The UK’s Most Googled Diets Revealed by Search Data
Despite the growing availability of weight loss treatments, such as Mounjaro, many Brits continue to explore different dieting approaches to support weight loss.
In the modern era, people turn to the internet for advice and guidance on how to adjust their eating habits to improve their health and overall wellbeing.
With so many different dieting styles, it can be challenging to understand which approach may be most suitable for you.
But what dieting techniques are most Googled by Brits?
To uncover this, we at The Independent Pharmacy have analysed Google search data, highlighting the most popular diets online for the second year in a row.
So, without further ado, let’s examine the most Googled diets in the UK and how they’ve changed over the past twelve months.
The Most Googled Diets in the UK
| Diet name | Average monthly search volume (Google) |
|---|---|
| 1. Keto diet | 162,000 |
| 2. Intermittent fasting | 128,000 |
| 3. Carnivore diet | 57,000 |
| 4. Mediterranean diet | 51,000 |
| 5. Low-carb diet | 38,000 |
| 6. FODMAP diet | 34,000 |
| 7. Vegan diet | 24,000 |
| 8. Vegetarian diet | 21,000 |
| 9. DASH diet | 15,000 |
| 10. Gluten-free diet | 11,000 |
1. Keto Diet – 162,000 Monthly Searches
Our data revealed that keto diets are the most popular online, with an average of 162,000 monthly searches from the UK. They’re an often searched technique because they force the body into a state of ketosis, where it burns stored fat for energy rather than carbohydrates.
A keto diet has strict guidelines and suggested foods. Overall, a keto diet should consist of 70-80% high-fat (meat, fish, nuts), 15-25% protein (lean meats, eggs) and 5-10% low-carb (leafy greens).
As it excludes certain foods, such as starchy vegetables, this diet could also lead to nutrient deficiencies. Additionally, a keto diet could increase the risk of kidney stones, constipation and ‘keto flu’, flu-like symptoms that occur while the body adjusts to the dietary amendments. While the keto diet can be useful for losing weight quickly, it’s extremely restrictive, and therefore, it’s not something we at The Independent Pharmacy recommend.
2. Intermittent Fasting – 128,000 Monthly Searches
Intermittent fasting is a widely popular diet in the UK, with an average of 128,000 monthly searches. It consists of eating within set periods and avoiding foods when outside this window. For example, one popular ratio is 16:8, where an individual fasts for 16 hours of the day before eating for 8 hours.
It’s a widely searched diet which helps reduce daily calorie intake. Fasting periods can also lower insulin levels and trigger metabolic switching, leading to increased fat burning and improved physique. Intermittent fasting can also reduce the risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes by helping people better control their blood sugar levels.
Going from a normal eating routine to fasting can be challenging, but may be an effective way to reduce calorie intake, manage weight and lower the risk of diabetes. A GP can provide advice and recommend intermittent fasting approaches tailored to your specific requirements.
3. Carnivore Diet – 57,000 Monthly Searches
The carnivore diet is another popular approach, averaging 57,000 monthly searches. A carnivorous diet focuses on animal products, including meat, fish and eggs. While it varies, some carnivore diets also allow the consumption of dairy products, such as butter or cheese.
This diet is popular as it’s easy to follow. Despite its limitations, it may also be a good way to lose weight if an individual can maintain a calorie deficit while eating only animal-based foods.
The primary concern of this diet is the lack of fruit and vegetables. This could quickly lead to deficiencies in vital nutrients, such as vitamins C, E and K, as well as fibre. The saturated fat content of heavy meat-based diets could also raise the risk of heart disease or major heart events such as a heart attack or stroke. For this reason, we can’t recommend a carnivore diet for long-term use.
4. Mediterranean Diet – 51,000 Monthly Searches
In fourth place, with an average of 51,000 searches each month, Mediterranean diets are another favourite of Brits. This approach involves mimicking the eating habits of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, such as Spain, Italy and Greece.
This means plenty of whole grains (quinoa, oats and rice), fruits and vegetables (leafy greens and citrus fruits) and healthy fats (olive oil, nuts and seeds), all of which are very beneficial to our general wellbeing.
