A Few Words on Pizza

From time to time I read other stuff on the internet.  (you:  "Really?").  Yesterday I read a post on tendergrassfedmeat.com, the blog of Stanley Fishman, that included this:

So, last Friday night, we dropped off the real food wagon and ordered a pizza from a large chain that we used to frequent before we switched to real food. We got our old favorite toppings, though I could not bring myself to order a topping that contained feedlot beef.

After I took the first bite of pizza, I was astonished at how I immediately wanted to eat more and more and more of it. The taste was mediocre, yet I wanted to keep eating and eating it, to wolf it down as fast as I could cram it into my mouth. Normally I prefer to eat slowly, thoroughly chewing my food before swallowing it. I was astonished by how strong the desire to wolf it down and eat more was. As we continued to eat the pizza, I became aware of an overwhelming thirst, something that never happens when I eat real food. When I discussed this with my wife, she also had the desire to eat more and more of the pizza, and she also got very thirsty.

While I have no scientific proof of this, I am convinced there was something added to the pizza to make me want more of it, and something in it that made us very thirsty, perhaps so we would order factory soft drinks.

We finished the pizza, and still felt hungry and unsatisfied. Yet we wanted more and more of the pizza, an urge we resisted. I also felt bloated and uncomfortable, a feeling I never have when I just eat real food. There were other uncomfortable digestive consequences, as my body tried to get rid of the chemicals and toxins in the pizza. I also had some headaches, something that I normally never get. And I was low energy and tired. After two days of just eating real food, I was fine. Since then, we have tried to eat one hundred percent real food, and we have been fine, without any of those unpleasant symptoms. It is clear that the “you can eat twenty percent junk” rule did not work for us.

 Pizza is like kryptonite for me.  I have the a similar experience -- if I eat some, I want to eat more.  I will generally eat all the pizza I have access to, even if I'm full.  I can't say that I find it tastes mediocre (only the worst frozen pizza accomplishes that).  If I haven't been eating starchy stuff regularly I also get very thirsty.

I have no reason to believe in the additive theory -- I'm the same way with pizza from any source -- but there are definitely side effects such as lethargy.  Darn you pizza for being delicious while also being toxic.