Calcium supplements may increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, according to a study published this week in the British Medical Journal. Researchers followed 16,718 postmenopausal women in the Women’s Health Initiative. They found that a combination of calcium and vitamin D supplements increased heart health risk by 13 to 22 percent. The analysis showed the risk of calcium intake remained with or without vitamin D.1

Calcium supplements have been called into question by previous studies showing that calcium intake from both supplements and dairy products increases the risk of prostate cancer.2-4

1. Bolland MK, Grey A, Avenell A, Gamble GD, Reid IR. Calcium supplements with or without vitamin D and risk of cardiovascular events: reanalysis of the Women’s Health Initiative limited access dataset and meta-analysis. BMJ. Published ahead of print April 19, 2011. doi:10.1136/bmj.d2040.

2. World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research. Food, Nutrition, and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective. American Institute for Cancer Research. Washington, D.C. 1997; p. 322.

3. Chan JM, Stampfer MJ, Ma J, Gann PH, Gaziano JM, Giovannucci E. Dairy products, calcium, and prostate cancer risk in the Physicians’ Health Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2001;74:549-554.

4. Chan JM, Giovannucci EJ. Dairy products, calcium, and vitamin D and risk of prostate cancer. Epidemiol Rev. 2011;23:87-92.

Nearly half of all meat and poultry products in United States grocery stores are contaminated with a type of bacteria linked to human disease, according to a new study. Of those products infected with Staphylococcus aureas, 52 percent had a drug-resistant strain of the bacteria. Researchers collected samples from 80 different brands in 26 retail grocery stores in Chicago, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Flagstaff, Ariz. The bacteria were most common in the turkey samples, followed by pork, chicken, and beef.

Waters AE, Contente-Cuomo T, Buchhagen J, et al. Multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in US meat and poultry. Clin Infect Dis. Published ahead of print April 15, 2011:doi:10.1093/cid/cir181.

Egg consumption increases the risk of gestational diabetes, according to a new article in this week’s American Journal of Epidemiology. Researchers analyzed two studies conducted in Washington state, the Omega Cohort Study and the Alpha Case-Control Study, and found that as egg and cholesterol intake increased, so did the risk of gestational diabetes. Women who consumed the most eggs (greater than or equal to seven per week) had a 77 percent increased risk of diabetes in the Omega study and a 165 percent increased risk in the Alpha study, compared with those who consumed the least.

Qiu C, Frederick IO, Zhang C, Sorensen TK, Enquobahrie DA, Williams MA. Risk of gestational diabetes mellitus in relation to maternal egg and cholesterol intake. Am J Epidemiol. 2001;173:649-658.

McDougall says Vitamin D recommendations are too high: “Widespread recommendations for testing vitamin D levels using a standard that is too high to achieve is another example of disease mongering—where healthy people are turned into patients.”

McDougall picks his five favorite articles from recent medical journals, covering topics including acne, baby formula, hidden vegetables, harmful PSA velocity, and blood pressure pills.

And this month, he features recipes from Veganomicon goddess Isa Chandra Moskowitz, including chickpea piccata, miso udon stir-fry, mango BBQ beans, five spice delicata squash, and a Goddess Nicoise salad.

Some foods elicit reactions in the brain similar to those caused by recreational drugs, according to a new study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry. Researchers examined magnetic resonance images of 48 healthy women who tasted chocolate milkshakes, finding that reaction patterns in the anterior cingulate cortex, medial orbitofrontal cortex, and amygdala were similar in response to foods as to drugs.

Gearhardt AN, Yokum S, Orr PT, Stice E, Corbin WR, Brownell KD. Neural correlates of food addiction. Arch Gen Psychiatry. Published ahead of print April 4, 2011. doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.32.

Vegetarians have significantly lower blood pressure, waist circumference, body mass index, blood sugar, and triglycerides, compared with nonvegetarians, according to a recent study published in Diabetes Care. In 1,011 randomly selected Adventist Health Study-2 participants, metabolic syndrome, a cluster of disease risk factors associated with heart disease and diabetes, was lowest among vegetarians (25.2 percent), followed by semi-vegetarians (37.6 percent), and highest among nonvegetarians (39.7 percent).

Rizzo NS, Sabate J, Jaceldo-Siegl K, Fraser G E. Vegetarian dietary patterns are associated with a lower risk of metabolic syndrome: the Adventist Health Study 2. Diabetes Care. Published ahead of print March 16, 2011. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.110.004028.

Eating animal products increases the risk of cataracts, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Based on findings from 27,670 participants in the European Prospective Investigation in Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-Oxford) study, meat intake was positively associated with risk of cataracts. The participants were divided into six diet groups: highest meat consumption, mid-range meat consumption, least meat consumption, fish-eaters, vegetarians, and vegans. Compared with those who ate the most meat, the risks for developing cataracts after adjusting for multiple confounders including age and smoking were as follows: mid-range meat consumption participants decreased their cataract risk by 4 percent, least meat consumption group by 15 percent, fish-eaters by 21 percent, vegetarians by 30 percent, and those who followed a vegan diet by 40 percent.

Appleby PN, Allen NK, Key TJ. Diet, vegetarianism, and cataract risk. Am J Clin Nutr. Published ahead of print March 23, 2011. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.110.004028.