It’s a popular diet due to its heart benefits, as it prioritises foods known to improve cardiovascular function while avoiding highly saturated foods that could have the opposite effect. It’s also a great eating approach for gut health, helping to maintain a healthy microbiome.
5. Low-Carb Diet – 38,000 Monthly Searches
Low-carb diets are also popular, placing fifth and averaging 38,000 monthly searches. It focuses on reducing carbohydrate intake and prioritising healthy fats, protein-rich foods and non-starchy vegetables.
By limiting carbohydrates, people can reduce appetite, improve insulin resistance and boost cardiovascular health, making it an extremely beneficial diet. It’s also great for weight loss, with many people adopting this diet to improve their physique. While it shares similarities with keto diets, it’s less restrictive, allowing some carbohydrates.
While it’s great for weight loss, cutting too many carbs could raise the risk of nutrient deficiencies, so it’s vital to construct a proper dietary plan before proceeding. Overall, however, we believe low-carb diets can be incredibly effective, although the approach mightn’t be for everyone.
6. FODMAP Diet – 34,000 Monthly Searches
By search volume, the FODMAP diet ranks sixth in the UK, with an average of 34,000 searches per month. This approach is widely used by people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS); it can help identify food triggers, allowing people to manage their diets more effectively to avoid these foods.
FODMAP stands for ‘Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols’. This diet aims to avoid foods that fall into these categories, including fruits, vegetables, grains and dairy products.
Over time, a person on a FODMAP diet would slowly reintroduce foods one by one to identify any that trigger IBS symptoms, such as flatulence and bloating.
It’s a great dietary approach for people living with this condition, as it can provide clearer guidance on reactive foods. However, we’d not recommend it for everyday use.
7. Vegan Diet – 24,000 Monthly Searches
In seventh position, vegan diets are a popular dietary choice, averaging 24,000 searches each month in the UK. A vegan diet excludes all animal products, including meat, dairy, eggs and seafood, focusing solely on plants.
Popular foods included in the vegan diet include: fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds and legumes. Plant-based alternatives can also be considered, including oat milk and vegan cheeses.
As popularity towards vegan diets continues to grow, it’s essential to be mindful of potential deficiencies. Some nutrients, such as vitamin B12, iron, calcium, iodine, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D, can be harder to obtain solely from plant-based foods. For this reason, we recommend considering fortified foods or purchasing supplements to support this dietary choice.
With the right approach, vegan diets may prove beneficial to wellbeing. However, it’s vital to use supplements as needed to avoid deficiencies.
8. Vegetarian Diet – 21,000 Monthly Searches
With an average of 21,000 monthly searches, vegetarian diets are another commonly followed diet in the UK. Like vegan diets, this approach excludes meat and fish products but allows some animal-derived foods, such as eggs and dairy.
As interest in vegetarian diets continues to rise, many people are drawn to the potential health benefits this way of eating can offer. A well-balanced vegetarian diet is often rich in fibre, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, which may support heart health, digestion and overall wellbeing.
Similar to vegan diets, there is a slight risk of deficiencies, most notably vitamin B12. Again, supplements such as Vitabiotics Ultra Vitamin B-Complex Tablets can help support adequate intake and maintain overall health when following a vegetarian diet.
9. DASH Diet – 15,000 Monthly Searches
Near the end of the ranking, DASH diets receive an average of 15,000 monthly searches, ranking as the ninth most popular diet. ‘DASH’ stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension and is designed to improve cardiovascular health.
Key components of a DASH diet include nutrient-dense, low-sodium foods, prioritising products rich in potassium, calcium, magnesium and fibre to help improve blood pressure. Foods to avoid include red meat, saturated fats and sugar-sweetened drinks.
Overall, the DASH diet is a structured eating pattern designed to support cardiovascular health by emphasising nutrient-rich, low-sodium foods.
10. Gluten-Free Diet – 11,000 Monthly Searches
Finally, in tenth place, gluten-free diets receive an average of 11,000 monthly searches. While it’s not a go-to approach for many, gluten-free diets are typically followed by people with celiac disease, a chronic digestive condition triggered by gluten.
