For years, health-conscious Penn State students have virtuously turned down that extra slice of pizza. But new research shows that giving into those occasional pizza cravings may not be so bad for you after all.

A team of food chemists at the University of Maryland have discovered how to boost the antioxidant content of pizza dough by optimizing baking and fermentation methods -- a finding that could lead to healthier pizza.

Antioxidants are substances that protect cells from damage, said Melissa Martilotta, instructor of nutrition and director of the nutrition clinic on campus. "The cells that cause damage are called free radicals. Antioxidants latch onto these free radicals and don't let them do damage," she said.

Free radicals are associated with diseases such as diabetes and certain forms of cancer, Martilotta said.

The new research was part of an ongoing effort to find ways to improve antioxidant properties from whole-grain flour, said study co-author Jeffrey Moore, a doctoral student in food chemistry at the University of Maryland. "We wanted to see how food preparations would increase the antioxidant properties of whole grains," he said.

To demonstrate the effect of different baking conditions on the antioxidant levels in pizza dough, Moore exposed whole grain pizza dough from two different varieties of wheat to different baking temperatures, from 400 to 550 degrees Fahrenheit, and to different baking times, from seven to 14 minutes.

Moore found that longer baking times or higher temperatures generally corresponded to higher levels of antioxidants in comparison to less-intense baking conditions. "What you can take away from this is that changing the food preparation techniques can increase antioxidant properties," he said.

Moore said the new food preparation techniques could be widely used.

"It depends on the companies themselves. We hope that some pizzerias, companies and even home bakers would be able to use this to improve antioxidant properties," he said.

Topping the pizza with a variety of vegetables can also boost antioxidants, Martilotta said. "Include a lot of colorful vegetables, such as green, leafy vegetables and orange vegetables. Purple vegetables also have very potent antioxidants, but I'm not sure how well they go on pizza," she said.

Martilotta said using whole-wheat flour instead of refined flour can make the pizza healthier as well.

"If you replace refined flour with whole-wheat flour, it increases fiber, which is good, and [whole grains] make people feel fuller faster. If you couple that with antioxidant-rich foods on top, it will be pretty healthy," she said.

Healthier pizza is a step in the right direction, said Allison Whittington (freshman-division of undergraduate studies). "If it's going to taste good, I think it's awesome," she said.