Why are we talking about grits here? Anyway, I seem to recall from some dim
dark background in nutrition that the treatment that turns corn into hominy
grits - i.e. treating the corn with lime - is similar to that which native
Southwestern peoples, including those in Mexico, developed in their cooking
(tortilla-making), and that the whole business of the lime treatment turned
out to be essential in preventing one of those vit. B-complex deficiency
diseases. Pellagra or beriberi sticks in my mind - is this ringing any bells
out there?

Pellagra is caused by a niacin deficiency; it affects almost every cell of
the body but particularly the skin, nervous system, and the GI tract, can
lead to mental retardation, blindness, and even death, and it used to be
more prevalent among poor families in the South. Could this be what I'm
thinking of as being prevented by the lime/corn thing? Or maybe beriberi,
which (I think) is caused by a thiamin deficiency. Anyway, grits are a
decent source of both thiamin and niacin, and also have a little iron.

Cathy Bargar, RN, IBCLC (I'm not a nutritionist, but for several years I
played one at WIC...)