before work every morning, you can at least have some guilt alleviated in knowing that once in a while, pizza for breakfast isn’t a terrible choice. Everything in moderation, including pizza for breakfast. Especially pizza for breakfast.