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A pinch of iodine in salt prevents a leading cause of preventable brain damage.
Iodine deficiency causes goitre and can harm children's brain development. Switzerland began iodising salt in 1922 and the USA in 1924; the WHO now recommends iodised salt worldwide.
Why it matters: Choosing iodised salt is one of the cheapest health decisions a family can make.
Iodised salt — World Health Organization (1922)
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The word "vitamin" began as a scientific guess.
In 1912 Casimir Funk proposed that diseases such as beriberi and scurvy came from missing "vital amines" in food, and coined the word vitamine. The e was dropped when not all proved to be amines.
Why it matters: It changed nutrition from eating enough food to eating the right food.
The etiology of the deficiency diseases — Casimir Funk (1912)
Journal of State Medicine, 1912
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Chickens fed white rice gave the first clue to vitamins.
In the 1890s in Java, Christiaan Eijkman found that chickens fed polished white rice developed a beriberi-like illness, while those given unpolished rice recovered. Something in the outer layer was vital.
Why it matters: This led to the discovery of vitamin B1; Eijkman shared the 1929 Nobel Prize.
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1929 — Christiaan Eijkman (1897)
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One of the first controlled trials in medicine took place on a ship.
In 1747 naval surgeon James Lind gave sailors with scurvy different treatments. The two given oranges and lemons recovered fastest. He published his results in 1753.
Why it matters: Comparing treatments fairly is still how we find out what works.
A Treatise of the Scurvy — James Lind (1753)
Trial aboard HMS Salisbury, 1747
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