Can Uno’s Gluten Free Pizza Satisfy a Pizza Lover?
May 29th, 2009
It’s not easy being a pizza lover who doesn’t tolerate gluten well. Fortunately, I’m not the only one and gluten free pizza is getting better and becoming more popular.
I recently tried Uno’s gluten free pizza for the first time and am excited to share my thoughts about how it tasted and if there’s room for it in a healthy diet.
Can Gluten Free Pizza Be Healthy?
As much as I enjoy pizza, I couldn’t possibly say that it’s a healthy food without having a guilty conscience. Even if it’s gluten free, the crust is still made out of refined carbohydrates and there’s often a considerable amount of sugar in the tomato sauce. Sugar and refined carbohydrates are two of the most popular and notorious ingredients in the modern diet and cause much of the poor health that is so prevalent today. Furthermore, many people have difficulty digesting dairy, and even without the gluten, any type of pizza that contains cheese is a potential cause for concern.
Despite these unhealthy aspects of pizza, most people can still enjoy it in moderation. Thanks to places like Uno’s that make gluten free pizza, it can even be enjoyed by people who would suffer uncomfortable consequences from eating regular pizza. However, it’s important to realize that many grain based gluten free foods, including pizza, still contain sugar and refined carbohydrates and are still unhealthy.
Not Your Average Personal Pizza
Uno’s gluten free pizza comes in 8 slices, and although it’s bigger than a typical personal size pizza, I’d estimate that it’s intended to be a meal for one person. I finished the whole pizza with no problem, and although I still had an appetite for more, it was enough to satisfy me. Whenever I eat pizza, I often have the endless appetite that’s commonly caused by eating processed food, so it was probably best for me to stop anyway.
A Unique Taste
In general, I thought that Uno’s gluten free pizza had a dry taste to it, but in a good way. This was the case with both the crust and the cheese. I’d expect this from a gluten free crust, but I was quite surprised by the mozzarella cheese not being greasy at all. Although the crust and the cheese had a noticeably unique taste, I enjoyed it and certainly didn’t feel as if I were eating a poor tasting gluten free alternative.
The only complaint I had is that the pizza didn’t have quite enough sauce for my liking. I assume this varies based on the person making it, but even if doesn’t, I don’t think it’s a big deal as it would be easy enough to request in advance that the pizza be made with extra sauce.
Overall, Uno’s gluten free pizza is no comparison to regular pizza, but I don’t think anyone expects it to be. I definitely enjoyed it and think that the benefit of avoiding gluten sensitivity symptoms is well worth the sacrifice in taste, especially since the sacrifice was only a matter of it tasting different rather than it tasting bad. In fact, what I enjoyed most about this gluten free pizza was avoiding the hours of extreme bloating that I normally experience with regular pizza.
A Few Questionable Ingredients
Even though Uno’s gluten free pizza is a food that should only be enjoyed in moderation, it’s still important to know what it’s made of. Here are the ingredients from Uno’s website:
Contains less than 2% of the following: Yest, salt, eggs, gelatin, natural flavor, organic defatted soy flour, egg whites, leavening (sodium aluminum phosphate, baking soda), soy lecithin, xanthan gym, gum arabic, organic guar gym
Low moisture part skim mozzarella cheese (pasteurized part skim milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), pasta sauce Uno (tomato puree, tomato, carrot, olive oil, salt, onion, garlic, sugar, spices, sugar, citric acid), romano cheese grated (pasteurized sheeps milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes, anti-caking agent).
Some of these ingredients are a bit reminiscent of the toxic mess found in KFC’s grilled chicken. However, as far as I know, Uno’s gluten free pizza isn’t being marketed with the same misleading intent that portrays KFC’s grilled chicken as a healthy food. For this reason, I’m not going to bother picking the ingredients apart one by one.
There are quite a number of ingredients in this pizza and that’s something I don’t like. More ingredients means more potential for trouble. However, I’m quite impressed that olive oil is included and that a few of the ingredients are organic. We already know that this pizza contains sugar and refined carbohydrates which is to be expected. Aside from this, here are a few ingredients in particular that I’m not happy to see.
