What it is
Slaked lime — the alkali behind real masa and hominy, soaking the corn the Mesoamerican way for three thousand years.
Why your biology objects
The standardized version of the wood-ash lye tradition: the alkaline soak (nixtamalization) gelatinizes the corn, loosens the hull, and liberates its bound niacin — the documented reason maize cultures avoided pellagra. A traditional whole-food process that *adds* nutrition, not an industrial additive.