Why did corn make whole villages sick in Europe — while Mexico ate it for thousands of years and stayed healthy?
The answer was one missing step: nixtamalization. Soaking corn in lime water releases the niacin your body needs. Europe took the seed and left the step behind — and pellagra followed.
This is the story of the corn that made people sick, and the country that knew why.
In this video:
– How pellagra (the four Ds) spread across Europe and the American South
– Why raw corn locks its niacin away
– What nixtamalization does — and why it is 3,500 years old
– How Joseph Goldberger proved in 1914 it was diet, not a germ — and why niacin was only proven in 1937
This video is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice.
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