Published on September 18, 2025
Videos, pictures, special thanks, and more.
Key Points
- GrassrootsHealth and our “Team Vitamin D” visited Capitol Hill last week to meet with members of congress about our Maternal Vitamin D Initiative – asking them to champion moving current vitamin D research into practice, especially for maternal and child health
- Pictures, videos, and posts about the day’s events can be found below
- Special thanks to Karen Howard, our vitamin D researchers, our volunteer team members, and those who donated to support this initiative – donations are still needed and much appreciated!
I LOVE talking about vitamin D! I felt like I was in my element, right where I was needed… and glowing as I shared about vitamin D while visiting Capitol Hill last week. It showed, based on the feedback I received, such as the following from Karen Howard, CEO of Organic & Natural Health Association and the organizer of the My Health Alliance event:
“Dear Jen, first, let me say, you were stellar at our lobby day. You were able to quickly pivot and elegantly communicate with busy/overworked staff. You are charming, smart, passionate, and real. You are good at this work, and staff love to work with people whom they can trust. I look forward to many opportunities to collaborate and to doing this event next year. Thank you.”
It was an honor to be there as the Executive Director of GrassrootsHealth, representing the vitamin D scientists and experts who have spent much of their careers researching vitamin D and the benefits associated not just with correcting deficiency, but with achieving and maintaining optimal levels. Their research deserves much more attention than it has received, especially in mainstream medicine. It is time to move that research into practice!
Thank you! ♥️ ♥️ ♥️
Thank you to all of the vitamin D researchers whose work I am so honored to share. Special thanks to Karen Howard for her hard work in organizing the lobby day event, and for her ongoing encouragement and support. Thanks also to the individuals on “Team Vitamin D” who joined us voluntarily on the Hill to help spread the message and encourage vitamin D action, and thank you also to everyone who donated to support this effort, most especially Dr. William Grant, Dr. Carol Wagner, and Dr. Bruce Hollis, which helped make the trip possible! Finally, thank you to my family – mom, dad, Laura, and my kids especially – for believing in me, supporting me along the way, and for handling extra circumstantial mom duties during my absence.
My heart is extra full because of you,
Jen Aliano, Executive Director, GrassrootsHealth
Your Donations Matter!
We were well below our funding goal for this initiative – yet the work must continue!
Please consider donating if you have not already.
Donate Now
Go “Team Vitamin D”
Ten other individuals who share a passion for vitamin D were there by my side as part of GrassrootsHealth’s “Team Vitamin D” – I am incredibly grateful to each of them!
Throughout the day, we split up into small groups and visited our representatives of congress to present our Maternal Vitamin D Initiative – asking for specific actions to be taken on behalf of current vitamin D research, specifically as it relates to maternal and child health.
Here is what a couple of our team members have said about their experience, along with some videos and pictures from the day:
Organic & Natural Health Association
More than 50 citizen lobbyists representing a consortium of 15 national nonprofits and organizations gathered on Capitol Hill for the first My Health Alliance Lobby Day, organized by the Organic & Natural Health Association.
Participants in the first My Health Alliance Lobby Day included representatives from Organic & Natural Health, Americans for Homeopathy Choice, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, SENPA® a non-profit natural products trade association, American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), GrassrootsHealth, Power Up Nursing, Organic Consumers Association the Non-GMO Project, MOMS ACROSS AMERICA, WholeFoods Magazine, American Grassfed Association, BEYOND PESTICIDES, IFOAM – Organics International, and the Holistic Council. The advocacy agenda spans pesticide reduction, GMO elimination, and trade protections for botanicals, but the central focus of this year’s Lobby Day is the Maternal Vitamin D Initiative. Backed by the majority of My Health Alliance members, the initiative calls on Congress to:
- Establish a federal program for active-duty military maternity care, ensuring access to vitamin D testing and supplementation.
- Fund federal–state partnerships to expand maternal vitamin D programs nationwide.
- Update outdated national standards for vitamin D intake during pregnancy to reflect modern science.
Karen Howard, CEO and executive director of Organic & Natural Health said “This Lobby Day represents a landmark event in the natural products industry. For the first time, so many groups are walking into Congress together with one purpose: To push for policies that improve the health of families and strengthen the wellness of future generations.”
