Letter from the Director

You ask lots of questions! "Who should I believe?  How do I decide what action to take?  What's best for me and my family?"   

Here are some of the most common questions:

• What does vitamin K do?
• Should I take magnesium?
• Does my husband need vitamin D too? 
• Are there different D needs for children vs. adults?
• In what ways does my D level affect my health?

Ultimately it comes down to one question - How do I decide, "What is best for me and my family AND, how does it work for ME?"  

We cannot answer all of those questions in one newsletter. Instead, we want to tell you how those questions are guiding us, who is along for the ride, and how you can look forward to more answers going forward.  

Our upcoming seminar, Vitamin D for Public Health - Integrating Sunshine, Supplements and Measurement for Optimal Health, has been designed specifically to address the many questions we hear about sunshine and its benefits, and the relationship with supplements; and, we are including measurement as a key topic to allow us to quantify answers to some of those questions.

A Brave New World - Expanding to all Nutrients

The research we have done to date, our publications and the ongoing discoveries about vitamin D and nutritional health are leading us into a brave new world. We are going to take our proven methodologies in population research (D*action) into a broader field of research. GrassrootsHealth won't be limited to vitamin D research, but instead will use our population research methodology to study an array of nutrients.  A proper balance of nutrients is very important to our health and, many are very much affected by vitamin D.

Here Comes the Sun!

Our upcoming seminar,Vitamin D for Public Health - Integrating Sunshine, Supplements and Measurement for Optimal Health, will integrate sunshine and its benefits into the mix.  We already know that vitamin D is produced in the skin by sun exposure, but, what else does the sun do?  We have experts to help address this for us.  Drs. Michael Holick and Alexander Wunsch, both world-renowned photobiologists, present health outcomes of sun exposure beyond production of vitamin D. Outcomes such as how the sun affects circadian rhythms and how heart vessels respond to sun (they relax due to nitric oxide production).  Epidemiologist Dr. Cedric Garland will add to this knowledge with a talk on how the sun affects cancer, and Dr. William Grant will provide a cost/benefit analysis of how the sun's rays affect our health.

Measurement is Paramount

Without measurement you do not have the solid answers you need to make informed health decisions. Measurement and monitoring are the keys to making meaningful change--if you can't measure the difference, how will you know anything changed?

The market is bringing us new measurement tools every day. Some sit on our wrists or on our phones, others do single spot measurement at home, and others are new tools for group research. GrassrootsHealth will be integrating some of these new technologies with our research data gathering process to allow you to capture information you are already gathering and pass it on without having to key it in.  

Expanded Research Partnerships

 GrassrootsHealth is adding new research partners - from individual research scientists with new specialties to research organizations and affiliations. These new partnerships will help us answer the question of "'How do I decide what is best for my health?" In addition, we hope these partnerships will help us more quickly Move Research into Practice.

You have chosen to invest in both our grassroots effort and your health by becoming part of D*action. The GrassrootsHealth research team continues to study this data, write papers, and give presentations - making a significant impact in the health community.

D*action is based on the guiding principle that individuals care about their health and will make health decisions for themselves when they are given an adequate combination of information and tools. GrassrootsHealth will continue to operate with a team of scientific experts at its backbone to

It is an exciting time! You're leading us with your questions. Keep it up.

Carole Baggerly 

Director, GrassrootsHealth

A Public Health Promotion & Research Organization

Moving Research into Practice NOW!

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You can prevent disease if just one more person finds out about the preventative properties of vitamin D and starts moving their blood serum levels to 40-60 ng/ml.