Abstract
The recognition that certain diseases were caused by a lack of a specific nutrient occurred as nutrition science evolved. In some instances, many centuries elapsed before a connection was made. In others, only a few hundred years elapsed between the description of a disease and its nutrient cause. This is the situation for the disease, pellagra, which was only recognized as impoverished people began to depend on corn as their major food source. This article describes the history of pellagra and its relationship to poverty and the consumption of corn.