Americans are increasingly shopping from places other than grocery stores — like warehouse clubs and convenience stores — and have been purchasing unhealthier foods, according to a new study.

According to Dr. Ichiro Kawachi, chair of social and behavioral sciences at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, “The typical supermarket these days is carefully engineered so that they are constantly tempting customers to make impulse purchases and unwise food choices (e.g. placing candies at the checkout.) Having a plan and sticking to it is a good start to pre-committing yourself to a healthy purchase pattern.”

Researchers surveyed more than 1,300 mostly overweight and obese residents in two poor, primarily African American communities and found that shoppers who regularly made grocery lists also made higher quality food choices and had lower body weights.

Grocery store chains consistently had the lowest caloric profiles and had better nutrient densities. Convenience stores had the food with the most sugar — more than 35% of all calories purchased there came from gum and candy — and warehouse clubs had the most sodium.

Sources:
www.medpagetoday.com
www.reuters.com

What’s for breakfast?

Yogurt would be a good choice according to a report in BMC Medicine. Having a 1 cup serving of yogurt a day might decrease your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 18%.

Zendocrinology’s Spin: Yogurt is a staple of the Mediterranean diet which has been shown to have health benefits in the prevention and treatment of diabetes. Inflammation and gut bacteria are hot topics on this subject as well. So we suggest plain low fat greek yogurt with active cultures. Sweeten with stevia or a little honey, sprinkle with ground flax seed, and add a few berries and nuts such as walnuts and pecans. Yum.

BMC Study Details here: http://www.healio.com/endocrinology/diabetes/news/online/%7B911926bd-9a5a-4f16-ae83-4b3104749e62%7D/daily-yogurt-consumption-decreased-risk-for-type-2-diabetes

Mediterranean diet and Diabetes here:
http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/news/20140327/take-heart-mediterranean-diet-combats-diabetes-study-says

Diet soda – should you drink it? Probably not!

For years we have noticed that avid diet soda drinkers struggle with their weight, blood sugar control, and other features of the “metabolic syndrome.” Some of the theories are that the sweetness of artificial sweeteners tricks your brain into thinking here comes something good … but then it doesn’t. Your body is flooded with hormones expecting some incoming sugar. You are then left hungry and often end up consuming more calories. Other negative effects can include the difficulty our body has in processing artificial substances and increases our insulin resistance. Newer research has linked alterations in our gut microbiomes (bacteria) which can increase our risks for a host of illnesses including increased belly fat, insulin resistance, worsening blood sugar control. The chemicals and artificial sweeteners might alter our gut micro biomes.

So, what to do? Drink WATER. Our bodies were made to have plain water as our source of water after we were weaned from mother’s milk. Our water does not need to be flavored, or be sweet. For those of you who just can’t stand plain old water, you can flavor infuse it by putting some slices of fruit into a pitcher of water in your fridge. Lemon and lime are good.

Any beverage other than water should be an occasional treat.

Sources:

“Artificial sweeteners induce glucoseintolerance by altering the gut microbiota” Jotham Suez1, Tal Korem2*, David Zeevi2*, et al NATURE: 9 OCTOBER 2014 | VOL 514 | NATURE | 181

Sharon P.G. Fowler, Ken Williams and Helen P. Hazuda. “Diet Soda Intake Is Associated with Long-Term Increases in Waist Circumference in a Biethnic Cohort of Older Adults: The San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging”. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, March 17, 2015 DOI: 10.1111/jgs.13376