american pie; New research suggests pizza is poised to shake up the health-food market.

Following closely on the heels of the French paradox-the perplexing phenomenon whereby Parisian women can regularly breakfast on buttery croissants and still remain enviably svelte-comes the Italian enigma: The more pizza you eat, the better your health, according to a recent study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Researchers surveyed roughly 1,000 people in Milan about their health and lifestyle habits. They discovered that those who reported eating pizza more than twice a week were half as likely to have had a heart attack as those who ate just a couple of slices a month-even after adjusting for factors such as smoking, exercise, and drinking habits that might skew the results. Though researchers can't pinpoint a single miracle ingredient, something about the whole pie-the tomato sauce (full of the antioxidant lycopene) and olive oil (monounsaturated fatty acids)-seems to help protect the heart.

Keep in mind that the difference between Italian pies and their American counterparts "is like the difference between American and Italian football," says the study's lead researcher, Silvano Gallus, Sc.D., who admits to having enjoyed the occasional slice ...