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Corn lacks niacin .
Years ago, people in the South who depended on corn grits as a diet staple suffered from this body-wide disease that leads to dermatitis, diarrhea, and depression. It can even lead to death, if deprivation continues long enough. Today, nearly everyone gets sufficient niacin . Meat, poultry, and fish are rich in this B vitamin, and it s also added to flour and other cereal products to help ensure that our needs are met. Pellagra, for the most part, is a thing of the past.