Pellagra is a niacin deficiency. Lots of the settlers who first headed south suffered from pellagra. Niacin is a vitamin that is mostly found in lean meats, poultry, fish, and leafy, green vegetables. Since many of the settlers subsided solely on beans, corn, and corn products, they did not get enough niacin in their diets. Native American Indians learned to process their corn in such a way that they were able to retain the small amount of niacin that existed. New settlers did not bother to learn these techniques and knew nothing about pellagra. Symptoms of advanced pellagra consists of a red rash around the throat and neck (dermatitis), dementia and diarrhea. The three “d’s”. Having that said, have you ever wondered where some saying or phrases come from? How about the classic “crazy redneck” line? Well maybe “crazy redneck” used to just be a way to describe pellagrins in their final stages. That’s what I think. Granted, I could be wrong. “Crazy redneck” might just be in reference to a sunburned day-worker with a sawed-off shot gun, but I like to believe the term has some historical value. If you know otherwise, please don’t correct me. I’m okay with being wrong on this one. I like it better this way. Sometimes it’s important to believe in something, even if it’s not true. I got that from “Second-hand Lions”. That was a really sweet little movie. That kid who used to see dead people did a good job of looking like a fifteen year-old 5th grader.
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