Stop Blotting Your Pizza
Nutritionists address the age-old dilemma of pizza eaters
As long as there’s been pizza, there have been debates about the best way to eat it. Folding it lengthwise is okay. Fork-and-knifing it is utter nonsense. But what about blotting the layer of grease found on a particularly cheesy slice? It looks weird, but does it have any health benefits?
“This is the age-old question of pizza eaters,” says Rachel E. Scherr, assistant research scientist in the department of nutrition at the University of California, Davis. “Does blotting pizza make a difference? Is it worth it?”
Generally, nutritionists agree that patting pizza with a napkin results in less fat, and less fat means fewer calories. “By blotting off the grease, you’re going to reduce the number of calories consumed per slice of pizza,” says Dale A. Schoeller, professor emeritus of nutritional sciences at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. “That’s likely to be good [for people who] have an issue with consuming too many calories per day.” According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ healthy eating patterns survey, most Americans exceed the dietary guidelines’ suggestions for saturated fats, and many consume more than the recommended number of calories.
