Niacin Overload: How Excess Vitamin B3 in Processed Foods Could Be Linked to Heart Attacks and Death
South Burlington, Vermont – A deadly nutrient-related disease, pellagra, once plagued the American South in the early 20th century. The illness, caused by a deficiency in niacin and/or tryptophan, led to devastating symptoms known as the four “D’s”: diarrhea, dermatitis, dementia, and death. During the Great Depression, pellagra claimed the lives of nearly 7,000 Southerners annually, affecting around 3 million Americans between 1906 and 1940. To combat the epidemic, fortification of wheat and other cereals …