Beri-Beri?

[Guest guest]

What's this condition/ailment?

 

karen

[Guest guest]

beriberi is caused by vitamin b-1(thiamin) deficiency. thiamin is found in

grains, legumes, and some meats. deficiency of the vitamin affects the

cardiovascular, muscular, gastrointestinal, and nervous systems. some early

signs include fatigue, apathy, irritability, drowsiness, depression, poor

concentration, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

 

beriberi is most common in asia (particularly indonesia) where its incidence has

been linked to the common consumption of milled (white) rice. rice is often one

of the few sources of thiamin in many areas, but due to the fact that the

milling process strips rice of thiamin and other nutrients, even this erstwhile

source is lost. thus, a population that would otherwise have a plentiful source

of thiamin has amost none.

 

the commonsense solution would seem to be: don't mill your rice to death and eat

it brown instead.

 

here is a pdf on the relative health benefits of brown rice, from hinduism

today:

http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/2001/11-12/64-65_rice.pdf

 

however, there are two problems with this: 1.) due to the fact that

highly-refined white rice is considered culturally superior ( " the rice of

emperors " ) and brown rice the food of peasants, white is still the preferred

style of rice in most of asia. 2.) undermilling and parboiling (which also

retains naturally-occurring thiamin) reduce shelf life.

 

so, in order to replace what nutrient-robbing refinement processes have taken

away, " enrichment " was introduced. under u.s.d.a. enrichment standards, for

example, specific levels of thiamin, niacin, iron, and folic acid are required.

this process doesn't replace everything lost, however, and valuable fiber and

anti-oxidants are lost, and processes can affect starch and protein balances.

 

here is a pdf on some of the issues related to rice nutritional deficiencies and

efforts to enure better rice nutrition in developing countries:

http://www.mostproject.org/rice4.PDF

 

 

bluetulipz <bluetulipz wrote:What's this condition/ailment?

 

karen

 

 

 

 

 

 

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