Is sharbati atta gluten free? No: wheat atta, gluten and coeliac

No. Sharbati atta is milled from sharbati wheat, and the grain is wheat first: IFCT 2017 records its botanical name as Triticum aestivum. Wheat, barley and rye are the three cereals whose gluten the NHS ties to coeliac disease, so a variety that tastes sweeter or kneads softer is still wheat, and still contains gluten.

COWBERRY's own sharbati wheat page puts it plainly: the answer to 'Is sharbati wheat gluten-free?' is 'No, Sharbati wheat contains gluten.' The same page adds that some people find sharbati wheat easier to digest than other wheat varieties, which may be welcome news for some, but means nothing for coeliac disease: the reaction is to gluten itself, and sharbati atta has it.

The variety's other claim points the same way. Its product description calls sharbati wheat naturally higher in protein and gluten quality compared with standard wheat varieties, so nothing in the product description suggests this wheat lacks gluten.

The NHS describes gluten as a protein of three particular cereals: wheat, barley and rye. Food made with them carries gluten, and the NHS's everyday examples run from pasta and cakes to breakfast cereals, most breads, certain sauces and some ready meals; most beers are made with barley. In an Indian kitchen the same list reads as roti, paratha, poori, bread, biscuits, dalia and anything kneaded from atta.

For most people gluten is simply a protein in their staple food. For someone with coeliac disease it is the trigger of an autoimmune response: the immune system attacks the body's own tissues when gluten is eaten, and the surface of the small intestine is damaged so that nutrients are not absorbed properly. Symptoms named by the NHS include diarrhoea, abdominal pain and bloating.

For coeliac disease the NHS says a gluten-free diet should help control symptoms and prevent long-term complications. The condition touches at least 1 person in every 100 in the UK, and the NHS advises that even people with only mild symptoms should still change their diet.

No source prints a gluten figure for sharbati atta, and none is invented here. What the sources do print is the composition of whole wheat and the character of this variety, and both point the same way. IFCT 2017's whole-wheat sample gives 10.59 g of protein and 11.23 g of fibre per 100 g, and its local-names list carries the same wheat under thirteen Indian names. The product description for sharbati wheat adds that the variety is naturally higher in protein and gluten quality compared with standard wheat varieties.

The practical reading is simple. A person with coeliac disease reacts to gluten, and wheat of every variety, milled any way, carries it, so sharbati atta, chakki-ground or otherwise, stays off the plate. The composition below is whole wheat's; for a coeliac reader the only line that matters is the name of the grain: wheat.

Per 100 g raw, edible portion. Composition: IFCT 2017 (ICMR-NIN). GI: University of Sydney GI database. — means not reported. These are average values for the food; the label on a pack gives the values for that product.

The catalogue offers several flours whose product pages state they are naturally gluten-free, and each has its own page and recipes on this site.

• Besan (chickpea flour): COWBERRY describes its besan as naturally gluten-free and protein-rich; try besan roti.
• Ragi (finger millet): the ragi flour page calls it naturally gluten-free and rich in calcium; how a gluten-free kitchen uses it is on is ragi gluten free, and the flatbread itself is the ragi roti recipe.
• Jowar (sorghum): the jowar flour in the range is milled from whole sorghum grains and described as naturally gluten-free and rich in fibre and minerals.
• Bajra (pearl millet): bajra flour, naturally gluten-free and rich in fibre and protein per its product page.
• Makki atta (maize flour): the maize flour page calls maize completely gluten-free.

The NHS list shows why a coeliac shopper checks ingredients rather than guessing from the look of a dish. Gluten turns up in pasta, cakes, breakfast cereals and most types of bread, all obviously wheat-based, but also in certain sauces and some ready meals, where wheat is not the point of the food; most beers are made with barley, so beer carries gluten without any wheat at all. In a wheat-eating household, the same care extends to everything kneaded from atta and to broken wheat, since dalia is wheat in another form.

Outside the kitchen, the rule is the same: any grain, flour, sauce or packet that might contain wheat, barley or rye stays out of a coeliac plate until the label or the maker says otherwise. Among the flours sold on this site, the ones in the section above are described on their product pages as gluten-free.

Sharbati atta is wheat, and wheat means gluten, so for a coeliac reader the answer does not change with the variety, the region or the mill: keep sharbati atta, chakki atta and every other wheat flour off the plate, and out of anything cooked for a coeliac guest. For everyone else, sharbati atta is simply a whole-grain flour, and the gehu atta hub covers its uses, recipes and nutrition.

The switch that does matter is to a gluten-free atta, and the five listed above are each described on their COWBERRY product pages as gluten-free. If symptoms follow every wheat meal, or coeliac disease runs in the family, talk to your doctor or dietitian and follow their plan for cutting gluten out.

Is sharbati atta gluten free?

No. Sharbati atta is wheat flour, and wheat sits with barley and rye on the NHS list of gluten cereals. A sweeter-tasting wheat is still wheat, so sharbati atta contains gluten and belongs off a coeliac plate. The gluten-free flours that can stand in for it are listed above.

Is sharbati wheat gluten free?

No. COWBERRY's sharbati wheat page answers this question in the same words: sharbati wheat contains gluten, and the answer to the gluten-free question is no. The same page notes that some people find sharbati wheat easier to digest than other wheat varieties, but digestion comfort is not the coeliac question: gluten is, and sharbati wheat has it.

What is sharbati atta?

Sharbati atta is flour milled from sharbati wheat, the premium wheat variety that COWBERRY sources from Madhya Pradesh and describes as naturally golden, soft-textured and sweet-tasting, with a softer, more elastic dough than standard wheat flours and rotis that come out soft and fluffy. COWBERRY's sharbati atta is milled whole, keeping the bran and fibre in.

What is sharbati atta made of?

Sharbati atta is made from sharbati wheat: COWBERRY's flour is chakki-ground, which its product page says keeps the whole wheat berry intact, with the bran, fibre, germ oils, vitamins and minerals, and it is packed without preservatives, whiteners or artificial conditioners.

Which atta is best for health?

There is no single best atta; the useful rule is that whole-grain flours hold on to the bran, fibre, vitamins and minerals that refining removes, and ICMR-NIN asks that at least half of a day's cereals be whole grains. For a coeliac reader the answer is narrower still: the healthy choice is any atta without gluten, such as the flours listed above.

Is sharbati atta good for health?

As a whole-grain wheat flour it keeps the bran and fibre of the whole grain along with its protein, and the product page notes that some people find it easier to digest than other wheat varieties. What 'good for health' means for you depends on your plate and your condition; the fuller picture is on wheat benefits and side effects.