The other day one of my overseas patients called to tell me that she is putting on weight and wanted me to advice her how she could effectively lose weight and stay fit.
I routinely come across a number of such patients, especially females who are trying to lose a few kilos or in some cases, struggling to control their blood sugar levels.
Every time, I inquire about their diets, they all tell me that they are very careful about oily food, calorie intake, fibre intake and yet their bodies are not responding to achieve the targets of weight loss or reduction in sugar levels…
While taking a detailed diet history of this particular overseas patient, I realised that like any other westerner, her diet also consisted mainly of bread and other bakery products. And I found the culprit… white flour!
So instead of suggesting any medication to begin with, I asked her to completely ban food made of white flour from her diet and also suggested a wholesome diet.
And guess what… She started showing a decline in weight in just one week! This inspired her to follow through on the diet that I had subsequently recommended. By the end of the 6th week, with just simple dietary fine tuning, along with a complete ban on white flour including white bread and bakery items like cake, pastries, pizza, burger, etc. she lost 4 kilos!
White flour is said to have a higher glycemic index compared to wheat flour and tends to mess with the sugar and insulin levels and ultimately becomes a nasty barrier in controlling obesity and diabetes. But on the other hand banning it completely or at least minimising the consumption also has shown fantastic results in controlling obesity and diabetes.
Did you know that the whole wheat flour is rich in dietary fibre content when compared to Maida? The Dietary fibres in whole wheat flour increase the weight of faeces and soften it. Due to which it helps in the easy movement of the faeces in the intestinal tract with fewer strains, preventing the problem of constipation. In addition to this, the fibre also acts as food for the intestinal flora and promotes pro-biotic growth leading to a healthy bowel system. Above all, it helps in controlling the sugar levels as the fibre slows down the release of sugar from the food. Further, the fibre not only acts on sugar but also lowers LDL-Cholesterol levels.
Very few people know how ‘Maida’, the white floor is made. Maidaa is basically a finely milled, refined and bleached wheat flour . It is either naturally bleached due to atmospheric oxygen or using chemical bleaches.
Maida is made from the endosperm (the starchy white part) of the grain. The bran is separated from the germ and endosperm which is then refined. Originally yellowish due to pigments present in wheat, Maida is bleached with any of a number of flour bleaching agents.
Flour bleaching agents are food additives added to flour in order to make it appear whiter and to oxidize the surfaces of the flour grains and help with developing of gluten.
Usual agents are:
Organic peroxides namely
Calcium peroxide
Chlorine
NO2
Chlorine dioxide
Azodicarbanamide or,
Atmospheric oxygen used during natural aging of flour
Maida has a multifarious range of side effects on the human body. Some of the problems caused by this slow poison are: Increase in Blood Glucose Level Inflammatory disease like Arthritis Increased cravings leading to weight gain Intestinal Bloating Intolerances and food allergies Imbalance in the acidity and alkalinity within the body.
So to conclude, I must say this… In the current life style we can’t completely avoid all these foods which according to numerous health surveys are the root causes of most of the ailments. Maida is one of the major villains that cause most of the diseases. So try to avoid bakery products and also make sure that you go for routine checkups and exercise regularly.
Dr. Manjiri Joshi
91 9403360452