Use of polished rice in human diet causes following diseases

The correct answer is D) Beriberi. Rice husk and bran contain thiamine (Vitamin B1). Polishing removes these layers, so a diet dominated by polished rice leads to thiamine deficiency, which damages the nerves and heart and causes beriberi. This is a classic nutrition-deficiency link, and it is why parboiled and fortified rice are promoted under the PDS and mid-day meal schemes.

• Rickets is caused by deficiency of Vitamin D (or calcium and phosphorus). It is linked to sunlight and overall diet, not to the milling of rice.
• Anaemia is mainly linked to iron, folate or B12 deficiency. Polished rice is not its primary cause in the way beriberi is.
• Goitre results from iodine deficiency, addressed through iodised salt under the National Iodine Deficiency Disorders Control Programme, not through rice processing.

Mains connection: food security, nutrition and micronutrient deficiencies under GS-II and GS-III. Fortified rice distribution through public schemes is a current policy response to these gaps.

Trap: Aspirants often pick Anaemia because polished rice is low in iron. Iron loss is real, but the classic UPSC link for polished rice is thiamine and beriberi.