Calcium supplements are associated with an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and early death

Published in the BMJ 2010; 341:c3691 doi: 10.1136/bmj.c3691 (Published 29 July 2010)

Effect of calcium supplements on risk of myocardial infarction and cardiovascular events: meta-analysis
Mark J Bolland, senior research fellow1, Alison Avenell, clinical senior lecturer2, John A Baron, professor3, Andrew Grey, associate professor1, Graeme S MacLennan, senior research fellow2, Greg D Gamble, research fellow1, Ian R Reid, professor1
1Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92 019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
2Health Services Research Unit, University of Aberdeen
3Department of Medicine, and Department of Community and Family Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School, NH, USA

This paper can be accessed at: http://www.bmj.com/content/341/bmj.c3691.full
 
Bolland studied 15 trials to investigate whether calcium supplements increase the risk of cardiovascular events.
 
He found that calcium supplements are associated with an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and early death.

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Public health policy should be one that emphasizes food and diet, NOT one that emphasizes nutrient supplements

Published in JAMA. 2005;294:351-358.

Essential Nutrients: Food or Supplements? Where Should the Emphasis Be?
Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc; Robert M. Russell, MD
Jean mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, Mass.

This paper can be accessed at: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/294/3/351
 
The author reports, "The consumption of adequate levels and proper balance of essential nutrients is critical for maintaining health. The identification, isolation, and purification of nutrients in the early 20th century raised the possibility that optimal health outcomes could be realized through nutrient supplementation. Recent attempts using this approach for cardiovascular disease and lung cancer have been disappointing, as demonstrated with vitamin E and beta carotene. Moreover, previously unrecognized risks caused by nutrient toxicity and nutrient interactions have surfaced during intervention studies. The most promising data in the area of nutrition and positive health outcomes relate to dietary patterns, not nutrient supplements. These data suggest that other factors in food or the relative presence of some foods and the absence of other foods are more important than the level of individual nutrients consumed. Finally, unknown are the implications on public health behavior of shifting the emphasis away from food toward nutrient supplements. Notwithstanding the justification for targeting recommendations for nutrient supplements to certain segments of the population (eg, the elderly), there are insufficient data to justify an alteration in public health policy from one that emphasizes food and diet to one that emphasizes nutrient supplements".
 
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