Why Maida (flour) really bad for health? If so why do we continue using it?

Ever wondered Why Maida(flour) really bad for health? If so why do we continue using it? Here are few findings based on my research and readings.

What is Maida?

Maida is a wheat derived product. The wheat bran (Fiber and vitamin rich seed coat) is separated from the endosperm of the seed.

Maida is a very harmful food product used in baked foods. This endosperm is actually brown in color and extremely rich in starch. If this is used directly, we can consider it to be equivalent to sugar. But it is further processed by treatment with alloxan, an agent used to soften the product. This alloxan is not removed completely. Alloxan had been proven scientifically to induce diabetes in rat models. Also, its a known carcinogen.

Therefore we need to avoid eating bakery products and maida based foods.

Problem 1:

The glycemic index or glycaemic index (GI) is a number associated with food that indicates the food’s effect on a person’s blood glucose (also called blood sugar) level.
A high GI value means glucose is released quickly to the blood by the food, low GI means the food will release glucose more slowly and steadily.
So, apart from worrying about the quantity of carbohydrates in the food (what we all dread about), we need to also know how the food releases the carbohydrates into the blood.

Fruits, Vegetables, Nuts, beans -> Low GI
Whole wheat, rice with bran -> Medium GI
Maida, white rice -> High GI

Since Maida has a high GI, it releases sugar into the bloodstream quickly. To counter, the pancreas releases responds with a sharp insulin spike, which over a period of time, with prolonged consumption of processed and refined food, causes inflammation, insulin resistance and eventually type II diabetes.
Further, high GI implies excess of Glucose in blood after food consumption. The body will store the excess Glucose as Fats. Therefore regular consumption of food with High GI leads to obesity and high triglyceride count in blood inturn leading to Heart issues.

Problem 2:

Maida -> Originally yellowish in colour, it is bleached with benzoyl peroxide, which is banned in China and the European Union (including the UK).

 If so why do we continue using it?

The answer is simple. It is like watching TV. We know it is bad. Still we watch. The main people can’t quit consuming it is because of its taste. Most of things which taste good like pizza,puffs, samosa made of Maida are not good for health. I know it is very hard to eat things that taste bad. But it is better to be safe than sorry.

Share this with your loved ones for better health and say NO to maida.

Courtesy: The content source is from Quora answer and reorganized for better representation.
Disclaimer: Images are not owned by me and used for representation purpose only.