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

Do you have diabetes and experience tingling and pain in your hands or feet? Is it diabetic neuropathy or could you be suffering from B12 deficiency instead? The symptoms can mimic each other. Metformin is the first line pharmaceutical in the treatment for Type 2 Diabetes worldwide. The benefits of this drug have been established. However, a not often known fact is that it can cause malabsorption of vitamin B12.

Long-term use of metformin, as well as having a preexisting malabsorptive illness, can increase your chance of developing a deficiency. If you are on metformin, ask your doctor to check your B12 level annually. Taking sublingual B12 supplements or having an annual 1,000 mcg B12 injection can help prevent this risk. Taking calcium carbonate daily, 1200 mg, may also block the mechanism that is involved with the malaborption.

References: Metformin-induced Vitamin B12 Deficiency Presenting as a Peripheral Neuropathy
David S.H. Bell, MD
South Med J. 2010;103(3):265-267.

Age Ageing. 2006 Mar;35(2):200-1.
Metformin-related vitamin B12 deficiency.
Liu KW1, Dai LK, Jean W.

Do you have diabetes along with mild kidney disease and your doctor had you stop Metformin but now finding your diabetes hard to control?

Good news – a recent review has shown that Metformin is safe in mild to moderate kidney disease.

Metformin is the first line drug treatment for Type 2 diabetes and is the only treatment shown to decrease your cardiovascular risk (risk of heart attacks and stroke) and over all one of the safest drugs for diabetes.

The current guidelines are conservative. Over 100 diabetes experts have signed a petition to the FDA to revise Metformins prescribing guidelines.
Sources:
http://news.yale.edu/…/popular-diabetes-drug-may-be-safe-pa…
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/771401