One food that a majority of India eats on a daily basis is atta. But which one do you use? Aashirwaad? Fortune? Patanjali? MP Sharbati atta? Organic or multigrain? What about the local chakki atta? What do the reports say when 10 leading brands of wheat flour were tested? To put it simply, which is the best atta in the Indian market? Let us find out.
Hello Friends! Welcome to Body Boliyan. For this blogpost, I not only bought and carefully went through the ingredients and nutritional Information of the wheat flours made by the most popular brands but also to delve deeper Into the subject, I got in touch with various food experts. I met local flour mill owners and also got the opportunity to talk to wheat growing farmers. Some of the things that came before me were shocking. Although one thing is for sure that reading this blogpost, you will have a clear idea as To which atta you should buy. On the basis of my research, I have categorized all the attas available in the Indian market Into 5 major categories.
Packaged Wheat Flour
Let’s begin with Category #1 which includes the packaged wheat flour by aashirwaad, fortune, Pillsbury, patanjali, nature fresh and shakti bhog. Now, the first thing that comes to our mind is – whether its really whole wheat flour Or has maida mixed in it? No doubt, brands boast of 0% maida labels on the pack and also the ingredient mentioned Is just wheat. But it might bother you that FSSAI doesn’t specify any requirement as to how much dietary Fibre atta must have. So, brands can actually mix a little maida and get away with it.
Now, if you check the nutritional information of any atta brand in this category, the dietary Fibre content ranges from 9-12 grams per 100 grams.
So, this surely can not be a deciding factor. From what I have learnt, while buying atta, you should check 4 things.
- What seed of wheat was used to make the atta?
- Were harmful pesticides like urea and DAP used?
- Since, fast grinding heats the atta which makes it lose some nutrition, so its important To whether the grinding is done on fast chakki or slow?
- Is the atta fresh or not?
These 4 parameters together can rate any atta in the Indian market. As far as atta in category 1 is concerned, the wheat seed used is not traditional but A hybrid variant. Not many know that during the green revolution of the 1960s, traditional wheat seeds were Tempered to produce high-yielding varieties. These hybrid seeds, no doubt, increased the production manifolds but experts believe that It is a major reason why diabetes and digestive problems have increased since the 1970s. Why? Because atta made from hybrid seeds has hard gluten molecules which the body finds very Difficult to deal with.
So category 1 atta clearly fails in the seed quality. Talking about pesticide use, who can answer better than a farmer? I got to know that wheat is one crop where the use of pesticides is rampant. Right from disinfecting the wheat seeds using harmful chemicals to high use of Urea, DAP, And other chemical fertilizers are regularly done to get more produce with less effort. Probably this is why when 10 popular brands were tested by an independent authority in An NABL-accredited lab, pesticide residue was found in every atta brand. When it comes to grinding, some big atta companies do project of using the traditional stone Grinding method. However, it’s the speed of the stone that matters. Since, their atta is sent to cooling chambers, this suggests fast stone chakkis. Some food experts doubt that commercially produced atta uses preservatives or bleaching Agents to extend the shelf life but since FSSAI guidelines for atta are weak, we can Only speculate. But one thing is for sure, the wheat flour in category 1 fails in almost every parameter And should be avoided.
MP Sharbati Atta
Category #2 contains MP Sharbati atta by various brands like Aashirwad and Pilsbury. Now, this one is intensively marketed as superior atta. Why? Because sharbati quality of wheat naturally absorbs more water making the rotis softer. But is it healthier? Not really as this so-called superior atta is also from a hybrid seed of 1960s. Are pesticides used? Yes. Is the atta grinded on slow chakki? No. Fresh? Not really. Interestingly, this wheat is called sharbati because the wheat grains are golden in colour But clearly what glitters is not always gold.
Multi Grain Atta
Next, category #3 includes atta with multi grains by aashirwaad, pilsbury and 24 mantra Organic’s 7 grain atta. Multigrain atta does sound very healthy but it’s far from the truth. If you check the ingredients of aashirwaad atta with multigrains, 89.9% is wheat flour. Out of the rest 10.1% - 5.55% is defatted soya flour. Defatted soya is a processed form of soya that is devoid of its natural oils. Basically, a waste product of the oil industry. Then 1.7% is oat flour, 1.1% is psyllium husk powder, 1% degermed corn flour, and just 0.75% Bengal gram flour. This seems like a joke in the name of multigrain atta. Ingredient wise, 24 mantra organic multigrain flour is still better as it has 73% wheat And the rest 27% includes grains like corn, jowar, mungbean, barley, ragi and soya bean. But what’s odd is that its dietary fiber is still lower than that of aashirwad multigrains. Clearly, processing matters.
