What Ozzie doesn't love pizza, But unfortunately many of the takeaway pizza options really pack a punch in terms of calories and saturated fact so it's much better if you can make your own at home. But having said that, not all pizza bases are created equal. Hi, I'm Len and I'm cz Burrow, and as two of Australia's leading dietitians, we renew the Nutrition Couch Product Review, a weekly chat on new products and old favorites that you can find
in your local supermarkets. So today on the Nutrition Couch free reviews free popular pizza bases in Wills and we see the pros and cons of them nutritionally. So the first one I've chosen today, Susie, is an interesting one. So it's the Toscano Sourdo pizza bass that our friend sent me this and she said, Oh, I'm so excited. I've really been into fermenting and got health lately. What do you think of this one? And I thought it was a really interesting one because at face value it
looks great, right, and I would say it's inexpensive. It's seven dollars fifty for a two pack, which you know is getting up there. In terms of pizza bases, I typically buy the ones on half price if I'm being honest, But I thought this was an interesting one because I think sourdo itself has quite a health halo around it. So if we look at the ingredient list, it is wheat flour, water, sunflower oil, salt, yeast, molted wheat flour dextro.
So they're adding in a little bit of sugar to that, a mulsifier and some preservatives, so I wouldn't necessarily say it's a clean ingredient list. And we know that when they're adding yeast into a sourdo product, it's not a traditional form of sourdo, so they're really doing that to speed up the whole fermentation process. You're not actually getting
the full benefits from a gut health perspective. So for me, this is almost like like fake sourder, like it's not as authentic as what it could be, yet they're you know,
they're charging a premium price for it. So immediately that kind of got me off side a little bit sousie looking through the nutrition information panel and what I think will do because we've got three different types of pizza basis, we'll go per hundred grams today, So per hundred grams, we've got twelve hundred kilo duels, so it kind of packs a punch, like twelve hundred kilo jewls. Is quite
a lot of energy per hundred grams. We've got eight point five grams of protein, four point five grams of fat, with only point five of that being saturated fat, fifty one grams of carbohydrate, two point three grams of that being sugars with a little bit of that being added sugar, and eight hundred milligrams of sodium. It's actually quite a lot of salt in this product, So for me, it's
actually quite high energy for a very small amount. And I'm just trying to work out how much one pizza base is, so I think a serving size is two ten grams, so I think the whole base is two ten grams. About half of that pizza is about twelve hundred kilodules. So I wouldn't say it's a lighter option put it that way, because then you've still got to add your sauce and your meats and your veggies and
your cheese on top of that. So you're looking at, you know, three hundred calories just for half of that base, and I think a lot of people would actually eat a little bit more than half as well. So I think if you're concerned, or if the goal is fat loss,
this probably wouldn't be my recommendation. And if you're buying it because you think it's sort of you know, ar teasier and it's better for you, and it's got all of those wonderful gut health benefits, I think we're kind of being throwing a little bit of a health halo here, Susie, what do you think I do?
First of all, it's made in Italy, so of course we always try and support Astraean products where we can. You know how I feel about sour dough. I think that it's got a very false sense of health security, and it's still a type of white flour. You've compared
one hundred, which it makes it easier across brands. But if we considerly and that if you ate half of that, which is what three or four small pieces, which most of us would, you're getting almost twenty grams of protein, which is great, but you're also getting over six hundred calories, and you're getting like sixteen hundred milligrams of sodium that's almost your entire daily intake in just the base. So absolutely,
I'm pretty appalled. And this is a good example of where like Turkish bread, sodium really slips in and I actually can't find anything nutritionally superior. It's like fifty almost fifty five grams of carbohydrate or the equivalent of four slices of bread in just half of that. So it's a really high calorie version, and I think there's much better one out there. So yeah, I absolutely agree. One, it's Italian, so it's not a strained product, but yeah,
a health halo for my liking. And whilst I prefer homemade pizza because you can control the ingredients to a certain extent and the fat is generally lower, but also at the moment ly and I just think it's so expensive to buy pizza, you know, if you're feeding a family of four, it's the bill on a pizza delivery is not sure. I have one hundred dollars, Like it's literally bread and a bit of topping, Like that's a lot for pizza. Like I grew up in the eighties
when we've got two dominoes for like twenty bucks. So yeah, I think from a family perspective, it can be really cost effective and some of my favorite bases I'll use as a lunch the next day because they're so nutritionally strong. But this is not one of the ones that I would be recommending. And I don't even like it's got sugar added into the base, So yeah, I'm with you. Much better varieties available.
