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 Director's Letter
Carole Baggerly
Director, GrassrootsHealth
How you can help...
Many of you have asked us over the years how you can help - we have found a way - we are launching D*party. This is a way for you to host a gathering where people can be informed about vitamin D and take the next step - test their level and join D*action - to support moving research into practice.
You can read all about how to do this - and you can start today. I often meet people on my travels who ask how they can help. D*party is a concrete way to reach out to those in your sphere of influence - close friends, family, co-workers, even customers! - and you will receive a reward for helping.
We take your data - and the data from your friends and family - seriously. By hosting a D*party, not only will you be providing information on the importance of vitamin D and a means for them to test their own levels, but also contributing to the strength of our research on vitamin D and disease prevention. Your data on your health status, vitamin D supplementation, and vitamin D levels are what allows us to create charts and tables and write papers documenting a 41% reduction in flu, a 50% reduction in breast cancer, a 60% reduction in diabetes based on vitamin D status. The more people we have participating, the stronger our analyses and conclusions.
We'll be announcing how you can use a D*party in conjunction with an upcoming new project with the flu. Please let us know your ideas! Can you have a D*party within a month? Do you have a friend who might?
Thank you for your help,
Carole Baggerly
Director, GrassrootsHealth
A Public Health Promotion & Research Organization
Moving Research into Practice NOW!
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Feature Story
Throwing a D*party
You can help solve the vitamin D deficiency epidemic by throwing a D*party. We will give you the tools you need to educate and help your guests test their own D levels. Not only will you be providing your guests with valuable health data, but also strengthening GrassrootsHealth research by expanding its vitamin D cohort.
Why should you do this?
Our last seminar was December, 2014. It attracted vitamin D enthusiasts, doctors, and researchers from all over the world. We offered testing to all who attended. And guess what? Even those that study and learn about vitamin D were deficient! (All those in red in the chart below.) It is eye opening to see the results of your first vitamin D measurement. When you make it easy for people to test (giving them the test and the reason for testing), you are helping them make a positive life change.
What's the first step?
Accept the challenge! Find a location, time, and create a list of potential attendees. Invite as many people as you can, there is attrition both in accepting the invitation and in actually attending. Do not be shy in your invitations, you are serving the community with this information. Just think about how getting the word out could change the health of the people who attend. Can you have a D*party within the month of September? Do you have a friend who might? Our target is to have at least 10 D*party groups in September.
How do you sign up?
What do you do during a D*party?
 As the host you can decide on refreshments and how to make everyone feel comfortable. A D*party would last no more than 2 hours. We recommend you show one video about vitamin D that suits your audience. These videos are typically 45 minutes long. After the video you can have a discussion and answer questions, and any questions that you can't answer please send to us and we will provide responses that you can forward on to your attendees. We will provide you with some test kits to have on hand to give attendees who want to find out their vitamin D blood level and join the fight against vitamin D deficiency (their payment for each test helps to fund vitamin D research). You could have a computer available to allow attendees to register with D*action, fill out their questionnaire, and pay online. Or, invite them to bring their own laptop. Then, you can hand them the test kit and they can prick their finger and send the test out from their home the next day.
What will GrassrootsHealth provide?
When you sign up to host a D*party we will send you: - Vitamin D blood spot test kits (tests will not be processed without payment)
- A set of Disease Incidence Prevention Charts, FAQs, and Call to D*action handouts
Host rewards
If five or more test kits are purchased through your D*party, each testing individual will receive a FREE bottle of Bio-Tech 5,000 IU vitamin D AND the party host will receive a FREE test kit and bottle of vitamin D! There will definitely be rewards for the first party in September, the one with the most attendees, the one with the highest average serum levels!
Which state has the highest D*enthusiasm?
As we roll out this new feature we will keep track of the parties and the new people who sign up for D*action. We will report back to you where the action is taking place. Right now California has the most participants, and is also home to GrassrootsHealth.
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Video of the Week
Recommended videos for D*party
This week we will highlight the three videos that are recommended for a D*party. The idea behind these videos is to give an overview of vitamin D, so that you cover a myriad of conditions and a general explanation.
