Question:easy
Which disease is associated with an excessive maize diet?
Which disease is associated with an excessive maize diet?
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Maize is high in leucine which blocks tryptophan to niacin, causing pellagra.
Updated On: Jun 24, 2026
- Wernicke's encephalopathy
- Pellagra
- Beri-Beri
- Scurvy
Show Solution
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: The condition tied to a maize-heavy diet is a lack of usable vitamin B3, presenting as photosensitive dermatitis, loose stools and mental changes.
Step 2: Maize and sorghum carry a large amount of leucine, and this amino acid blocks the body's pathway that turns tryptophan into niacin, deepening the niacin shortfall.
Step 3: Because of this, communities depending on maize or jowar, for example parts of Andhra Pradesh, have shown outbreaks of this disease.
Step 4: Thiamine deficiency would give Wernicke's encephalopathy or beri-beri, and vitamin C deficiency would give scurvy, none of which fits a maize diet. The answer is pellagra.
\[\boxed{\text{Pellagra}}\]
Step 2: Maize and sorghum carry a large amount of leucine, and this amino acid blocks the body's pathway that turns tryptophan into niacin, deepening the niacin shortfall.
Step 3: Because of this, communities depending on maize or jowar, for example parts of Andhra Pradesh, have shown outbreaks of this disease.
Step 4: Thiamine deficiency would give Wernicke's encephalopathy or beri-beri, and vitamin C deficiency would give scurvy, none of which fits a maize diet. The answer is pellagra.
\[\boxed{\text{Pellagra}}\]
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