Yeah, I agree, I really can't find much nutritionally with this, and as well you're charging they're charging a premium price point for this as well, and to me, it's not a premium product. I don't really see anything nutritionally superior here to other pizza bases on the market, and the fiber contents, you know, really low as well. And as I said, why is there added sugar And there's so
much added salt to that as well. Then when you think what actually goes onto the pizza, a lot of people will put ham or salami and cheese and that's even more salt as well. So I wouldn't really say that this is any healthier than ordering it from a you know, a takeaway shop, depending on what you're putting on it. So thumbs down from me, Susie. Unfortunately, I thought it looked great at face value, but I was trying to explain to my friend, but she was like, but like soaldo, and I was like, but.
No, thumbs down. I agree, that's our last rating.
Thumbs down, US down. And then the next one she said, but I actually built this one around. My friend was obviously shopping for pizza bases and coals, and she's like, well, yeah, and which one do I go for? So this is the next one. She's at me, sorry, in woolworst, and it's the Picasso Kitchen cauliflower base, one hundred and seventy grams.
So in this one, I think you just get one base, so it's three dollars sixty, So I guess the other one, for what was it, seven dollars fifty, you got two bases,
so it's around about the same price points. So I guess quite affordable when you look at it from a you know, making your own versus all we're in from home, because a lot of my local pizza places, you know, not the standard dominos, but the nicer ones, the more you know, Italian kind of restaurant ones easily twenty five dollars a pizza if we get two or three of them. If we've got friends over or something like that. You know,
it quickly adds up. Like you said, it's easily one hundred dollars if you're getting takeaway pizza, so it is more affordable to do it yourself. We just kind of want to be picking brands that are a little bit better. So if we look at the ingredient list, and I always find it quite amusing the cauliflower ones because a lot of my clients who have previously done low carb diets or a Kido diet will say, well, I've used
this one. I did Kida before, And I say, you do understand that, yes, it's cauliflower, but there's quite a lot of flower on that as well. So if we go through this one, the top ingredient is flower followed by a cauliflower forty five percent, so it's actually got more flower in it than anything else, despite being a caulifly based so definitely not something we would use in a kita or a low carb diet. It's got water, salt, olive, oil,
and yeast. So from an ingredient perspective, I actually quite like it, Like it's pretty clean, like it's just it's flower, it's cauliflower. It's water, salt, olive oil, and yeast, so I quite like it from an eating perspective. And then the nutrition information says that there's four servings per pack, which I think is ridiculous because that's you eating a quarter of that pizza. So it's like two small slices. Anybody that I know would eat at least half that base,
if not double. So again we'll go per hundred grams to break it down. Energy wise, is a lot lower, so it's just under seven hundred kilo duels compared to the inauthentic saldo one was twelve hundred kilodels per hundred grams, so a lot, you know, nearly half basically protein, We've got five point three grams per hundred grams. Fat is one point four grams, so very low fat despite the addition of the olive oil point two grams of that
being saturated fat. Thirty one grams of carbohydrate, so significantly lower compared to the fifty one grams in the sour dough. But still when you think about a cauliflower base, you would think that it would be a lot lower than that. It's still the equivalent of about two slices of bread in that serve basically point five grams of sugar, that being naturally occurring two point seven grams of dietary fibers,
so not bad from a dietary fiber perspective. Obviously, they're using a little bit of wheat flower plus some cauliflower, and ninety milligrams of sodium, so significantly less compared to the eight hundred milligrams which was in the Toscano Saldo pizza base. So this one kind of ticks a few boxes from Mesusiu. I mustn't beter. I haven't tried it. I'm not a fan of cauliflower pizza bases. If I was going to get a pizza bas, I'd just get a standard pizza bas I'll be honest. But I think
it has a place. You know, it looks to be lower energy. It's a definitely lower sodium and a lower carbohydrate I guess spread overall. And I quite like the ingredient list in. I mean, that's kind of affordable as read dollars sixty for a base, you know, particularly if it would come on sale. I don't mind this one, actually, I don't know what it tastes like. I must submit. But it's a good way to get a couple of
extra veggies in. But let's not be filled. It's not something that's like a free a free base, do you know what I mean. I think a lot of people would think it's cauliflower base. It doesn't really counter it's you know, got no calories in it, but it definitely does. There's more, you know, there's more flower in there than cauliflowers. So I think that's interesting for a lot of people to note. But I don't mind it. I think from an ingredient perspective, it's quite good, and you know, I
like the addition. It's high five, it's quite low fat, it's got semi decent amount of protein in there. Not that we're looking for protein in a base or anything, But I don't mind it. What do you think?
