It’s no surprise that America is not known to be the healthiest country in the world with all of our processed, high fructose corn syrup, and fast foods. Though we are not the number one most obese country in the world on all lists, we definitely fit somewhere in the top ten on most. With all of the new healthy food trends that arose this past year, I was surprised to find that few made it onto Google’s list of the top searched foods for each month of 2016. There was also not a single green veggie in the top ten list for any month of the year. Instead, I found these were some of the most googled foods; just another reminder to us about why our country is so obese.
Pizza
Listen, I like pizza a lot — clearly not as much as America does. Pizza appeared in not one, but all ten of the available lists of trending foods for the months of 2016. Even though there are definitely healthier recipes for pizza, the average slice of pizza is 272 calories (aka not the healthiest option).
Cake
Cake has been in the top ten google searched foods for the past 154 months, that’s almost 13 years. That’s a whole lot of cake America. From birthday cake, mug cake, cake recipes or icing for cake, Americans have searched for this dessert in many different ways, but Google took note every single time.
Lemonade
Lemonade made it into the top searched foods on Google for a few months of 2016. Though this drink could be homemade with less sugar, processed brands of lemonade have extremely high amounts of sugar, most around 25 grams.
Ice Cream
Another choice Americans searched to keep cool this past summer was ice cream. Even though it’s one of my favorite desserts (and super fun to make yourself), ice cream is extremely high in fat — given that it has to have more than 10% milk fat to even be considered ice cream.
Beer
Wanna know a major factor in gaining the Freshmen 15? Yep, it’s beer. Because it’s made with grain, hops, and yeast, most consume a lot more calories and carbs than they realize, both of which lead to weight gain. So Americans should probably think twice next time they go to grab a beer.
Potato
For a couple months this past year, Americans googled potatoes, so much so that they even made it into the top ten list. I’m not exactly sure why this starch would be necessary to google, but people did it. Listen, I love all potato preparations: french fries (especially when we take over the dining halls), mashed potatoes, home fries, latkes, but I think we can all agree they aren’t the healthiest.
Chocolate
Americans googled chocolate constantly during the month of February, landing it in the top ten. Makes sense. Chocolate is an aphrodisiac and Valentine's day is in February (winky face). Even though it’s not super bad for you, chocolate is high in fat and eating an excessive amount is never good. Everything in moderation kids.
So, maybe instead of Googling french fries and ice cream, we move on to some healthier options for 2017? Or not...