Healthy Eating
April 06, 2022
3 White Poisoning Food - You want to avoid!
Health Hazards of Three White Products
There is a growing tendency in modern times to make the articles of diet as artificial and pleasing to the eye and tasty to the tongue, without any regard to their ultimate effect on health. This had led to the refining and demineralizing of cereals and sugar and addition of salt to various foodstuffs to make them tasty and delicious. Fortunately, there is realization now among the enlightened people that the artificial and concentrated dietary, to a large extent is responsible for the vast array of present day disease.
Of the various artificial foodstuffs being used today for their delicious taste, white flour, sugar and salt, known as three Ws (White products) have been found especially harmful. They constitute serious health hazards and their excessive consumption can lead to several degenerative disease. Their harmful effects are discussed in this article.
White Flour
Wheat is the most common cereal used throughout the world for making. It is a good source of energy. With its essential coating of brain, vitamins and minerals, it is an excellent health-building food. Wheat is usually ground into flour before use as a food. In ancient time, wheat grains were crushed between two large stones. This method persevered all part of the kernel and the product was called "whole wheat". If it is finely grounded, it becomes whole wheat flour. The value of stone grinding is that the grain is grounded slowly and it remains unheated and a whole food.
In modern times, steel roller mills have superseded stone grinding. These mills ground wheat hundred times faster, but they impoverish the flour by removing the precious wheat germs resulting in colossal loss in vitamins and mineral in the refining process. The colossal loss in vitamin and minerals in the refined wheat flour has led to widespread prevalence of constipation and other digestive disturbances & disorders. Many harmful effects of using white flour are mentioned:
- Consuming white flour can increase risk of chronic disease and heart problems.
- White flour can lead to weight gain, stress, headache, migraine and constipation.
- It can increase the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes.
- Due to low in nutrition, it can also lead to weak immunity and digestion problems.
White Sugar
Sugar is the most common sweet carbohydrate used all over the world. There are many variety of sugar, but only a few are included, to a considerable extent in our diet. These are sucrose or cane sugar, dextrose or grape sugar, levulose or fruit sugar, lactose or milk sugar. Natural sugar contained in fruits is called fructose. Cane sugar also called the white sugar is produced in enormous quantities. It is called vitamin thief. White sugar has many disadvantages which are given below:
- It is irritating and difficult to digest.
- Its high intake can rob the body of its vitamins made available to it by consumption of other food.
- Excessive use of white sugar leads to gastric catarrh and hyperacidity.
- It is also associated with obesity, dental caries, diabetes & chronic heart disease.
- It is supplies only calories without any nutritive value & stored in the form of fat in our body.
Dr. D.T. Quigley, M.D., an eminent medical authority, says, "Sugar is a concentrated carbohydrate, containing no vitamin or mineral of any kind." Natural sugar such as brown sugar, jaggery and honey are preferable to refined white sugar because they process some vitamins and minerals. Raw honey also contains enzymes.
White Salt
The first known salt mines have been found in the Austrian Tyrol and date from the late Bronze Age, about 1000 B.C. Sodium Chloride, the chemical name for the common salt is a chemical compound found in the sea, soil and it also occurs naturally in food. It is made up of two chemicals, namely, sodium 40% and chloride 60%.
This chemical is a major factor in maintaining acid base equilibrium of the body. It is also needed for the working of various nerve impulses. It can help prevent catarrh. It promotes a clear brain. It is also essential for the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach.
Many people uses too much salt. This puts an extra burden on the kidney and may cause high blood pressure. There are some harmful effects of salt in excessive amount:
- Too much salt in the body can result in oedema or swelling of the legs and ankles.
- B.P. may rise & may not go down again until the excess sodium has been removed from the body.
- Intake too much salt can creating an artificial thirst which can lead to obesity.
- Intake too much salt can lead chronic kidney stone, gallbladder stone.
- Excessive intake of salt can also lead to stomach ulcer, stomach cancer, hardening of arteries & heart disease.
A certain amount of salt in the system is essential for life but it is required in vary small amounts, ranging from 10-15 gram daily, depending on the climate and occupation of the person.