This means a gluten-free diet strictly avoids foods such as processed goods with hidden gluten, barley and rye (often found in beer and malt) and wheat-based products, including bread and pasta. While it seems restrictive, avoiding these trigger foods can help people with coeliac disease reduce symptoms such as diarrhoea, abdominal pain and anaemia.
Foods that are permitted in this diet include fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, dairy and gluten-free grains, including rice, quinoa and corn. It’s a crucial diet for coeliac disease and people with high gluten sensitivity, but it’s not something we’d recommend for most individuals, as there are more effective eating approaches available.
Expert Comment
To add clinical context to these trends, we asked a specialist dietitian to comment on why certain diets may rise and fall in popularity.
“While many diets trend online, nutrition research consistently shows that balanced eating patterns are more sustainable and supportive of long-term health and weight loss goals than restrictive approaches, which can be more difficult to maintain and may cut out food groups that are important for health.”
-
Veronica Giudice, Specialist Weight Management Dietitian
This aligns with NICE guideline NG246 (Overweight and obesity management), which encourages people to follow a nutritionally balanced diet in the long term and advises against restrictive diets that are nutritionally unbalanced (sections 1.16.6 and 1.16.7, 2025).
How Has This Changed Over the Past 12 Months?
| Diet name | 2025 Results | 2026 Results | Percentage Change (Search Volume) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vegan diet | 5,000 | 24,000 | +380% |
| Vegetarian diet | 5,000 | 21,000 | +320% |
| DASH diet | 9,000 | 15,000 | +67% |
| Intermittent fasting | 144,000 | 128,000 | -11% |
| Keto diet | 207,000 | 162,000 | -22% |
| Low-carb diet | 60,000 | 38,000 | -37% |
| Mediterranean diet | 96,000 | 51,000 | -47% |
| Gluten-free diet | 21,000 | 11,000 | -48% |
| FODMAP diet | 68,000 | 34,000 | -50% |
| Carnivore diet | 220,000 | 57,000 | -74% |
Over the past year, search interest in several once-dominant diets has declined, suggesting a shift away from more restrictive eating patterns.
Popular approaches such as the keto diet, intermittent fasting, low-carb and the carnivore diet have all seen notable drops in average monthly searches, with the carnivore diet experiencing the sharpest fall.
This decline may suggest that Brits are opting for dietary approaches that are easier to maintain long-term.
In contrast, plant-based and health-focused diets have gained traction and entered the rankings. Vegan, vegetarian and DASH diets have all seen significant growth in search interest, indicating a rising focus on balanced, sustainable eating habits.
It will be interesting to see how these trends change over the next 12 months and which dietary approaches prove popular come 2027.
Methodology
We at The Independent Pharmacy wanted to uncover the most googled diets in the UK.
To do this, we pulled a seed list of various diets and examined Google search data from Glimpse, focusing only on UK-specific searches. After uncovering the total number of searches for each diet, they were then ranked, with the top ten findings displayed in this blog.
Data correct as of January 2026.
Sources
- British Heart Foundation. Ask the expert: keto diet and weight loss [Internet]. n.d. Available from: https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/nutrition/ask-the-expert/keto-diet-weight-loss. Accessed 4 Feb 2026.
- Coeliac UK. What is the gluten-free diet? [Internet]. n.d. Available from: https://www.coeliac.org.uk/living-with-coeliac-disease/food-and-drink/the-gluten-free-diet/what-is-the-gluten-free-diet/. Accessed 4 Feb 2026.
- Diabetes UK. Intermittent fasting for type 2 diabetes remission [Internet]. n.d. Available from: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/about-diabetes/type-2-diabetes/remission/intermittent-fasting-for-remission. Accessed 4 Feb 2026.
- British Heart Foundation. Ask the expert: the 5:2 diet [Internet]. n.d. Available from: https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/nutrition/ask-the-expert/fast-diet. Accessed 4 Feb 2026.
- British Heart Foundation. DASH diet and blood pressure [Internet]. n.d. Available from: https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/nutrition/foods-that-lower-blood-pressure/dash-diet. Accessed 4 Feb 2026.
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Overweight and obesity management. NICE guideline NG246 [Internet]. 2025. Available from: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng246. Accessed 4 Feb 2026.
