What is pellagra?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
February 24, 2004
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The domestication of maize or corn (Zea mays Linnaeus) began sometime around 7,000 years ago. The history of corn is unknown, but the plant spread by trade throughout the American continents. The New World peoples depended upon this grain as a staple. But a diet built around corn can cause a severe medical problem, pellagra.
Pellagra is a vitamin deficiency disease caused by a lack of nicotinic acid (niacin, Vitamin B3) in the diet. Pellagra affects the skin, the mucous membranes, the gastro-intestinal tract, and the central nervous system. Lesions and crusting form on the skin, secondary infections set in easily, and the skin over pressure areas like the knees and elbows becomes thick, darkened, inelastic, and fissured.
The mucous membranes become bright scarlet, the mouth and throat are sore, and the tongue and inside the lower lip become ulcerated. A gray material sloughs off these ulcers. The lower GI tract is distended; nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea are common. The person suffers from memory loss, disorientation, confusion, and paranoia or delirium with excitement and depression. ("Niacin Deficiency", Vitamin Deficiency, Dependency, and Toxicity, The Merck Manual, 2004)
Corn has niacin, but it is bound to other molecules and cannot be assimilated in the human digestive tract. Corn is also low in tryptophan from which the body can manufacture niacin. Pellagra was a common disorder among impoverished people whose main source of energy was the consumption of corn, particularly dried mature corn used for flour or meal. In the beginning of the 20th century, pellagra was thought proof that certain peoples were inferior when they were simply suffering from a vitamin deficiency.
But native peoples with diets high in corn and corn meal (tortillas and hominy) did not have a high rate of pellagra. The answer was simply a matter of preparation. Corn for cornmeal and hominy was treated with lye, limestone, or wood ashes. The addition of "cal" to the making of cornmeal for masa (corn dough for tortillas) or lye for making hominy broke the chemical bond and freed the niacin for absorption by the body. And the natives combined beans (Phaseolus vulgaris Linnaeus) with their corn diet. Beans contain the tryptophan needed to make additional niacin and build complete proteins.
The National Lime Association has a very informative page on the uses of lime (calcium oxides) in numerous food preparation and manufacturing processes. To learn more about lime, click on the link:
http://www.lime.org/ENV02/Other802.htm#Food
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
What ceremony celebrated the gift of the corn harvest? Herbal Folklore - August 27, 2001
Why do we call maize, corn? What's in a Name? - August 31, 2001
What are grits? Plants that Changed History - April 27, 2004
Did the Native Americans grow corn that was free of earworms? Renfield's Garden - August 29, 2001
Why don't you ever see wild corn? Weird Plants - August 30, 2001
What is pellagra? Plants that Changed History - February 24, 2004
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