 Sunlight and Your Health: An EnLIGHTening Perspective Michael F. Holick, PhD, MD
Boston University Medical Center
This jam-packed presentation gives you all the information you need to understand the benefits of sunlight and vitamin D, while debunking the current thoughts of our culture. This presentation gives you the science behind the benefits of the sun, but in a very entertaining and fast-paced presentation. It also chronologically goes through medicine's relationship with the sun and vitamin D.
 Vitamin D, Sunshine, Optimal Health: Putting it all Together Robert Heaney, MD
Creighton University
In this talk Dr. Heaney covers four basic points with respect to optimal health:
1. Why is vitamin D important?
2. How does it work?
3. Where do we get it?
4. How much do we need?
Dr. Heaney explains that vitamin D acts as a mechanism to help cells function and heal. It is important to get our bodies into a healing, nutrient-rich state, not to wait for disease to set upon us and then diagnose and fix the problems. It is also important to pay attention to the micro-nutrients that are co-factors for vitamin D, as these are also needed for proper cell function.
 Meeting the Vitamin D Requirements of the Pregnant Woman and Improving Health Outcomes Carol L. Wagner, MD
Medical University of South Carolina
Watch Video
This video should be used in a pregnancy D*party. It is great for a set of pregnant women who are concerned about their health and their baby's health. In this video Dr. Wagner describes many of the health outcomes caused by vitamin D deficiency for both early childhood and the mother's health.
Dr. Wagner and Dr. Bruce Hollis conducted the Thrasher study in 2011 with over 500 women in South Carolina. She goes into detail about how the study was conducted, the types of women in the study, how they were supplemented, and the outcomes. The outcome of this study was a recommendation of 4,000 IU/day for pregnant women, which has now been put into standard practice at the Medical University of South Carolina with our Protect our Children NOW! project.
Dr. Wagner was also involved with two studies that focused on vitamin D in breast milk. There are many that say that vitamin D is not transferred to the baby through breast milk - but they are wrong! It is transferred if the mother is vitamin D sufficient and regular with her vitamin D exposure.
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 Editor's Letter
Susan Siljander
Marketing Director, GrassrootsHealth
I just recently hosted a party at my house. It takes a little bit of work - thinking about who to invite, what to have for snacks, cleaning up before - but not very much work compared to the benefit for the people who attend.
I am sure there are many people you have told about vitamin D, or wanted to, and you didn't have the time, or they needed more proof. Well, this is the time! Have them over and host a D*party. Who should you invite? Let me help you brainstorm: - Neighbors
- Co-workers
- The parents of your children's friends
- Friends from activities (the gym, church, school, library)
- Your family members that haven't caught on yet
- If you have a clinic or business, members of your staff
- Patients/customers in any area
I might also invite 1-2 D*enthusiasts - those who already have raised their D level and might have great stories to tell. These people could help you when it comes time to see if anyone is going to test, or in answering questions that your guests might have. They could be the second and third voice of reason.
Think about it - and let us know when you want to host a D*party.
Susan Siljander Marketing Director, GrassrootsHealth A Public Health Promotion & Research Organization
Moving Research into Practice NOW!
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| Open to any US woman, 18 years or older, at 12-17 weeks of pregnancy
D*certified Practitioners
Take two CME courses online to become D*certified Register today
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| References |
D*party
Instructions
Read now
D*party
Sign up form
Sign up now
Your Data Your Answers
Cold and Flu Data Read Chart
Your Data Your Answers GrassrootsHealth Breast Cancer Project View Poster
Your Data Your Answers Vitamin D and Age
Your Data Your Answers
Vitamin D and diabetes View Chart | Your Data Your Answers
Vitamin D and latitude
View Chart |
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 | Sunlight and Your Health: An EnLIGHTening Perspective
Michael F. Holick, PhD, MD
Boston University Medical Center
Watch Video
Vitamin D, Sunshine, Optimal Health: Putting it all Together
Robert Heaney, MD
Creighton University
Watch Video
Meeting the Vitamin D Requirements of the Pregnant Woman and Improving Health Outcomes
Carol L. Wagner, MD
Medical University of South Carolina
Watch Video
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