Published on January 18, 2023
In Memory of a GrassrootsHealth Fan, Life-Long Learner, Mother & Grandmother, Katherine Simon Pabis Suto
It’s not often that a donation to GrassrootsHealth comes with a story such as the one we received recently from Julie Sarr, whose mother Katherine was passionate about sharing vitamin D, nutrition, and the work of GrassrootsHealth with those around her. To honor her request of doing something related to prenatal health for African-American women, over the next couple of weeks, we will be sharing results from our own prenatal study, conducted with the Medical University of South Carolina, along with data from other studies showing the amazing effects of vitamin D on prenatal and newborn health outcomes, and how vitamin D itself can greatly reduce the racial health disparities found for many diseases.
Be a vitamin D advocate, like Katherine, by sharing these upcoming articles and resources with those in your own personal and professional circles. The more you share, the more lives can be touched by this vital information.
We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to ALL who have donated to GrassrootsHealth over the years – you are helping us make a difference!
Please consider making a donation today to further vitamin D research, education, and action – getting the right information about vitamin D into the hands of everyone.
Katherine Simon Pabis Suto: A short biography by her daughter, Julie Sarr
Katherine was born in 1940 in Baltimore. Her father was a baker, and her parents ran the bakery out of the home, which had a brick oven built into the basement. Like many children of her day, she was raised with daily cod liver oil chased with fresh orange juice. She walked to and from school twice a day (coming home for lunch), and thus got plenty of sunshine.
When she was 22, she married my father, John Pabis, and they had five kids over the next decade. By the time her second child was born, Katherine was consulting Adelle Davis’ books on how to improve her nutrition for her breastfed son who was a skinny baby.
My mother never finished college, but always put a high value on education and was herself a lifelong learner. She loved science topics, but especially dear to her heart was nutrition, because of the potential that it had to improve the health of both mind and body, here and now. When her eldest daughter shared with her Dr. Joseph Mercola’s interview with Carole Baggerly on the topic of Vitamin D (2008), Katherine was fascinated with the potential for Vitamin D to improve health.
Katherine proceeded to spread the word to her children and grandchildren, other family members, and friends. Many got their first bottle of Vitamin D3 in the mail from Katherine. She saw her doctor and told him which Vitamin D test she wanted him to run (information she got from GrassrootsHealth), so that she could know her level. She found studies on other nutrients like Magnesium and Omega 3 fats at GrassrootsHealth and PUBMED and shared these.
As she got older, Katherine began to see more how scientific nutrition information could help persons of all ages and backgrounds, if only doctors and individuals grasped the importance. On a fixed income, she concentrated her love on those closest to her. In her last year of life, she found and purchased a Magnesium supplement powder for her granddaughter who didn’t like swallowing pills.
Because Katherine’s favorite role in life was her role as a mother, I believe she would be pleased to have a gift in her memory go towards improving nutrition for pregnant women, including African American women, who statistically have a need for improved pregnancy outcomes. A child with good health is a gift that nutrition science can help bring to more parents.
Thank you,
Julie
Thank You Julie, and All Others Who Have Donated to GrassrootsHealth!
GrassrootsHealth is a non-profit public health research organization dedicated to moving public health messages regarding vitamin D and other nutrients from the best available research into practice – using the tools and methods we have developed – NOW. Founded to provide information on the importance of vitamin D for health, we believe knowledge is the bedrock for realizing the JOY of good health with vitamin D!
We actively collaborate with many researchers, health professionals, policy makers, and participants, as well as companies who offer products or supplies, to present a well-rounded, joint representation of the science. Our panel of 48 senior vitamin D researchers from around the globe also contribute to our operations.
Grant funding for nutrients, such as vitamin D, is rare. The money is not in nutrients, but drugs. Help us help you.
Donating to support GrassrootsHealth will positively affect millions of lives.
We Thank You for Your Donation!
Know Your Levels of Vitamin D, Omega-3s & Other Important Health Markers
Measuring our levels of vitamin D and other important nutrients and health markers can be considered one way to check-in with our health status and guide us towards the steps to take next in improving and supporting our health.
Having and maintaining healthy vitamin D levels and other nutrient levels can help improve your health now and for your future. Choose which to measure, such as your vitamin D, omega-3s, and essential minerals including magnesium and zinc, by creating your custom home test kit today. Take steps to improve the status of each of these measurements to benefit your overall health. You can also track your own intakes, symptoms and results to see what works best for YOU.
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)
