Netherlands. Flooding of agricultural land caused by the opening of dikes by fleeing Nazis leads to a terrible famine. The average daily ration drops to just 400 calories. Wehrmacht soldiers, though battered and exhausted, consume 1,412 calories, compared to 2,570 in September 1939. The famine also has a positive outcome: Dr. Willem Karel Dicke of The Hague notes that during this period, when wheat-based products had virtually disappeared, patients suffering from celiac disease symptoms fared much better. Until then, the prevailing theory was based on a 1924 article by Dr. Sydney Haas, who instead recommended a banana-based diet, based on studies conducted in Puerto Rico, where a community that lived off wheat had a high incidence of celiac disease, while another that lived on a banana-based diet had no celiac disease.
