Good Lifestyle

Marco's pizza is a catering chain specializing in American Italian cuisine. Think: pizza slices, Ringard bread, Calzones, submarines - absolute Italian works. You enter Marco's and you must basically add a vowel at the end of your name. It's it Italiano!

In fact, Marco was founded by Pasquale "Pat" Giammarco-an Italian who emigrated to the United States - back in 1978. This could be the reason why the pizza, the Calzones and even the salads of Marco are so delicious. . But delicious or not, what dish on Marco's pizza menu is actually in good health? Or just, healthier than some of the others?

"The pizza is one of these meals that I try to encourage my patients to look like" the pizza party and salad ", against the night of the pizza," says Jacqueline Iannone, MS, RDN, CDN ofThe Nutrition Board of the Rite Bite, PLLC.

We consulted with nutrition experts, who weighed on the best and worst dishes in the Marco pizza menu, and the results could surprise you.

"Marco's pizza offers its guests a wide variety of meal options ranging from type and nutritional quality," says Lisa Richards, nutritionist, published author and creator ofThe candida regime. "They offer pizzas, submarines, salads, accompaniment dishes and desserts. It seems that there is something for everyone, whatever the preferences of calories and nutrients."

And now, here are the best and worst items you can order on the Marco Pizza menu.

Pizza

It should not surprise that the healthiest pizza slice on the Marco menu is covered with mushrooms. The mushrooms are low in calories, fat and free cholesterol, which is a healthy pizza trim. They also contain reasonable amounts of fibers and minerals and vitamins such as copper, magnesium, potassium, zinc and vitamin D which all contribute tooptimal function.

"While 490 calories and 940 milligrams of sodium for a slice of mushroom pizza are quite high, it's a better bet that the part of the meat pizza," says Melissa Morris, a certified nutritionist who writes and research forEffortLessinsurance.com. "The amount of saturated fat is reasonable and sodium is lower than many other pizza slices. Pair a slice with a garden salad to get extra vegetables and keep your meal around 700 calories."

Especially if you arevegetarian where to eatmainly based on plants, the slice of mushroom is a healthy option.

"This is put on the" best "list because it wins in terms of comparison. Saturated grease is always a little high at 9 grams, but to wait for the cheese trim on a realistic way any pizza," says Iannone. "The calories are 490 who concern adequate for a meal. A slice will probably not fill someone, so I encourage a less calorily dense side such as a salad, which has even more fiber to help you You fully dense. pizza. "

At the other end of the spectrum, there is the pizza of all meats. Without mushrooms (or vegetables) in sight, pretty much everyone could guess that this slice is a good caloric shim. (Not to mention sodium high in sodium!)

"One slice of pizza with 760 calories can be about a third of your daily calories if you eat 2,000 calories a day," says Morris. "If you eat two pieces of this pizza (which is easy to do), you consume more than 1,500 calories in one meal."

Yikes! This is the majority of your daily caloric consumption, just in one session.

"A slice also has 17 grams of saturated fat, which is close to the daily limit of 20 to 25 grams and 1,370 milligrams of sodium, or 60% of the daily limit of 2,300 milligrams," said Morris.

Keep in mind, if you risk high blood pressure, your recommended sodium consumption is even less. So, just how bad the share of the meat slice is bad?

"All meat pizza is charged with cheese and saturated fat meats," says Richards. "This calorie-dense pizza offers little variety of nutrients and is packed with inflammatory ingredients."

Underwater

Also available on a Version of Footlong, the Veggie subcrege it or does not really go to the head with the Sub Ham & Cheese with regard to nutritional value. In the end, the sodium content of the sub-ham and cheese was too high to consider this the best under the menu.

"This sandwich has half of sodium fat and less saturated than Sub Italiano," says Morris. "Surprisingly, the suggie sub has also 18 grams of protein to keep you full and saturated fat is in a reasonable range."

Richards also emphasizes that the chicken club is also a good alternative.

"The chicken club is a better option vis-à-vis its nutrition," says Richards. "They use grilled chicken, reducing the amount of fat and calories like fried chicken."

For that, we give the Chicken Club at Marco's pizza the Honorable mention!

Also available in the form of 9 "and footlong, the sub-Italio under the pizza of Marco is the most unusual submenu on the menu, no matter how you cut it. Literally - 6 inches, 9 inches, or Footchong is the worst option.

"The biggest enemy of Italiano Sub is the 1,950 milligrams of sodium," says Morris. "The daily recommendation is 2,300 milligrams, so it is almost only a sandwich, not even a dish of accompaniment."

RELATED: The easy way to make comfortable foods healthier.

Pizza Calzone

Love a good and hearty Calzone? They go from time to time - there is nothing wrong with getting on occasion - but make sure you are aware of the nutritional value of the particular Calzone.

"Calzones, in general, tend to be higher in calories, sodium and saturated fat," says Morris. "If you have to adonate, it has about half of your daily calories, all your daily saturated greases and nearly 60% of your daily sodium intake (90% if your recommendation is 1,500 milligrams of sodium daily) . "

And even again, it is the "best" option of Calzone on the menu of the Marco pizza.