Kimberly Delbo, DNP, RN-BC with Power Up Nursing
Last week, I had the honor of joining My Health Alliance Lobby Day on Capitol Hill in DC alongside incredible organizations including the Organic & Natural Health Association, GrassrootsHealth, Moms Across America, and many other dedicated advocates.
Together, we met with members of Congress to highlight the urgent need for Vitamin D screening and maternal health programs, addressing a preventable public health crisis that affects nearly one-third of Americans. For me, this was not just an advocacy day, it was transformational grassroots movement, as together we engaged in health policy advocacy to dismantle the systemic barriers to health equity and cost effective, proactive, preventive healthcare.
This is not a small issue. It is an imperative topic that must be addressed if we are to truly promote a culture of health in America and beyond. Nearly 90% of nurses have insufficient or deficient Vitamin D levels—a reality that impacts not only our profession but also the health of our families, patients, and communities. Ensuring access to this simple, preventive measure strengthens immunity, ensures bone health, promotes mental health and cognitive functioning, impacts metabolic health, supports maternal and infant health, and builds resilience across the nation.
I am deeply grateful to the organizers and leaders who made this day possible, especially Dr. Beth Sanford and Jen Aliano for inviting me to the table, Karen Howard for her leadership and coordination efforts, and so many others whose vision and dedication continue to drive this important movement forward.
I also would like to thank my Power Up Nursing team who understand that when nurses are healthy, they are empowered to positively influence the health of their families, patients, organizations, and entire communities.
This is only the beginning of the conversation, and I am humbled to have been part of it.
Stay tuned! We will be sharing more soon.
What You Can Do Today
Support Your Pregnancy with Sufficient Vitamin D – Before You Conceive:
- Test your vitamin D level early—ideally prior to pregnancy or in the first trimester
- Maintain levels between 40–60 ng/ml (100-150 nmol/L) which have been shown to be optimal during pregnancy
GrassrootsHealth is advocating for improved maternal and infant health by promoting updated vitamin D guidelines during pregnancy. Research shows that maintaining a serum level of 40 ng/mL or higher can significantly reduce risks like preterm birth and preeclampsia, yet the majority of pregnant women fall below this threshold.
To address this, the organization is still seeking $50,000 to support policy efforts in Washington, D.C. and continuing efforts aiming to integrate vitamin D testing and supplementation into standard prenatal care.
Measure Your Vitamin D and Other Important Nutrients
If you haven’t had your vitamin D levels checked recently, now is the time! With so many Americans still falling short, awareness is the first step toward change.
Measuring your vitamin D level and calculating a supplementation amount to help reach and maintain a target level, or taking loading doses to correct deficiency faster, could possibly make all the difference in overall health, wellbeing, and how a current disease situation progresses. Test your level now!
Create your custom home blood spot kit by adding any of the following measurements, along with your vitamin D:
- Omega-3 Index (with or without Ratios AA:EPA and Omega-6:Omega-3)
- Magnesium (with additional Elements copper, zinc, selenium, mercury, and cadmium)
- hsCRP as a marker of inflammation and HbA1c as a marker of blood sugar health
Having and maintaining healthy vitamin D levels and other nutrient levels can help improve your health, now and for the future. Enroll and test your levels today, learn what steps to take to improve your status of vitamin D (see below) and other nutrients and blood markers, and take action! By enrolling in the GrassrootsHealth projects, you are not only contributing valuable information to everyone, you are also gaining knowledge about how you could improve your own health through measuring and tracking your nutrient status, and educating yourself on how to improve it.
How Can You Use this Information for YOUR Health?
Having and maintaining healthy vitamin D and other nutrient levels can help improve your health now and for your future. Measuring is the only way to make sure you are getting enough!
STEP 1 Order your at-home blood spot test kit to measure vitamin D and other nutrients of concern to you, such as omega-3s, magnesium, essential and toxic elements (zinc, copper, selenium, lead, cadmium, mercury); include hsCRP as a marker of inflammation or HbA1c for blood sugar health
STEP 2 Answer the online questionnaire as part of the GrassrootsHealth study
STEP 3 Using our educational materials and tools (such as our dose calculators), assess your results to determine if you are in your desired target range or if actions should be taken to get there
STEP 4 After 3-6 months of implementing your changes, re-test to see if you have achieved your target level(s)
