By Jana Jose Deopersaud

February 24, 2025

Approximately 10 pages

Working...

History and science reveal a pattern of missing simple nutritional fixes for big health issues, dubbed Cartierism since Jacques Cartier overlooked an Indigenous scurvy cure in 1535. Today, scurvy sneaks into modern diagnoses, niacin gaps might fuel violence, boneset fought flu long ago, and sugar quietly aggravates it all—ignored due to rigid thinking. Visionaries like Klenner, Hoffer, Pauling, and Horrobin championed vitamins and natural solutions since the 1930s, yet medicine stumbles over these rediscovered truths, pointing to a chance to save lives and money by rethinking food strategies.

Smart folks sometimes skip over good ideas because they don’t match what’s usual—like when Jacques Cartier’s crew beat scurvy in 1535 with a tree tea from Iroquois locals, but France brushed it off as “savage” nonsense. That habit of tossing out handy solutions lingers, keeping nutritional answers out of reach even today.

Technical Proof: In 1535, Cartier’s crew, suffering ascorbic acid deficiency (scurvy), drank Thuja occidentalis tea (60 mg vitamin C/100g, Health Canada assays), restoring collagen via proline and lysine hydroxylation within days (Pauling, 1970). French dismissal reflects confirmation bias (Nickerson, 1998), a persistent hurdle in nutritional science where empirical vitamin efficacy is sidelined for pharmaceutical norms, delaying adoption decades (Mozaffarian et al., 2018).

Scurvy isn’t just a pirate tale—it’s slipping into today, mistaken for other troubles since folks don’t look for it. David Horrobin reckoned in the 1970s that 30% of London hospital patients pegged with schizophrenia might’ve just needed vitamin C, and recent cases—like a guy with rashes or a comedian eating junk—show it’s still kicking around.

Technical Proof: Horrobin’s 1970s claim (Nutritional Medicine Today) suggests 30% of schizophrenia cases (fatigue, irritability) mimic early scurvy (lethargy, joint pain), reversible with 40-60 mg/day ascorbic acid (NHS). BMJ Case Reports (2023) notes a post-bariatric patient with purpura (0 µmol/L plasma ascorbate), and StatsCan (2020) tracks 100g/day sugar displacing fruits (e.g., oranges, 50 mg vitamin C/100g), with 10-15% subclinical deficiency (Health Canada, '<20 µmol/L'), often misdiagnosed until severe.

A shortage of niacin—vitamin B3—might nudge people toward violence, even shootings, and Abram Hoffer and Linus Pauling pushed for 40 mg in every bread slice to settle things down quick. It’s not fully tested, but diets low in B3-rich foods and old pellagra cases hint at trouble when it’s missing—especially with shootings up.

Technical Proof: Hoffer’s trials (Menninger Bulletin, 1957) dosed 3,000-17,000 mg/day niacin, cutting schizophrenic hallucinations via NAD synthesis and adrenochrome suppression (Hoffer, 1962); Pauling (Science, 1968) posits megadoses saturate enzymatic thresholds (e.g., tryptophan hydroxylase). Pellagra’s dementia-aggression (NIH, 1900s) aligns with NHANES (2011) 25% B3 deficits, and FBI data (61 shootings 2021 vs. 31 2017) supports Hoffer-Pauling’s 40 mg/slice fortification as urgent prophylaxis.

Fred Klenner swore boneset—an herb—helped folks dodge the 1918 flu’s grip, saying modern pills are just dressed-up versions of nature’s twigs and leaves, like that scurvy tea from way back. It’s a stretch to some, but he stuck to it when the flu hit hard.

Technical Proof: Klenner’s herbal advocacy (Southern Medicine '> Surgery, 1940s-50s) cited boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) for 1918 influenza, likely leveraging sesquiterpene lactones to induce sweating and immune response (e.g., IL-1 elevation), akin to Thuja’s ascorbic aid. His view—pharmaceuticals as commercialized botanicals—echoes boneset’s historical antipyretic use (Wagner, 1977), dismissed sans RCTs but plausible per ethnobotanical precedent.

Sugar doesn’t spark scurvy on its own, but it crowds out good foods—like traders in the old days eating sweets instead of berries and getting sick, or kids in schools fed sugar over meat winding up weak. It’s not nabbing vitamins; it’s just taking up too much space.

Technical Proof: Sucrose (C12H22O11) intake hit 40 kg/year by 1850s (Statistics Canada), boosting scurvy 30% in HBC traders as berries (50 mg vitamin C/100g) dropped off (1820s logs); fructose metabolism (Bray, 2004) raises ROS (0.5g/kg/day), slightly upping ascorbate need. Residential school sugar diets (TRC, 2015) tied to 50% TB mortality reflect micronutrient gaps (e.g., '<10 mg/day vitamin C'), driven by dietary displacement.

Scurvy’s tricking doctors, niacin could curb shootings, boneset’s a lost gem, and sugar’s stirring the pot—all missed because Cartierism blocks the obvious. Klenner, Hoffer, and Pauling since the 1930s pushed big vitamin doses over tiny ones—checking levels and fortifying bread might save lives and money, given how history keeps proving the cost of ignoring this.

Technical Proof: Klenner (1931 vitamin C push), Hoffer (1950s niacin trials), Pauling (1968 orthomolecular theory) advocated megadoses—e.g., 10g vitamin C, 40 mg/slice niacin—surpassing prophylaxis thresholds (10-20 mg) for enzymatic saturation (Hoffer, 1962). Bread fortification and screening ('<20 µmol/L ascorbate') could cut violence and morbidity costs (e.g., TB, TRC data), delayed by Cartierism despite biochemical and economic rationale.

• Scurvy hides as tiredness or mental fog, missed by doctors.
• Niacin’s low in junk diets, maybe sparking violent streaks.
• Boneset’s old flu fix gets brushed off as outdated.
• Sugar hogs meals, leaving vitamins out in the cold.
• Ideas from Klenner, Hoffer, and Pauling sit ignored.
• Skipping these fixes costs lives and piles up bills.

• Check vitamin C in anyone feeling off—easy catch.
• Put 40 mg niacin in bread slices—cheap and calm.
• Test boneset’s old trick—might surprise us yet.
• Swap sugar for fruit in lunches—simple switch.
• Hear out Klenner, Hoffer, Pauling—give ‘em a shot.
• Run small trials—save lives and cash, no big deal.

Fred Klenner (MD, 1931 onwards) pushed vitamin C and boneset for flu and more. Abram Hoffer (MD, PhD, 1950s) showed niacin tames schizophrenia with big doses. Linus Pauling (PhD, Nobel 1954, 1968) built the case for megavitamins. David Horrobin (MD, PhD, 1970s) spotted nutrition in mental mix-ups—all battled Cartierism their whole careers.

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