Ancestral Food Lore

In my recent readings I came across an example that adds weight to what i have been learning about foods recently. I feel we have to look towards the original cultures that ate those foods in order to make them nice and tasty, but it goes further than that.

I had never heard of Pellagra before. Why should I? Maize is not a staple of our diets. It is not an illness of the modern world because we understand it now.

Pellagra is a deficiency of niacin than results in the four D's, diarrhea, dementia, dermatitis and death. It became common at the turn of the last century in countries such as Italy were corn had become a staple as well as amongst the immigrant communities of America. It took some time for the fact that it did not affect the native American population to be noticed, which was unfortunate....

Traditionally the grain was treated with lime. It is now understood that this alters the niacin in the corn to make it available, reducing the chance of Pellagra. When corn became a staple within other communities, this treatment was not understood and not adopted.

So yes, looking to the communities that eat foods is a very good idea.

Maybe I should look at how my ancestors ate wheat?