"Takaki became navy surgeon general in 1885, yet other doctors attacked his theories and questioned his results. The sad result was that while the navy ate barley, the army ate only rice. According to Bay, the use of barley smacked of discredited traditional Japanese medicine to many Western-trained doctors. Plus, recruits were enticed into the army by promises of as much white rice as they could eat."
27 thousand deaths and a decree by the emperor later, and army doctors finally yielded to the evidence.
This is actually not-too-dissimilar to the story of scurvy in European navies in a more distant time. It took a lot of lives and most attempts to alleviate it were based on the totally false theory of humors.
Doctors can be very resistant to change of paradigma. I wonder what is our scurvy or beri-beri; given how fat and diabetic the developed world has grown, maybe nutrition.
"Takaki became navy surgeon general in 1885, yet other doctors attacked his theories and questioned his results. The sad result was that while the navy ate barley, the army ate only rice. According to Bay, the use of barley smacked of discredited traditional Japanese medicine to many Western-trained doctors. Plus, recruits were enticed into the army by promises of as much white rice as they could eat."
27 thousand deaths and a decree by the emperor later, and army doctors finally yielded to the evidence.