Vitamins have an extremely long history, though until relatively recently it was not one that had been recognized. In ancient times, when mankind gave up the nomadic lifestyle of the hunter gatherer and formed early cities and developed the beginnings of fixed and sustainable agriculture; it was soon realized and noted by the ancient scribes of Sumeria (in present day Iraq) that food could affect health in more subtle ways than to simply keep people alive.
This had probably already been known by the shaman priests of even earlier tribes, but in Sumeria, the city states of Mesopotamia and ancient Babylon, it was studied in greater detail, and the results recorded on clay tablets. Sadly, now most of these have either been destroyed over the centuries or lie undiscovered beneath desert sands. Though it is known that in ancient Egypt, certain foods were recommended for the improvement of night vision.
So the science of nutrition had been born, and unfortunately did not improve on these original insights for a considerable time. The ancient Greeks, Romans, and later the Arabs made advances in medicine, but not particularly in preventing health problems and diseases from occurring in the first place. Instead they concentrated on the curing process once the symptoms of the illness were observable.
Early herbalists with their preventative potions, were often dismissed (sometimes violently so) as witches or wizards, and their works was treated with extreme suspicion. Later, in Europe, it got even worse with the Church not being fond of discussion of any sciences, most of which were classified as dangerous blasphemy. And so millions continued to suffer from terrible afflictions which could have been prevented by the light of knowledge.
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