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.