Soy
Despite the marketing that has misled people into thinking that soy is a health food, it’s really not. It contains substances that mimic estrogen in the human body, interfere with protein digestion, and block mineral absorption. It’s also become common for people to have sensitivities to it. Although one of the soy based ingredients in this pizza is organic, the second one is not. Non organic soy is very likely to be genetically engineered and heavily sprayed with pesticides and other chemicals.
Hydrogenated Oil
The good news here is that this oil isn’t partially hydrogenated which would make it a trans fat. Even though fully hydrogenated oil doesn’t impose the same risks as trans fats, it’s still an unnatural and highly processed fat that is much more likely to cause malfunction than natural saturated fat. In addition, the vegetable oils and rice used in this pizza likely mean that it has much more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fatty acids. However, this is partially offset by the omega-3 content of the olive oil and would be more of a concern if this pizza were consumed on a regular basis.
Sodium Aluminum Phosphate
Sodium aluminum phosphate is a leavening agent which means that it’s used to help dough expand and soften. The aluminum is mostly what makes this a questionable ingredient. Aluminum is a heavy metal that can become quite toxic if it accumulates in your body to high enough levels. It’s associated with osteoporosis, memory issues, anemia, decreased liver and kidney function, speech disturbances, and most notably, Alzheimer’s disease.
Egg
Eggs are an excellent source of nutrition, but are obviously not a common ingredient in pizza. The reason why I’m pointing this out is because many people are sensitive to eggs. This pizza is specifically intended for people who have problems with gluten, and as such, are more likely to have other sensitivities as well. While dairy is of particular concern, everyone knows that pizza is made with cheese. Eggs can be just as problematic as dairy, but are far less likely to be anticipated as an ingredient.
The sensitivity risks associated with dairy and eggs are especially applicable to people who have only recently discovered their sensitivity to gluten.
A Better Alternative
While this pizza is probably far healthier than many of the other comfort foods that people commonly eat, there’s still room for improvement. If you’re willing to put in some work, you should be able to enjoy pizza a little more frequently by carefully selecting your own ingredients and making it yourself. As more people become aware of gluten sensitivity, gluten free pizza dough is becoming more widely available and can usually be found in local health food stores.
Another important reason to consider making your own gluten free pizza is that you’ll reduce the risk of cross contamination. Any time you order gluten free food from a restaurant that also serves food with gluten, there’s always a chance of some gluten getting into your meal if the restaurant staff isn’t careful.
I completely understand that the enjoyment of eating out at a restaurant is a big part of occasionally indulging in unhealthy food. If this is the case for you, then perhaps you can alternate between making your own pizza and going out for it.
This article is part of Fight Back Fridays
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Pizza! Pizza! I love it but I haven’t eaten it for months. You know I used to crave carbohydrates bad, even when I wasn’t eating them. Low serotonin causes carbohydrate craving. Since I’ve fixed my serotonin with 5-HTP I very seldom crave carbs anymore.
P.S. I can’t believe you eat a whole pizza. I’m stuffed after 3 slices.
Haha, I can’t believe someone released something that you should simply praise as a boon for gluten allergy “sufferers”. Actually, I can.
I use the term sufferers lightly because while there are many people who suffer from gluten allergies and sensitivities, I’ve noticed that it’s lately become quite popular for people in health food circles to suddenly claim they’ve discovered a verified wheat sensitivity or allergy and suddenly must cut all wheat out because they had gas or some other minor disturbance one day and there was some wheat in the food they ate. Usually then they claim that they talked to someone (when probed, it’s very rarely a medical doctor, and is quite often some quack who set up shop outside the co-op one day or someone who owns a new age store or something of the sort. ) I bet you’d like to argue that western science is what made this mess, but at the very least I’d like to think a western doctor could diagnose an allergy as our western living has been proven to create a number allergies and they diagnose allergies all the time.
I’d like to say this was a lie or not based in truth but I’ve worked in health food stores and been friends with a number of its clientele for a long time now and most of the stories of people who suffer from wheat problems are those sort of unverified undiagnosed suppositions. I would say about 95% of the stories of people in the last 5 years who have come into one of the stores I’ve worked at and have told me they were looking for gluten-free this or that have told me a story like that.
