Source: thetakeout.com
Even if you’re fuzzy on the finer points of what precisely the keto diet is, you’ve likely heard the term more often within the past year. According to the Mayo Clinic, the keto diet’s high-fat, low-carbohydrate regimen means your body begins burning fat for energy, a state called ketosis. (All that fat plus a prohibition against many nutrient-rich vegetables and fruits, the Clinic notes, is “a concern for long-term heart health.”) A lack of studies on keto’s long-term effects hasn’t slowed the popularity of the diet, and “keto-friendly” foods are popping up everywhere from the cereal aisle to strip-mall pizza chains.
Enter Blaze Pizza, the second fastest-growing restaurant chain in the country, which today launches its new keto pizza at its more than 300 locations nationwide. According to a press release, the crust has just six grams of carbs; Blaze’s website lists its ingredients as cauliflower rice, mozzarella cheese, casein protein, flaxseed, eggs, whey protein, yeast, spices, and cultured brown rice. It’s topped with spicy red sauce, mozzarella, ovalini mozzarella, bacon, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach. Blaze is also rolling out three other new pies, including a “protein pizza” with the keto crust plus lots of meat; a vegetarian pizza; and a vegan pizza.
We at The Takeout are less interested in the keto pizza on face, and more interested in what Blaze’s launch means about the diet’s ongoing popularity. Companies as large as Blaze have done their research before launching new products—they’ve crunched the numbers, analyzed the trend data, and are banking on the keto trend continuing to deliver enough sales to offset the research and development that goes into new product launches. That keto pizza has reached a chain posted up in strip malls across 41 states indicates the high-fat, low-carb revolution has no doubt hit the mainstream.