Liver Problems Due to Packaged Wheat?

Atta(wheat flour) has always been an important part of the kitchen across the country through the years! But did you know that the packaged atta (refined wheat flour) you consume everyday in your homes may be a big contributor towards disease?

Let’s Discuss!

The Problem with Packaged Wheat

Let us start with a simple observation. Have you ever had a case where your packaged wheat flour was infected by insects?

Think hard!

We are pretty sure the answer is no! And the reason: No Fibre

The packaged atta that you get from a supermarket has very little to zero fibre! This is done for a very simple reason: Increasing the shelf life of the atta. While this makes it a great deal for the manufacturers, consumers like us suffer the brunt of the problem because the atta that we consume is basically just starch. To put it all into perspective, even insects are aware that the atta we have is not something to be consumed!

Food manufacturers skilfully remove the endosperm of the wheat (white flour) from the germ (wheat germ) and the bran (wheat bran). Therefore, foods made from refined flour, sugar and oil, borrow nutrients from the body in order to aid their own absorption, thereby depleting the body’s reserves of vitamins and minerals!

What about ‘Fortified Atta’?

Fortifying, in a nutshell, is basically adding some basic vitamins and minerals back to the food items. So basically, even if the packet of the white flour that you buy reads ‘enriched flour’ — it only means that four to five vitamins have been added, while 10 have been taken away, which means they have been lost during processing.

The major issue, however, is the substance that is used for the fortifying process!

Since the conversion of any synthetically fortified nutrient requires the liver to go the extra mile (all conversion happens in the liver), it prevents the liver from performing it’s main function, which is to produce antioxidants for the cleansing of the body. In particular, it hampers in the synthesis of Glutathione, the master anti-oxidant of the body!

This anti-oxidant has the work of combating free radicals in the body. Now since the liver has to work extra for the conversion process, the anti-oxidants are no longer able to combat these free radicals, leading to a problem called:

Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)

This disease has today become so common that it is estimated that 20% of all individuals worldwide have some form of NAFLD. According to the same report, if the issue continues at the same growth rate, by 2025 liver diseases will overtake heart diseases as the number one killer disease worldwide!

Of course, these are not the only health issues associated with packaged refined flour. Other problems include:

The other harmful effects of consuming wheat flour are that it raises the cholesterol level, clogs the arteries, disrupts the blood sugar level, causes mood swings and irritability and increases your cravings for more food!

What should be the course of action?

The best way to consume wheat flour has and always will be getting the wheat crushed at a local mill. This ensures the nutrients of the wheat remain intact and no synthetic vitamins and minerals are added to it!

However, due to the high fibre content of this type of wheat, it is advisable to get it in small quantities for home. The advantages of getting freshly crushed wheat four are innumerable! They include:

Controls Obesity

Increases Energy

Prevents Metabolic Disorders

Reduces Inflammation

Improves Metabolism

And many more!