An Antioxidant-Rich Pizza is No Health Food in Disguise

You may have heard about this half-baked (pun intended) concoction dreamed up by food scientists at the University of Maryland to build a "healthier" pizza by boosting the antioxidant content of its dough, and, particularly, whole-grain wheat varieties.

Researchers baked whole grain pizza dough from two different varieties of wheat in various temperatures (400-550 degrees Fahrenheit) and baking times ranging from 7-14 minutes. Evidently, longer cooking times and higher baking temperatures are better, depending on the kind of wheat flour used. Allowing pizza dough to sit for as long as 48 hours before cooking to ferment boosted antioxidant levels by as much as 100 percent.

Scientists didn't test refined pizza dough, however, meaning the foundation of most any fast-food pizza you'll find likely contains very few antioxidants at all. All this data and the extra antioxidants residing in whole wheat pizza dough aside, there's still no reason whatsoever to believe it's any safer and healthier for you than Krispy Kreme's newest whole wheat doughnut.

In fact, most people reading this would be best served, regardless of their body's unique nutritional type, to avoid all grains, even whole grains.