Well, it's time to add one more item to the "You're still not taking Vitamin D supplements?!" list.

A mouse study out of Australia has provided the first concrete evidence of a link between vitamin D deficiency and decreased lung function. In fact, this study shows that vitamin D deficiency actually alters the very structure of the lungs, resulting in lower lung volume.

Yes, this was a mouse study -- but it follows right along with previous human studies showing a link between vitamin D deficiency and the severity of asthma and COPD.

This time, however, researchers were able to show a direct causal link between vitamin D deficiency and lung function. The results raised concerns about the increased prevalence of vitamin D deficiency. For me, it raises major concerns about the misguided, way too low, vitamin D recommendations from the Institute of Medicine (see the February 2011 issue of Nutrition & Healing for Dr. Wright's take on their ridiculous conclusions).

Now, I've written quite a lot about vitamin D over the past year or so, and for very good reason. All you have to do is perform a quick search over at the archives at www.wrightnewsletter.com to see how crucial vitamin D is to your health.

I'm not the only one obsessed with vitamin D news. A new assay hitting Europe is able to determine early vitamin D deficiency by measuring blood levels of 25-hydroxy (25-OH) vitamin D. What's so special about that? Vitamin D testing is known for being pretty inaccurate. Testing 25-OH vitamin D is the most accurate type of vitamin D test.

Tech company Abbott, which developed the assay, says this means more opportunities for preventative and therapeutic action.

As I said before, this test hasn't yet hit the United States. But you can bet I'll be keeping an eye out for it and will let you know about any developments.

In the meantime, Dr. Wright has previously stated that sunlight is the very best source of vitamin D (the rays start a chain of reaction within the human body that results in the production of vitamin D). Of course, he realizes nobody gets enough sun these days, so supplementation is key.

He recommends 4,000 International Units daily for adults and teens, 1,000 IU for infants and small children, and 2,000 IU for everyone in between. Of course, it's always best to consult with a doctor skilled in natural medicine in determining proper supplement dosage.

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