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VITAMINS & SUPPLEMENTS · GUIDE

History of Vitamins: Discovery, the Deficiency Diseases and Early Fortification

How vitamins were discovered: the sailors' scurvy trial, beriberi, pellagra, rickets, the word "vitamine", and the first food fortification programs, with dates from published histories.

Content last updated . This page has not been medically reviewed.

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Quick answer
Vitamins were found because specific diseases turned out to come from something missing in food. Clinicians gradually stopped treating scurvy, beriberi, rickets, pellagra and the eye disease xerophthalmia as infections or poisonings and began to see them as vitamin deficiencies. [1] Reviews describe the work as slow and stepwise, with setbacks and wrong turns, not a single breakthrough. [1] One review notes that most vitamins were identified within about 50 years. [2]

This page is history, not advice. Deficiency diseases still exist and need a clinician; see Vitamin deficiency testing. Evidence label used here: established nutritional role / deficiency treatment.

Timeline of the deficiency diseases

Dates come from the review articles cited. Reviews sometimes differ on exact years, so treat a date as "about" unless several sources agree.
DiseaseWhat happenedLater traced to
ScurvyIn 1747 James Lind tested six treatments on 12 sailors with scurvy; only oranges and lemons worked. Scurvy is estimated to have affected 2 million sailors. [3]Vitamin C: a substance isolated in 1928 was shown to be vitamin C four years later, and its structure was worked out in 1933 [3]
BeriberiIn the 1880s Takaki changed diets in the Japanese Navy, and beriberi was largely gone from it by 1887. In 1889 Eijkman in Java found "chicken polyneuritis" could be prevented with unpolished rice or rice polishings. [4]Thiamin (vitamin B1): crystallized from rice polishings in 1926, synthesized in 1936 [4]
PellagraLinked in 18th-century Europe to poverty and corn-based diets. [4] Goldberger's group ran self-experiments in 1916; niacin deficiency in maize was shown in 1937. [5]Niacin (vitamin B3); see Pellagra
RicketsAn epidemic in early industrial Europe prompted the search for a cure, which led to vitamin D and its link to sunlight. [6]Vitamin D
Night blindness and xerophthalmiaNight blindness was known to the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, and from Galen onward many authorities advised liver. In 1913 McCollum and Davis, and separately Mendel and Osborne, found a fat-soluble food factor. By 1922 McCollum's group separated vitamins A and D. [7]Vitamin A
Bleeding in chickensA bleeding disorder in chickens fed a cholesterol-free diet led to vitamin K; Dam and Doisy won the 1943 Nobel Prize. Vitamin K for newborns began in the 1940s. [8]Vitamin K

Details worth knowing

Takaki's navy diet was not a clean experiment. Takaki showed in 1884 that a diet of barley, meat, milk, bread and beans, instead of polished white rice, eliminated beriberi in the Navy. The Army kept white rice rations until March 1905; during the 1904 to 1905 war an estimated 250,000 Japanese soldiers developed beriberi and 27,000 died. [9] Eijkman, who later shared a Nobel Prize, was critical of Takaki's research methods even as he saw the field moving from bacteria toward nutrition. [10]

Lind's trial did not name vitamin C. It showed that citrus worked. The vitamin itself was shown to be a distinct substance about 185 years later. [3]

The name. Casimir Funk called these factors "vitamines" (vital amines) in 1911, and the scientific community accepted the name in 1912. [11] The "vital amines" idea behind the name was mistaken. [7] Before that, Lunin, Pekelharing and Hopkins had shown from 1880 to 1912 that animals on purified diets stopped growing unless given small amounts of milk. [7] The 1929 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to Eijkman for the "antineuritic vitamin" and to Hopkins for the "growth-stimulating vitamins". [12]

Early fortification and enrichment

Once causes were known, food could prevent the diseases.
  • Iodized salt. The US "goiter belt" had goiter in 26% to 70% of children before the 1920s, and iodized salt first reached Michigan grocery shelves on 1 May 1924. [13]
  • Enriched flour. US pellagra had been made worse in part by new milling methods that removed vitamins from grain. [4] By the 1950s synthetic thiamin was cheap enough to allow food enrichment. [4] Today the US standard for enriched flour sets amounts of thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folic acid and iron. [14] UK flour is already fortified with calcium, niacin, thiamine and iron. [15]
  • Folic acid. A randomized trial reported in 1991 found folic acid prevented neural tube defects in women who had already had an affected pregnancy. [16] Fortification programs followed; see Food fortification and public health.

What history does and does not show

History shows that small, regular amounts of each vitamin prevent specific deficiency diseases. It does not show that extra amounts benefit well-nourished people. That question is tested in modern trials; see Why vitamin trials and observational studies disagree and What is a vitamin?.

