Michigan’s No. 1 Dessert Might Surprise You

Michigan has a lot of great desserts. Many of them are seasonal, such as cherry pie during cherry season or apple pie in the fall. But, as it turns out, one Michigan dessert is the state's favorite- and it's also the Mitten's "gateway food" into other sweet treats.

DrugGenius.com, a provider of "reliable, evidence-based information about prescription medications," has put together a study to find Michigan's favorite treat and, consequently, "gateway food to obesity."

"The website surveyed 3,003 respondents and found that over 1 in 5 (22%) Michiganders admit that eating just one sweet treat, such as the local Bumpy Cake, acts as a trigger which leads them onto a spell of unhealthy eating. Moist dark chocolate cake layered with buttercream and topped with fudge chocolate, the Bumpy Cake is Detroit classic," the study concluded. "This mouth watering dessert has many locals in the Great Lakes State abandoning an otherwise healthy diet to indulge in this decadent treat."

Other states' guilty treats include Key Lime Pie in Florida, Snickerdoodle Ice Cream Sandwich in Connecticut, Mud Pie in Mississippi and cheesecake in New Yorkers. Now I'm hungry. Of course, all the sugar can be addictive. "So why is eating an innocent dessert so likely to make us want to break our good habits? Well, it has been well established that sugar acts, basically, just like a drug," the study states. "Firstly, it fuels every cell in our brain, making it alert. Our brain also sees sugar as a reward, and the more we eat, the more we want; this makes the habit very hard to break."

"It's no wonder many can't resist the sweet taste of our favorite dessert," Stacie Detmer of DrugGenius.com said in a statement, "but we need to learn how to try. It's a slippery slope from eating just one candy bar a week to having one every day, and it’s been proven that sugary foods can contribute to obesity. Counterbalancing sugar in our diet with exercise and an otherwise healthy, sensible eating regimen is at least a start." Find the full study here.

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