Use of polished rice in human diet causes following diseases

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — D, Beriberi. Milling and polishing rice strips away the bran and germ layers, which hold most of the grain's thiamine (Vitamin B1). A diet dominated by polished (white) rice is therefore thiamine-poor, and chronic thiamine deficiency causes beriberi — 'wet' beriberi affecting the cardiovascular system (oedema, high-output heart failure) and 'dry' beriberi affecting the nervous system (peripheral neuropathy, muscle wasting). This polished-rice–beriberi link was the very observation (Eijkman and Grijns, late 19th century) that led to the discovery of vitamins.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Rickets is caused by Vitamin D (and calcium/phosphate) deficiency, leading to defective bone mineralisation in children — it is not linked to polished rice.  (b) Nutritional anaemia is most commonly due to iron deficiency (or Vitamin B12/folate deficiency), not to the loss of thiamine from polishing rice.  (c) Goitre (thyroid enlargement) results from iodine deficiency — a mineral, not a vitamin — and is unrelated to rice polishing.

Concept: Water-soluble B-vitamins are concentrated in the bran and germ of cereal grains. Thiamine (Vitamin B1) works as the coenzyme thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP) in carbohydrate metabolism. Polishing rice for whiteness removes these outer layers, so communities subsisting mainly on polished rice historically developed beriberi. Parboiling paddy before milling drives thiamine into the endosperm, and eating unpolished (brown) rice retains it — both reduce the risk.

State PCS 2020 Q97 — Science & Technology PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2020 Q97 — Science & Technology PYQ with Answer