Vitamin deficiency is still a public health problem in places: the WHO says vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of preventable blindness in children. [17]

Frequently asked questions

Who discovered vitamins?

No single person did. A 2012 review credits epidemiologists, physicians, physiologists and chemists, and says the major period of discovery ran from the early 19th century to the mid-20th century. [1] Takaki, Goldberger, Pekelharing, Eijkman and Funk are among those named. [2] Hopkins and McCollum are named in other reviews. [7]

Who coined the word "vitamine"?

Casimir Funk. Sources give 1911 for his naming of the factors and 1912 for when the term was accepted. [11]

Why did sailors get scurvy?

Scurvy results from prolonged vitamin C deficiency, and many animals, unlike humans, can make their own vitamin C. A 2012 review says scurvy was a common problem in the world's navies. [3]

Does the history mean cod liver oil or liver is a good idea today?

Not automatically. Historical authorities advised liver for night blindness. [7] The NHS (UK) says not to eat liver more than once a week, and to avoid it in pregnancy, because of its vitamin A content. [18] See Cod liver oil.

Are deficiency diseases still a problem?

In some countries, yes. The WHO describes vitamin A deficiency as a public health problem in more than half of all countries, though rare in developed ones. [19] In any country, suspected deficiency needs a clinician's assessment.

More details: evidence, limits and cautions

The details behind this page: cautions, limits of the evidence and where sources disagree. Open any note to read it.

Safety note
Old remedies are not automatically safe today. Liver and fish liver oil are very rich in vitamin A, and the NHS (UK) says that if you eat liver every week you should not take supplements containing vitamin A. [18] If you think you have a deficiency, see a clinician rather than self-treating, and ask a pharmacist about medicine interactions. See Medication interactions.
References
  1. The discovery of the vitamins. Int J Vitam Nutr Res, 2012 (PubMed abstract). Read 2026-10-23.
  2. Highlights in the history of vitamins. Part-II. Clin Dermatol, 2026 (PubMed abstract). Read 2026-10-23.
  3. The discovery of vitamin C. Ann Nutr Metab, 2012 (PubMed abstract). Read 2026-10-23.
  4. Historical aspects of the major neurological vitamin deficiency disorders: the water-soluble B vitamins. Handb Clin Neurol, 2010, chapter 30 (PubMed abstract). Read 2026-10-23.
  5. Pellagra, originally described in the Austrian Empire 250 years ago, became a fatal endemic in some provinces. Wien Klin Wochenschr, 2021 (PubMed abstract). Read 2026-10-23.
  6. Sunscreen and vitamin D: Part I. Clin Dermatol, 2026 (PubMed abstract). Read 2026-10-23.
  7. Historical aspects of the major neurological vitamin deficiency disorders: overview and fat-soluble vitamin A. Handb Clin Neurol, 2010, chapter 29 (PubMed abstract). Read 2026-10-23.
  8. The History of the Discovery of Vitamin K. Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol, 2026 (PubMed abstract). Read 2026-10-23.
  9. ADOPTERs of Innovation in a Crisis: The History of Vera Gedroits, Kanehiro Takaki and the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. Ann Surg Open, 2024 (PubMed abstract). Read 2026-10-23.
  10. Dutch Research on Beriberi: I. Christiaan Eijkman's Research and Evaluation of Kanehiro Takaki's Diet Reforms of the Japanese Navy. Nihon Ishigaku Zasshi, 2017 (PubMed abstract). Read 2026-10-23.
  11. The discovery of beri-beri and scurvy vitamins - two hundred and two years from its discovery. Int J Vitam Nutr Res, 2019 (PubMed abstract). Read 2026-10-23.
  12. Nobel Prize Outreach. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1929. Read 2026-10-23.
  13. History of U.S. iodine fortification and supplementation. Nutrients, 2012 (open-access full text, PMC3509517). Read 2026-10-23.
  14. U.S. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. 21 CFR 137.165 Enriched flour. Read 2026-10-23.
  15. UK Government (Department of Health and Social Care). Birth defects prevented by fortifying flour with folic acid. News story, 14 November 2024. Read 2026-10-23.
  16. MRC Vitamin Study Research Group. Prevention of neural tube defects: results of the Medical Research Council Vitamin Study. Lancet, 1991 (PubMed abstract). Read 2026-10-23.
  17. World Health Organization. Micronutrients (health topic page). Read 2026-10-23.
  18. NHS (UK). Vitamin A. Page last reviewed 3 August 2020 (version read). Read 2026-10-23.
  19. World Health Organization. Vitamin A deficiency (Nutrition Landscape Information System). Read 2026-10-23.
Education, not medical advice. This page is for general information. It does not diagnose or treat any condition and is not a substitute for care from a qualified health professional. Natural does not automatically mean safe. Ask a clinician or pharmacist before changing your care, especially if you take medication, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or have a health condition.