We all have our obscure heroes. My brother, a drummer, has named pets after percussionists I've never heard of. My husband, who has a degree in library science, worships at the shrine of Melvil Dewey, inventor of the Dewey decimal system.

As a long-time nutrition freak, my hero is Dr. Joseph Goldberger. Never heard of him? I'm not surprised. But he made a huge difference in the health of a nation.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a disease called pellagra was ravaging the poor of the American south, and a nasty disease it was. It starts with sensitivity to light, then personality changes, particularly aggression; dermatitis and skin lesions; insomnia; weakness; mental confusion; and diarrhea. After four or five years of suffering, victims progressed to full-blown dementia, which resembles paranoid schizophrenia. Then they died.

It was an era of tremendous progress in medicine. Germ theory the understanding that disease could be caused by microscopic living creatures was newly accepted. Doctors and scientists were looking for a pathogenic cause for every disease, so they looked for the pellagra germ. In vain, of course. There was no pellagra germ.

Pellagra is, instead, niacin deficiency, and it comes from living on a poverty diet based on cornmeal and beans and little else. The researchers were looking in the wrong place. People kept dying.

In 1914, Goldberger was asked by the Surgeon General to investigate pellagra. Goldberger concluded that the disease was not infectious but dietary, and he demonstrated repeatedly that it could be both caused and cured through diet.

The medical community remained skeptical and insisted that there must be a pellagra germ. Politicians, too, resisted the idea that pellagra was caused by poverty and the malnutrition that accompanied it. After all, that would mean it was their job to do something about it. Goldberger persisted, injecting blood from patients with pellagra into healthy subjects including himself and his wife demonstrating that even this would not spread the disease. Still the medical community resisted.

Goldberger died in 1929, before he could complete his research. But his 15 years of tireless work against tremendous resistance blazed the trail for the 1937 discovery that pellagra was caused by niacin deficiency. By the end of the 1940s, pellagra had been nearly eliminated in the United States.

Niacin is grouped with the B vitamins, as vitamin B-3. It is water soluble, which means you need to get it every day, at least 19 milligrams. Good sources include lean meat, especially organ meats, white meat poultry, fish, eggs, peanuts, avocados and wheat germ.

It's good to know that niacin, unlike many water-soluble vitamins, is quite stable. It doesn't break down with heat, so cooking shouldn't affect it, with the exception of boiling it can dissolve in water and go down the drain when you pour the water off. Niacin is also stable during storage.

The oddest thing I can tell you about niacin is that its scientific name is "nicotinic acid," and it is structurally similar to nicotine. Niacin supplements are often recommended to reduce cravings while quitting smoking; I've known this to work very well for friends. If you'd like to try this, the dose suggested is usually 50 milligrams three times per day

Though niacin is water soluble, it is possible to get too much, but only with extreme supplementation. Doctors use high-dose niacin supplements to reduce LDL ("bad") cholesterol, raise HDL ("good") cholesterol and reduce triglycerides.

However, the doses of niacin that have this effect are very high 1,000 milligrams per day or more. At these doses, niacin must be considered a drug, and, like many cholesterol-lowering prescription medications, can cause liver problems. Medical supervision is essential.

Be aware that niacin supplements can cause a "flush" your skin may turn pink, warm and itchy for about 15 minutes. The niacin flush is harmless and actually good for circulation, but it's alarming if you don't expect it. You can buy "flushless niacin" just read the labels. Personally, I kind of like the niacin flush!

This easy, family-pleasing recipe is perfect for chilly autumn days, and will give you 16 milligrams of niacin 78 percent of your daily requirement! Add a salad with avocado to complete the Southwestern theme and add even more niacin.

Seriously Simple Chicken Chili

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast

1 16-ounce jar salsa

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon chicken bouillon concentrate

3 ounces shredded Monterey jack cheese

6 tablespoons light sour cream

Put the chicken in your slow cooker. Stir together the salsa, chili powder and chicken bouillon concentrate, making sure the bouillon is dissolved. Pour over the chicken. Cover the pot, set to low, and let it cook for 7 to 8 hours.

When time's up, use a fork to shred the chicken. Serve topped with the shredded cheese and sour cream.

Makes 6 servings, each with: 263 calories; 9 g fat; 39 g protein; 6 g carbohydrate; 2 g dietary fiber; 4 g usable carbs.

Reprinted by permission from "200 Low-Carb Slow Cooker Recipes" by Dana Carpender (Fair Winds Press, 2005)

Dana Carpender is the author of "15-Minute Low-Carb Recipes" and "The Low-Carb Barbecue Book," and the editor of the biweekly online newsletter "Lowcarbezine!" You can contact her online at http://www.holdthetoast.com.