Health Alert! Get Smart & Healthy with Viactiv– an Easy, Tasty Way to Get Vitamin D & Calicum!!

March is National Nutrition Month and it’s time to re-evaluate your diet and make sure you are getting enough calcium and Vitamin D because without both, you are at risk for osteopenia (bone-softening) and osteoporois (bone loss) that can cause major health damage. guys, listen up and get on board this one because this can affect you too– particularly if you 1) eat a lot of junk food, 2) don’t exercise much and 3) drink a fair amount of alcohol!

Jude Verrier learned about this the hard way. Co-owner with her daughter Ashleigh of the rising star fashion label Verrier, discovered via a bone scan in September 2008 that she was at risk for Osteoporosis. Years earlier, Jude had learned that she was completely deficient in Vitamin D which aids in the absorption of calcium. The lack of Vitamin D + calcium probably led to this serious risk of osteoporosis.
The scare– and subsequent education — that Jude and Ashleigh got inspired them to spread the word to their peers in the fashion world and media in the hopes that other women would be able to build and maintain their bone mass by working enough calcium and Vitamin D into their diets to prevent osteopenia and osteoporosis.
Here’s what Ashleigh and Jude have been doing to promote the need for both calcium and Vitamin D in your daily diet.
1) They’ve gotten celebrity participation, specifically Natasha Henstridge who is shown here with Ashleigh Verrier .

2), Viactiv has a special portion of their web site devote to “Style & Strength for Life” with Verrier, It features health/style tips from Ashleigh, as well as blog posts from Jude and Ashleigh– and looks like video blogs too coming soon.

3) Viactiv has been reformulated to include 125% of the daily recommended intake of Vitamin D, and 100% of the recommended intake of calcium. It’s a perfect for women because 53% of women do not get the daily recommended value of Vitamin D– and it tastes great too.

Viactiv Milk Chocolate
Tara Snyder, a senior nutritionist with McNeil Nutritionals (a Johnson & Johnson company) states that the typical foods such as milk, cheese and green vegetables just don’t pack the punch needed to fulfill a woman’s daily calcium requirements. Most diets that are high in protein, sodium and caffeine can decrease calcium absorption! Ultimately, this means that bones can soften a condition known as OSTEOPENIA.
Here are the statistics!
**53% of women are not getting enough Vitamin D each day!
Vitamin D deficiency is linked to osteoporosis and depression, and recent studies have shown that it can prevent diseases such as cancer when daily recommended values are met
**72% of women ages 19-50, and 90% of women over age 50 are not getting enough calcium each day, accounting for a majority of women in the US only. Imagine if someone studied men or global population of women? While the statistics are reflective of women– this condition can affect men too.
Before you start thinking that this can’t affect you because you do get some sun exposure and you have some dairy intake re-read this post again and realize you need to be proactive about it. Turns out I was deficient in Vitamin D too. I started taking Viactiv and it’s one of the ways I can get my sweet tooth craving and my vitamin needs solved in one or two easy bites. .

Viactiv Caramel
Find Viactiv at drugstores, markets, mass merchandise stores and online
Stevie Wilson