Well, Niverville, here we are. With half a dozen pizza places in town, it’s time to ask ourselves the hard questions. Questions like, “Where do you want to get pizza tonight?” and “Where do you want to get pizza tomorrow night?” Variety is the spice of life, and in Niverville at least most of those spices are Italian.
All kidding aside, this will be my final mental health column for The Citizen. Since March 2020, I’ve been writing every month on subjects like conversion therapy, antidepressants, critical thinking, altruism, grief, affirmation, and ADHD. I’ve heard from people both online and in person who found these articles to be enjoyable, and I hope some of what I’ve written has perhaps inspired some to seek help for themselves when they need it, or encourage loved ones to get help as well.
However, all things must come to an end.
So if this is the end, why not end it by talking about pizza?
Pizza, the official food group for the town of Niverville, comes in many shapes and sizes and can be made with an almost infinite variety of toppings. This makes defining pizza a bit of an exercise in futility. In its basic form, what is pizza? It’s a flat dough, baked and layered with toppings, usually including but not limited to a tomato-based sauce and various cheeses. It may also include meats, vegetables, and other toppings.
But wait! Pizzas also exist with white sauce, or vegan cheese, or—eschewing all tradition and propriety—they may be entirely sweet creations: the controversial “dessert pizza.”
All this dizzying variety invites this existential dilemma: what truly is a pizza? Is a cake pizza? Is an open-faced sandwich a pizza?
Regardless.
If the current rate of pizza restaurant opening continues, then by 2026 a new pizza place will be opening in Niverville approximately every eight minutes. And before we reach critical pizza mass, we should probably figure out whether eating pizza is good for our mental health, shouldn’t we?
Research has indicated for years that comfort foods, especially foods high in fats, salts, and carbohydrates, can give us a short-term dopamine boost, dopamine being the brain’s primary reward chemical, the chemical that tells us we feel good and are having a good time.
If you’ve noticed that you feel pretty darn good after eating a couple of slices, that’s probably why. Your brain is patting you on the back for a job well done. In addition, researchers from Italy (no surprise there) have found that eating pizza can actually reduce the impact of rheumatoid arthritis.
Is there anything pizza can’t do?
Of course, there can be too much of a good thing. Pizza can also be made with highly processed ingredients, which can have a cumulative negative impact on our health in the long run. Plus, eating foods high in those fats, salts, and carbs can cause us to gain weight, develop high blood pressure, and impact our cholesterol.
Some studies even link the overconsumption of fast food, including pizza, with higher incidences of mental health issues, especially mood disorders like depression and anxiety.
The sound you’re hearing now is the owners of six pizza places quietly banning me.
So what do we do? Do we eat pizza, or don’t we?
To provide maximum reassurance, we aren’t going to suggest that you don’t eat pizza, or even that you don’t indulge in comfort foods. These studies that show a link between fast food and mental health issues need to be interpreted through the proper lens, and we have to be cautious of assuming that causation from correlation.
Many researchers have pointed out that the causal relationship may in fact run the other way—that is, having higher levels of depression or anxiety may cause someone to be less able to care for themselves, and more likely to rely on quick and easy foods.
So it’s unlikely that eating too much pizza will cause depression. It’s much more likely that people with depression may be eating more fast food in general, including pizza.
In a way, too much pizza isn’t the problem. It’s a sign that someone is trying to care for themselves as best they can.
Of course, as amazing as pizza is—a true super food; step aside, broccoli—we can’t solely rely on it to boost our mental health. Throughout the history of this column, we’ve discussed many things that can contribute to positive mental health: having hobbies, getting exercise, and paying attention to when a problem might be developing.
But over and above every other aspect of mental health promotion, the deciding factor is human connection—the interpersonal relationships we have, the time we spent together. This determines whether our underlying predispositions towards depression, anxiety, and other issues could become serious.
We’ve said it before and we are saying it again: humans are social animals. We’ve spent the last 200,000 years working on our communities and cultures, and they are far from perfect. But they are the best we’ve got.
So don’t neglect those connections. And if at all possible, don’t let political, religious, or cultural differences get in the way. All we have is each other, and human connection is as essential to life as water and air—and yes, even pizza.
Talk to each other.
And maybe if you notice a friend or loved one is a little down, or not quite themselves, don’t brush it off, or excuse it, or ignore it. Do the brave thing and reach out. Check on them.
And maybe, if you’re up for it, share a pizza with them. I can recommend a few places.