In the last year and a half, it’s even gotten more so that people are even skipping the quacks and diagnosing themselves because it seems to be so popular.
Now, I’m sure you’re going to delete this comment, but let me just say a bit more. I don’t think that all wheat allergies are a lie, which I’m sure you’d like to accuse me of saying. I don’t think that it’s proper to eat a diet of all refined foods. I don’t even think it’s appopriate to focus on one grain (even whole) over another. I do, however, think it’s a good idea sometimes to show how even the natural sorts can just say “Hey, you made a gluten free pizza. Good show.” and let it be.
Hi RM,
I certainly won’t delete your comment. I am thankful for all feedback regardless of whether it’s positive or negative.
I do see where you are coming from. Some people do embrace the victim mentality and latch on to a diagnosis to gain attention. HOWEVER, gluten sensitivity and celiac disease are legitimate conditions that affect many people. In fact, quite a few have suffered needlessly for many years and others have died prematurely due to the many diseases that gluten sensitivity can lead to.
You should also consider that grain has only been part of the human diet for about 10,000 years which means that it wasn’t part of our evolution. A little common sense suggests that grain might not be a great dietary choice. As such, anyone who eliminates it from their diet, even if they aren’t sensitive to it, is only looking out for their health. They aren’t harming anyone and should be applauded for their efforts.
If you were to do some reading on celiac disease and gluten sensitivity, you’d realize that western medicine often dismisses and fails to diagnose many cases. On average, most celiacs suffer for more than 10 years before they’re diagnosed, and those are the ones who are fortunate enough to even get a diagnosis. Although you’d like to think that a western medical doctor can and will diagnose food sensitivites, they often don’t. If you’d like to gain a better understanding of the people who you’re criticizing, I suggest you read “Dangerous Grains.”. It’s an excellent book written by western medical doctors and is backed by plenty of research.
Western medicine is largely focused on chasing symptoms and is heavily influenced by the pharmaceutical industry. Most doctors know very little about the healthy lifestyle, including diet, that can prevent many of the conditions that their patients suffer from. They give them drugs to relieve symptoms and do nothing to address the root cause. As with the people who avoid gluten as a precautionary measure, anyone who takes responsibility for their health and makes the effort to educate themselves to make up for this unfortunate shortcoming of western medicine should be applauded as well.
Finally, I am one of the “unverified undiagnosed suppositions” that you speak of. I’ve spent a significant portion of my live living with exhaustion and many other undesirable symptoms. I was eventually diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, and since it seems to make a difference to you, the diagnosis came from an official western medical doctor who specialized in this area. With my own “quackery”, I was able to do far more for my health than any of the doctors I was seeing, and a big part of this was eliminating grains from my diet which none of the doctors even considered.
Ironically, the western medical doctors that you so highly praise would just assume that I resign to a lifetime of being labeled with chronic fatigue syndrome and taking medication like a good patient. And those are just the doctors that don’t dismiss a condition like this as “being in your head.” While I often tell people I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, you will never catch me saying that “I have” chronic fatigue syndrome. I view it as nothing more than a symptom of my prior history of poor health and I have no interest in gaining attention through a victim mentality. I simply want a better life for myself and will do everything I can to make it happen. I think many of the people you’re criticizing are in the same position and I think you should have more consideration for them.
Hi Stephen, thanks for the comment! Yes, the serotonin deficiency that sugar and refined carbohydrates can cause is why these foods are so addictive. I’ve also been reading that gluten and casein have opiate like properties that contribute to addiction as well.
For the most part, I’ve been able to eliminate my sugar cravings with additional protein intake from high quality meats. I think this is the best approach, but some people do need to take 5-HTP or tryptophan for a while. I’ll be writing about this more next week.
While Uno’s gluten free pizza is 8 slices, it’s very thin, isn’t greasy, and is only the size of the large plate it comes on. As such, it’s less filling than you may think. It’s a bit larger than the typical personal pizza, but is much smaller than a whole pizza that you’d get at a pizzeria. As I mentioned in the article, I’m pretty sure that it’s intended to be a personal pizza.