"Once again, these are" best "items compared to its competition that, in this case, is not too stiff," says Iannone. "Although Calzone Pepperoni wins with respect to the" worse ", it Still is not the most desirable health-wise choice on the menu ".

If the 960-calorie Calzone Calzone was the best, then the 1,050 calorie chicken bacon calzone is certainly the naughty.

"Although this is done with lean protein chicken, it does not mean that it is a desirable menu item. This one is a doozy. This is one of these menu items" Treats' ", Explain Iannone. "I would not do this a weekly ritual because of excessive calories, saturated fat, sodium and carbohydrates. At 2,250 milligrams of sodium, this menu element has more than the recommended 2,000 milligrams of sodium or fewer people should be obtained per day. If you have problems with restraints such as congestive heart failure, renal disease, etc. I would be clear about this article. "

Salads

Now we know that most people do not go to Marco pizza for salads - and hey, if you do? Kudos to you! - But it's safe to say that salads are some of Marco's healthiest options.

Coming first is the Italian chef, which offers a mixture of freshly cut lettuce, a ham, a salami, a cheese, sliced ​​tomatoes, onions and croutons.

"Almost all that concerns this salad is reasonable, especially for a restaurant salad because they tend to be rich in calories, saturated fat and sodium," says Morris. "The sodium of this salad is one-third to half of your daily consumption, but all restaurants are higher in sodium, which should be expected."

Knowing that sodium levels are generally higher while remaining outgoing, the Italian chef salad is always a good choice.

"This is a great option for those who are watching their turn," says Iannone. "Nutrition facts are healthy compared to other salads on the menu. Sodium is a high binary in this article, but it can be easily reduced. Often, sodium contents tend to be higher in salads due to vinaigrette. An easy way to save on some added sodium is by adding only in half of the dressing ".

With a mix of fresh lettuce, grilled chicken, parmesan cheese and croutons, you might think that the Caesar chicken salad is safe, but once you do the calculation, you start realizing everything that Parm really adds. Not to mention the fatPad!

"I do not know if this salad includes the dressing, but Caesar Vinaigrette tends to be higher in calories, saturated fat and sodium," Morris says. "Although this salad is" worse "salad, it is always healthier than all Calzones and pizza slices. »

Sides

Chicken Pizza Cincle Marco are all white chicken fingers without bone meat that are served with a free sauce. Although it may seem a healthier meal from the chicken from him, Morris recommends the fractionation of order with friends.

"It would be a good idea to share an order with a friend or friends," said Morris. "The Russian Chicken Mountains are quite reasonable with 60 calories, 190 mg of sodium, and no saturated fats, as long as you do not eat too much. Just try to limit sauces, calories can slip on you very easily. "

When you turn "Boulette" and "cook" together, it can not exactly be the most nutritious ever.

"One side that has 880 calories is a lot," says Morris. "It also has all your saturated greases for the day and 68 percent-more of your daily sodium. If you add a slice of pizza with this side, many people will be on their calories and sodium for the day. If you have to cook meatballs, divided this side with friends ".

Moral of history: If you can not withstand meatball cooking, it divided into two and make it a shaleable!

dips

If you are looking to get your dip on any Marco pizza, the pizza sauce cut is the option without saturated fats and lower calories.

"The cup of pizza sauce is low in calories and has no saturated grease. The 360 ​​milligrams of sodium is provided for a sauce, because most of the sauces and condiments have little sodium, "says Morris. "Select this option to keep your calories, saturated greases and sodium levels in control. »

WOW-CUP The hot sauce almost deceived us! With any other nutritional value at 0, it could fool you thinking that it is the best option. Zero calories? Zero sugar? zero saturated greases? Impressive!

No, not great. According to Morris, "You could just too open your mouth and pour a teaspoon of salt. »

The recommended sodium intake for the average person is 2,300 milligrams a day. This figure falls to 1500 if you are at risk for arterial hypertension. A dive of the Hot Cup sauce, which has an amount of alarming of 1,890 milligrams of sodium and you could go to exposure to salt.

"In general, I advise my patients to stay away from any dipped pizza because they are usually quite tasty. Many times, these sauces are just packaging on the already high sodium content of a meal, "says Iannone. "For this particular sauce if you use the entire packet, it adds about an entire value of sodium days for the meal as well as all sodium is already. Ouch! If you need a little extra flavor and you get a takeaway pizza, try adding a little garlic powder for a low sodium flavor bomb. "

Desserts

Move on dessert! Although none of the pizza menu items at Pizza Marco are particularly healthy, cinnasquares certainly seem to be the least of two evils.

"If you have to have dessert, cinnasquares are the best choice," says Morris. "Calories, saturated fat, sodium and sugar are all in reasonable amounts. But if you do not feel dessert, skip it. Calories, saturated fat and sodium of your meal here."

Double chocolate brownie could bea brownieBut it takes the cake. At least when it comes to calories, sodium and of course sugar.

Morris says, "Imagine pouring 8 teaspoons sugar in the mouth. That's what you get 33 grams of sugar from double chocolate brownie. This is a dessert to jump, if you have to have a dessert, go get The sugar to keep the sugar recording with only 1 teaspoon (4 grams). "