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"Researchers at Johns Hopkins are reporting what is believed to be the first conclusive evidence in men that the long-term ill effects of vitamin D deficiency are amplified by lower levels of the key sex hormone estrogen, but not testosterone. In a national study in 1010 men, to be presented Nov. 15 at the American Heart Association's (AHA) annual Scientific Sessions in Orlando, researchers say the new findings build on previous studies showing that deficiencies in vitamin D and low levels of estrogen, found naturally in differing amounts in men and women, were independent risk factors for hardened and narrowed arteries and weakened bones. Vitamin D is an essential part to keeping the body healthy, and can be obtained from fortified foods, such as milk and cereals, and by exposure to sunlight.

"For more than 80 years, scientists have known that vitamin D is important for building bones. And for most of those 80 years, people thought this was the only thing it was good for. In the past decade, however, we've learned two important things about vitamin D: it appears to have many other important health effects, and many Americans don't get enough of it. In 2008, new research pointed to a vitamin D deficiency as a possible contributing factor in heart disease. And the suspected link between vitamin D deficiency and cancer grew even stronger. This surely will spur much new research in 2009. Why is vitamin D deficiency so common? The vitamin is made in our skin when sunlight strikes it. Many Americans-especially those who live in the northern part of the country, are elderly or have dark skin-don't soak up enough sun. And the vitamin isn't found in many foods. The main sources are fatty fish (such as salmon, mackerel, herring and sardines) and milk, cereal and juices that have been fortified with it. Vitamin D deficiency often is unsuspected because it causes no direct symptoms; like high blood pressure, it does its damage silently."

Dietary acid-base balance, bone resorption, and calcium excretion. Jajoo R, Song L, Rasmussen H, Harris SS, Dawson-Hughes B. J Am Coll Nutr. 2006 Jun;25(3):224-30. PMID: 16766781 Conclusions: Diet changes that increase renal NAE are associated with increases in serum PTH, bone resorption, and calcium excretion over a 60-day period.

"Vitamin D may be more important to colon cancer prevention than previously believed, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Vol. 290, No. 22: 2959-2967). The study examined people with no symptoms of colon cancer to determine what role diet, exercise, smoking, and other behaviors played in the development or not of colon polyps, small growths in the colon that can turn into cancer if they aren't removed."