If they are eating plain untreated corn out of the field the nutritional value is very low. That’s what causes pellagra. Corn has to be soaked in lime-water (alkaline) to release nutritional elements necessary for human consumption. Tortilla dough and hominy have all been treated with lime-water in the grain before cooking. then it is nutritious. Poor fellows.
“Corn has to be soaked in lime-water (alkaline) to release nutritional elements necessary for human consumption. Tortilla dough and hominy have all been treated with lime-water in the grain before cooking. then it is nutritious.”
Nixtamalization:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixtamalization