The holiday of love is fast approaching, and shelves are running low on chocolates, flowers, and oversized cards with poems no one really cares about.
\n \nI don\u2019t know about most people, but compared to those things, I\u2019d much rather something practical from my love on Valentine\u2019s Day. Something that says \u201cI love you babe\u201d but doesn\u2019t sit in my freezer for months or wilt in a vase after a few days.
\nAnd what the says \u201cI love you\u201d better than a heart-shaped box of pizza?
\n \nWhen I saw Pizza Hut\u00a0brought back its Valentine\u2019s Day bundle this year (Heart-Shaped Pizza + HERSHEY'S\u00ae Triple Chocolate Brownie or Ultimate HERSHEY'S\u00ae Chocolate Chip Cookie) it sounded to me like the perfect gift for literally anyone on Valentine's Day.
\nWhich got me thinking, why was it so perfect? Sure, we know Valentine\u2019s Day is a day of chocolates and sweets, but why is pizza\u00a0a part of the love fest?
\n \n\n\nPizza to most Americans today is that dependable, feel-good food that\u2019s always delicious at a party with a side of wings. Dough, tomato sauce, cheese, and then the sky is the limit.
\nBut pizza has not always looked this way.
\nPizza means so much more than the familiar savory circle in a box we\u2019ve come to know and love. Its history spans the world in space and time.
\n \nSince ancient times pizza in the middle east was considered to be just flatbread baked in mud ovens. Places like Greece and Rome coined the practice of adding toppings to the mix.
\nThe pizza that comes to mind today, however, is just as much of an Italian dish that most people generally believe. Its roots in the United States are thanks to the passing of tradition from Italian immigrants migrating in the early 1900s, and since then it has become somewhat of a staple in the American diet.
\nBut then what is it that makes pizza so universal?
\nFrom young to old, health crazed to living lax, pizza resonates with the hearts (and stomachs) of people from all walks of life.
\n\n\nThere are so many resources to detail how pizza became popular in many places around the world, but not many explain the \u201cwhy\u201d.
\n \nIFLScience writer Tom Hale gives some insight into the reasoning behind the typical pizza\u2019s addictive nature.His\u00a0pizza article shares a study done by The University of Michigan that concluded that the high doses of fat in most processed foods, including pizzas, are highly addictive.
\nAnd oh, the cheese!
\n \nWhat may be the tell-all factor of pizza's universal love is the ingredient in cheese called casein, a protein that effective dopamine in the body, inducing feelings of reward and addiction.
\nSo pizza\u2019s not only delicious, it\u2019s addictive.
\n\n\nAnother reason could be the sheer customizability of the dish. It\u2019s impossible for someone to dislike a pizza they could put all of their favorite foods on. Hence why we can have healthy pizzas like "Blackberry Ricotta Pizza with Bazil" and not-so-healthy "Meat-Lovers" pizzas.
\n \nIn short, perhaps the reason everyone loves pizza is that it has looked and can look like basically anything people want it to. I am convinced there is no one on earth that doesn\u2019t love pizza, so be smart this Valentine's Day and buy your crush a box.
\nIf you find yourself with someone who says they don\u2019t like the cheesy delicacy, maybe they just haven\u2019t found the right slice.
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