Health Equity & Advocacy Project (HEAP) just launched, its mission to educate and inspire Blacks and other melanin-challenged populations to get their vitamin D levels up to healthy. Their lives may depend on it.

The merging of #BLM with COVID has created a moment where the Black community’s health outcomes with the pandemic is worse than most—as is vitamin D blood levels, and a slew of published research over the past year has shown at least a correlation between vitamin D deficiency and worse COVID-19 outcomes. Brian Terry, national sales manager at Nordic Naturals, saw opportunity. He sat down with Insider senior editor Todd Runestad to discuss:

• That an incredible 82% of Blacks are vitamin D deficient, compard to 63% Latinx and 31% White. What can vitamin D do to help peoples’ health status?
• Why supplementation is the only realistic solution.
• Terry is a Black man in a White industry. What has his experience been—are natural products people really full of peace and love?