Is The Strange Way Donald Trump Eats His Pizza Actually Healthier?

Aside from his polarizing decisions and controversial soundbites, everything you’ll find in Donald Trump’s daily diet is another frequently discussed topic concerning the sitting president of the United States. And with the news that he recently opened a pizza parlor at Trump Tower in New York City, folks can’t help but remember one of Trump’s most peculiar eating habits: he prefers eating pizza without the crust.

“I scrape the toppings off my pizza — I never eat the dough,” The Donald was quoted as saying in 2015 (via Us Weekly). The explanation behind this curious choice is tied to another noteworthy pizza-eating quirk of Trump’s: he likes to use utensils when he eats a slice. “[T]his way you can take the top of the pizza off […] the crust,” he reportedly explained in a now-unavailable video on his YouTube channel (via Politico). “I like not to eat the crust so that we keep the weight down at least as good as possible.” (Read about what Donald Trump’s annual physical exam confirms about his weight.)

While his reasoning behind his “say no to dough” logic may seem sound, does it really make sense from a health perspective? There’s definitely more to pizza-related weight gain than just the crust, and just because you avoid the crust doesn’t mean you can avoid the consequences of eating what’s on top of it.

What is a “healthy” pizza, anyway? For starters, the definition of “healthy” tends to vary from person to person, and it usually depends on what the person perceives as healthy. A person who strives to follow a low-carb or keto diet, for instance, may applaud Trump’s dough-free decisions, as they have the same preferences as far as pizza’s concerned. (Here’s what happens to you when you stop eating carbs.)

Going strictly by the numbers, though, a slice of no-crust pizza can hardly be considered a healthy food. To use a commercially available example, one slice of Little Caesar’s Three Meat No Crust Pizza contains 204 calories, 16 grams of fat (7 of which are of the potentially artery-clogging saturated variety), and 1,500 milligrams of sodium (close to half the daily recommended sodium consumption for an average American adult). Of course, these values may vary depending on your choice of ingredients, though a typical slice of low-carb cheese pizza may contain 278 calories, 561 milligrams of sodium, and 21 grams of fat (8 grams of which are saturated).

Even when you remove the carbs and caloric contribution of the crust from the equation, you’re still left with a food that has been associated with various health conditions, including (but not limited to) obesity, heart disease, high cholesterol levels, and kidney stones.

Crust or no crust, pizza isn’t exactly the top choice when it comes to foods you would include in a healthy diet. That’s not to say, of course, that pizza automatically isn’t nutritious, or that it can’t be part of a well-balanced eating regimen. 

The most important thing to remember is to control how much pizza you eat. As with any other type of food, moderation is key. Limit your pizza meal to one or two slices at most, and don’t make it an everyday thing.

It’s also a good idea to make your own pizza instead of buying from fast food restaurants. This way, you can decide which ingredients to use in your pizza and how you prepare it. Generally, it’s a good idea to top your homemade pizza with lean meats, vegetables (e.g., broccoli, spinach, and mushrooms), and fish instead of the typical processed meats (e.g., bacon, pepperoni, or salami) that you’d find on a store-bought pizza, and to limit the amount of sugar that goes into the sauce or how much cheese you put over the pie. You don’t even need to get rid of the crust; just go with a whole-grain base (or a keto-friendly one, if you’re really cutting back on carbs).