Yeah, I do too. I was actually surprised the percentage of cauliflower is so high because in some of the others I've seen in supermarkets, I know they're trying to sort of similar to coliflower rice and zucchini pasta sort
of add this through the pizza bases. But this is one of the best ones I've seen, like forty five percent is pretty good because if you think about it, like cauliflower is watery, and if you've made a pizza base with it, which I have, it's really hard to get it crunchy and crispy because it tends to go soggy because it's got such a high water content. So the fact they've got forty five percent in there, I'm pretty happy with. I'm happy it's olive oil as well.
I like it. Now. My concern is I haven't tried it and so not great on the mouth. I think if it's tasty, if anyone has, maybe you can let us know and leave it on our Insta and let us know what it's like. But you could get away with basically half and it's you know, I guess if you eat half of it. Though, it's sixty grams of carp so it's four slices of bread, so it's not insignificant load, but certainly, you know. I think it's a seven out of ten. I quite like it as well.
I think that the sodium's really really low. It's not overly hid in carbohydrate. You're getting bit of protein, you know, So I wouldn't be against it. It would be sort of middle ground. For me, it's actually better than I thought, So yeah, I'll just be interested to see how tastes. If anyone's got that feedback for us, that.
Would definitely be my only concern there. But if not, I think I think it gives a thumbs up from the n chution cout today. I don't mind it, but definitely not. Yeah, don't be fooled that it's a big health halo, Like it's probably a little bit better option on the market. But then again, if you think you're buying it because it's so good and then you're reading the entire thing, you're not really any better off. Like if you ate that entire pizza base, that's what sixty grams.
Yeah, so four bits of bread. I think the thing with pizza all the time for clients is that we're just trying to control the volume so people don't eat a whole pizza a whole slices with salad, And I think that's probably, you know, a reasonable ground to get to in general with pizza and go the thinner base the better. But yeah, I don't disagree. It doesn't mean you can eat the whole thing. It's certainly at least two serves.
And then the final one, and this is the why that we agreed that my friend would get, and then I actually went We make pizza probably i'd say two three times a month in our household, generally sort of once a week, if not once every fortnight. So we're big pizza lovers in this household. And I went out and got these ones last week, so I can vauch that they taste pretty good. And this is the one that my friend ended up grabbing as well. So it's
Zaidella rosa low carb, high protein pizza base. So that's two fifty grams and there's four servings per pas. There's two bases in there, and they want you to have half a bases a serving. So looking at the ingredient list, we've got wheat flour fortified with some diamonde and folic acid, which is very normal with a fortification process, followed by water, starch, powder, farber protein which adds a little bit of extra protein in there, followed by gluten, canola oil, olive oil, salt, sugar,
and yeast. So not too bad ingredient wise, and they're definitely adding a couple of extra things in there to kind of fortify and boost up the protein content, and they're looking per hundred grams. We've got five sixty kilodels, so the lowest out of the three that we've reviewed energy wise, ten point five grams of protein. Definitely the highest that we've reviewed protein wise as well, looking at two grams of fat total per hundred grams, with point
two of that being saturated. Sixteen grams of carbohydrates, so definitely even lower, like half the amount of the cauliflower pizza base, which I find is quite interesting as well, because I think naturally people would think, oh, the cauliflower one's got to be significantly lower in cauliflower, Like I said to one of my clients who had previously tried keto and obviously got nowhere was buying that on a kido diet. But it's still got a significant amount of carbonate.