Hey Vin, thanks for sharing this in today’s Fight Back Fridays. I’m a pizza lover, too, and it is definitely one area where I still splurge on grains despite cutting most of them totally out of my diet.
Pizza is addictive!
Cheers,
KristenM
(AKA FoodRenegade)
Hi Vin. That’s a great review. I hadn’t checked into all the ingredients. The last two times I’ve tried the pizza, the crust did not hold together at all. I’m still grateful I can order a gf pizza, though.
Thanks for the comments Kristen and Linda!
I actually had one piece crumble on me, but having eaten gluten free pizza before, I expected this. It certainly held together better that the gluten free pizzas we’ve made at home!
Hi. Great site. I love pizza, I hate gluten free pizza. Thankfully I am not gluten intolerant but my wife is so this effects me as well. Long story short, I sneak the real deal pizza behind her back every now and then. I know, shameful. I hope your not reading this honey. Who am I kidding. Wives know everything. Busted.
This site is new to me but I love it. Great information on an industry that is so often influenced more by the big corporate food machine than from people that truly care about our health. Look forward to enjoying this blog in the future.
RM’s comment really hit a nerve so I would like to throw in my two cents.
RM I appreciate that you have a right to your own voice, your own thoughts but I think it would benefit you to have more of an open mind. Gluten related conditions have to be taken seriously. Yes people do self-diagnosis themselves as gluten intolerant or sensitive but I truly believe these people are having issues related to their “gas or other minor disturbance” as you put it. It may or may not be gluten related but is real to them. The big question is how can we help these people.
You stated that you worked in the health food industry. This places you in the circle of influence of anyone that has had a conversation with you regarding this. Be empathetic to these people. Your wisdom and compassion may save their life. As I’m sure you know some people can have a sensitivity which can cause some minor to severe symptoms but others it can kill. Some people have Celiac disease which left untreated will result in the inability to absorb nutrients in the intestines. This obviously will lead to death. Remembering that you are now in this persons circle of influence you can educate them on how potentially life threatening this can be and urge them to get more information and to get tested by a health care professional that specializes in Celiac disease. Anybody with Celiac disease needs a complete education on this condition. For these people just a tiny amount of gluten can be devastating. You can let them know how dangerous a self-diagnosis can be. If you come off as critical of their self-diagnosis they may be turned off by you and never get the understanding and help they need. You seriously could save someone life.
Lets play devil’s advocate for a moment. Lets say these people come in and tell you all about their new found self-diagnosed gluten sensitivity and the reality is that they have no such thing. What harm is a GF diet going to do? None. If anything it may help. Some people choose to be GF by choice. Maybe these people don’t have gluten intolerance or sensitivity but know that have issues when they consume gluten. This may be a result of Leaky Gut due to a compromised intestinal wall. The gluten protien is passing through the intestinal wall and the body see this as an invader and wages war. Heal the digestive tract and boom gluten is back on the menu. I’m sure the store you worked at had nourishing foods and probiotics available for recommendation.
You never know who you will cross paths with. Is it the person with Celiac or is it the person that is looking for the new diagnosis de jour or is it someone in between.
Gluten has a far more reaching grasp than most people think. Studies have shown that gluten can play a role in ADD/ADHD, autism, CFS, arthritis, fibromyalgia, IBS, skin disorders and many more conditions.
RM, please move forward with an open mind. You can do so much for these people. You my friend can change the quality of someones life forever. If you haven’t already do some research and the next time a person is waffling about a self-diagnosis you can have a compassionate understanding response that will lead that person the get proper diagnosis from a professional.
Love the blog, Vin. Until the next post. Take care.
Hi Don, thanks for sharing your thoughtful encouragement! I completely agree. The severity and impact of celiac disease and gluten sensitivity can vary dramatically from person to person. As you said, it’s a life and death matter for some people. For others, it may just be to eliminate mild discomforts or even nothing more than a precautionary preference to avoid foods that we didn’t evolve on. Regardless of the reason, the people who make the choice to avoid gluten should be respected and supported, especially considering how difficult it can be and how poorly most people eat.
I’m glad you’re enjoying the site!