Anyway, Ayurveda doesn’t endorse the mixing of too many grains. It’s better to add 1 or 2 same-season grains than to add too many in small quantities. The best way to use multigrain atta would be to make it at home. Take 100 grams of barley and 100 grams of black chana and mix it in 1 kg of wheat. Or you can add 100 grams of black chana and 100 grams of wheat bran in 1 kg wheat. In winter, you can add 100 grams of bajra and 100 grams of maize to 1 kg of wheat. So why waste money of these so-called multigrain flours when you can make healthier versions At a lower price.
Organic Whole Wheat Flour
Coming to category #4 which contains organic whole wheat flour by organic tattva, organic Soul, 24 mantra, nature land and PH organic MP sharbati atta. Now, these are definitely better than the ones discussed in the above categories. Simply because the wheat was grown without the use of Urea, DAP and other harmful chemical Fertisers. Price wise they are higher and why not? To grow wheat without the use of urea, dap not only takes more effort but also the safer Alternatives used are not as cheap. But is this the traditional wheat? No. Slow chakki? No. Fresh? Same as above. But still. It is one step ahead. Now, we have discussed more than 15 whole wheat flours in 4 categories but not even One uses traditional wheat seeds.
Traditional Wheat Varieties
That’s where category #5 comes to rescue which contains khapli whole wheat flour, Bansi Whole wheat flour, Kathiya whole wheat flour, Lokwan whole wheat flour, and Sona moti whole Wheat flour. Now, these are not the brands that I am talking about but the traditional wheat varieties Which our forefathers had been eating for thousands of years without any digestive problems Or diabetes. That’s because of two reasons. Firstly, their glycemic index is low which is why it doesn’t spike blood sugar as much As the hybrid wheat. Secondly, the gluten molecule in all these is weak which our body can easily assimilate. They are also clearly higher in protein content. Out of these, Khapli is most renowned due to its lowest glycemic index and the weakest Gluten molecule. Often prescribed for diabetic patients. So this is the real sugar control whole wheat flour. Not these which spend more energy on marketing than on improving the quality of the product.
Khapli is the ancient variety grown in maharashtra and southern regions of karnataka. Bansi is from Punjab. Kathiya is from the regions of UP and MP. Lokwan is from Gujarat area. Sona moti again from Punjab. I have properly tried all these wheat varieties. Look wise some do have slight differences. Although, taste wise they are similar to regular wheat or even better. You can go for any of these as per your preference. Yes, these are pricey but that’s because these ancient wheat varieties are grown by Very few farmers which thankfully are using ethical practices. This is why whole wheat flour in this category checks 3 out of 4 boxes. Desi seeds, no pesticides, mostly the grinding done is fast but atta is quite fresh.
Making an Informed Choice
What’s my take? Well, if you are someone who cannot increase your budget but still wants to buy good quality Atta, search for a flour mill near you, visit it and ask the guy to grind the atta with Bran. Sure, mostly these are not slow chakkis which is why atta does lose some micronutrients Due to the heat generated. Although, atta loses even more nutrition when it is kept on the shelves for months. Fresh atta versus the atta stored for months, the difference in the taste of the roti will Tell you all the story. Buy only as much as you will consume in 1 month. Most Indian homes used to follow this practice.
Ayurvedic Perspective
Actually, according to Ayurveda, the older the wheat grain, the better it is for health. On the flip side, the fresher the wheat flour, the more nutritious it will be irrespective Of fast or slow grinding. Then if you are someone who has been battling with digestive problems , gluten intolerance, Inflammatory problems, diabetes or you just want to buy the best quality food and avoid problems in the future then its time you switch to desi wheat grain. If buying packaged atta, don’t forget to check the date of manufacturing. And if you want to take it one step further, you can buy desi wheat grain online or offline And get it to grind freshly from a local flour mill or at home.
Nowadays, a compact flour mills are easily available which are not only hassle-free but are also economical in the long run. Considering how frequently we eat atta, we should do our best to eat the best. Even if you buy khapli wheat flour and eat it three times a day, it will hardly cost You Rs 750 more per month which is less than the price of 1 trip to a restaurant.
I want to confirm that none of the brands mentioned in the best category have paid me. I am not with or against any brand. It took long to research for this blogpost so if you think it helps then do share with you friends and family.
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Buy now!My name is Ranbir Singh, I thank you so much for reading.