So it's got sixteen grams of car per hundred grams, which is actually quite low. It's the equivalent of roughly a slice of bread zero point four grams of sugar. It doesn't list dietary fiber, but I imagine between the wheat flour and the fiber protein, it would have some fiber in there. And then three hundred and forty milligrams of sodium, so not indignificant, but also nothing crazy like eight hundred milligrams in the first pizza base. So I
quite like it. From a macro nutrient perspective, I would say that most people would happily eat half of that base. It actually does tastes pretty good though. It's nice. It's light, it's not too dense or anything, and it makes a really nice pizza. And because of the high protein content, I just put cheese and veggies online and you know,
they got me pretty close to her I needed. I had a big side stiled with it and I found it a really really tasty, tasty meal and me had a little nibble on of some of the bases well, and she quite enjoyed it. So I quite like this one. This was sort of my recommendation of the three today, and it's a Nausy made product as well, which we like.
Can we just go back to your comment she tried keto and obviously got nowhere, which is why you're seeing me now gold on a Sunday morning. I just don't know. That was a nice comment. I like this one too, and I'm glad you've tasted it and it tastes good because I like it that the ingredient list is really clean.
Because there's a couple of low car pizza bases. There's one in the frozen section in the supermarket, and also I tend to go for the high protein Woolies one one because I find these products are quite tricky to track down in the fresh section. So I was gonna ask you did you get your pizza bas at Wollies or Coals, and there's available at both.
This is one I found at Woolies.
I find them quite hard. They're sort of along that bottom shelf and often sold out, so they can be tricky to track down. But I think from memory this is a much cleaner ingredient list than the ones I've previously looked at or even recommended. So I will actually recommend this now because I really like it too. I'm with you. I just think as long as you stick to that half a pizza maximum as a serve, it's preferable. And you know that's giving you, you know, about twenty
grams of carb. That's about as low as you're going to get for a pizza base that is actually even tastes like pizza.
Upbout twenty five grams.
Yeah, a couple of slices of bread. The protein is really strong on it, sodium is reasonable. You know, you look this sugar, but it's right down the end of the list. It's pretty low in there. Yeah, I like it as well, and as I said, it's reassuring to know that it actually tastes quite good. And I'm with you. The key with pizzas is I'll do the pisada on the bottom with loads of roasted veggies and then a white cheese like a fetta or a goat's cheese, maybe a big you know, throw of a rocket on the
top at the end. So yeah, I really like it. I'd give it an eight and a half even nine out of ten. It would certainly be my choice of the healthiest versions available, and I will yes swop over to what I'm recommending to that one. And you know, four fifty it's much much lower price wise than the pizza getting from the takeaway shop now, and you would argue healthier as well, So great find.
Yeah, I quite like this one already. Guys. Well again, that brings us to the end of another episode, So if you haven't done so ready. We would love if you could subscribe to the podcast and don't forget. Available on our website, which is the nutritioncouch dot Com. We have our recordings from our live events last year. If you're interested in hormone scut health and fat loss, these are the recordings for you. You can watch it from the
comfort of your own home. And we also, of course have our wonderful Product Guide which takes you through over one hundred and thirty of our favorite supermarket products, so you don't have to do the time intensive label reading at the supermarkets. You can just buy the product guide have it on your phone, and there's heaps and heaps of recommendations that Susie and I give to our clients every day but also buy for our own families, so they're available all on the nutritioncouch dot com. And we
will catch you guys next week. You on Sunday Steed to be the nostom Artist