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For everyday gut health, fibre-rich whole-grain atta has an important advantage over heavily refined flour. Gastroenterologist Dr Veerendra Sandur explains why — and where Khapli atta fits into the picture.
IN my gastroenterology practice, I see the full spectrum of digestive conditions — from the routine to the complex. What I have noticed across years of clinical work, and across patients of very different backgrounds and health profiles, is a pattern in the everyday dietary choices that underlie many of the gut complaints people bring to the clinic. The symptoms are varied. The dietary patterns behind them are often surprisingly similar.
One of the most consistent common threads is the shift, over the past few decades, away from traditionally processed whole grains toward heavily refined flour in everyday cooking. The roti that most urban Indian households make today is a different food from the roti that sustained previous generations. The flour is different. The processing is different. And the gut, which evolved alongside a particular kind of diet, is dealing with the consequences of that shift in ways that show up in clinical practice daily.
I want to explain, in terms that are useful outside a clinic, what that shift has actually done to the gut — and why choosing the right flour is one of the most meaningful and most practical decisions you can make for your digestive health.
About 7 out of 10 patients presenting with chronic digestive complaints, bloating, irregular bowel habits, persistent discomfort, are eating foods built almost entirely on refined flour. It’s not because of a dramatic dietary shift, they simply grew up eating what was available, and what has been available for the past 2 generations is increasingly stripped of what the gut actually needs.
The gut is not simply a tube through which food passes. It is an active, intelligent barrier: a single layer of cells, the intestinal epithelium, that is responsible for absorbing the nutrients your body needs while simultaneously keeping out everything that should not enter the bloodstream — bacteria, undigested proteins, toxins, and other harmful compounds.
Maintaining the integrity of this barrier is one of the gut’s most important jobs, and it depends substantially on one thing: butyrate. Butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid produced when gut bacteria ferment dietary fibre. It is the primary energy source for the colonocytes — the cells that form the gut lining — and without adequate butyrate, those cells are underfuelled. The tight junctions between them, which are the molecular seals that maintain the barrier, become compromised. The lining becomes more permeable than it should be.
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This increased intestinal permeability allows bacterial products and other substances to enter the bloodstream at low levels, triggering a chronic, low-grade inflammatory response. The clinical literature connecting this process to a range of digestive and systemic conditions is substantial and growing.
The point I want to make clearly is this: butyrate comes from fibre. And fibre, for the majority of Indians, comes primarily from the daily roti. When the flour in that roti is heavily refined — with the bran and germ removed by industrial milling — the fibre is largely gone, the butyrate production is reduced, and the gut lining loses a significant part of its fuel supply. This is not a metaphor. It is a physiological mechanism with measurable consequences.
Understanding why flour choice matters requires understanding what happens during milling.
A whole grain of wheat has three parts: the bran (the outer layer), the germ (the nutrient-rich embryo), and the endosperm (the starchy inner core). Traditional stone-grinding methods — the chakki method used in Indian households for centuries — grind the whole grain slowly, keeping these three components largely intact in the resulting flour. The bran’s fibre, the germ’s micronutrients and proteins, the endosperm’s carbohydrate: all present in the finished flour.
Industrial roller milling, which produces most commercially packaged atta, removes the bran and germ for practical reasons: shelf life, uniformity, the finer texture that consumers prefer. What remains is predominantly the endosperm. The fibre content of roller-milled flour is approximately 2.76g per 100g. Stone-ground whole grain flour retains fibre levels closer to the grain’s natural profile — around 11.4g per 100g.
That is not a marginal difference. It is a fourfold difference in one of the most important inputs the gut microbiome receives from the daily diet. And because the roti appears at most meals, in most Indian households, the cumulative effect of this difference across years of eating is significant.
Functional constipation is the single most common digestive complaint I see, followed closely by irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and non-specific bloating and discomfort that patients often dismiss as acidity or gas problems. In the majority of these cases, the fibre intake is very low despite them eating home-cooked Indian meals. But since the atta is heavily refined with fewer vegetable portions, the gut microbiome is receiving only a fraction of the fibre it needs. So, addressing that underlying deficit is the key to managing these conditions.
Khapli wheat — Emmer wheat, an ancient variety cultivated in India for thousands of years — is experiencing a well-deserved resurgence, and the reasons are more substantive than trend.
When processed using traditional stone-grinding methods, Khapli atta retains the grain’s full nutritional architecture. Aashirvaad Namma Chakki 100% Khapli Atta uses a chakki jaisi pisai method — stone-like grinding that keeps bran and germ intact. The flour contains 11.4g of dietary fibre per 100g, alongside meaningfully higher iron (3.3mg per 100g versus 1.77mg in refined flour) and calcium. Its Water Absorption Percentage of 73% — confirmed in quality testing — is higher than most commercial flours, which is what makes rotis made from it notably softer and more stable over time.
From a gastroenterological perspective, the fibre content is the primary clinical interest. A diet that consistently delivers adequate fibre from a well-processed whole grain supports butyrate production, maintains the gut lining, feeds a diverse microbiome, and supports the motility that prevents constipation and sluggish digestion that are among the most common complaints in clinical practice.
I want to be precise about what I am claiming here. Khapli atta is not a treatment for any diagnosed gastrointestinal condition. Patients with IBD, IBS, coeliac disease, or other structural diagnoses need individualised management, and dietary change is a component of that management, not a substitute for it. What I am describing is the preventive case — the consistent, long-term dietary support for a gut that is functioning well and that we want to keep functioning well.
The wheat is sourced from farmers in Karnataka and Maharashtra, Khapli’s home growing regions — I am based in Bengaluru, and there is something appropriate about a grain cultivated in this region returning to local kitchens through a product that maintains proper processing standards. Each batch is put through 40+ quality checks and carries a traceable quality certificate. For a clinician advising patients on dietary choices, the verifiability of what a product actually contains matters as much as what it claims to contain.
When I advise patients on dietary changes, whole grain flour is always the first and most non-negotiable recommendation, even before supplements, probiotics, or other complex interventions. For patients with functional constipation or early-stage gut dysbiosis, it is the single change that brings the best results. I also recommend Khapli specifically to patients who report gluten sensitivity without a confirmed diagnosis. This group tolerates ancient wheat varieties much better than modern commercially milled flour. Patients in their 30s and 40s are not always symptomatic, but their dietary patterns may suggest gut problems, so in that case, preventive fibre intake becomes more effective than corrective intervention.
One of the most significant developments in gastroenterological understanding over the past decade is the growing recognition of how central the gut microbiome is to digestive health and to overall health. The microbiome — the community of bacteria, fungi, and other microbes in the intestine — is not a passive presence. It is an active metabolic organ that affects immunity, digestion, the integrity of the gut lining, inflammation levels, and even mood through the gut-brain axis.
Microbiome diversity — the range of different species present — is one of the most consistent predictors of gut health in the research literature. High diversity is associated with resilience, efficient digestion, and robust immune function. Low diversity is associated with the opposite.
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Dietary fibre is the primary driver of microbiome diversity. Different bacterial species ferment different types of fibre from different plant sources. A diet built on varied whole foods — whole grains, legumes, vegetables — feeds a diverse range of bacterial populations. A diet built primarily on refined flour, processed foods, and low-fibre inputs feeds a progressively narrower range. The urban Indian dietary shift of the past two to three generations has been, among other things, a shift toward lower microbiome diversity. This shows up in clinical practice in the increased prevalence of functional gut disorders that characterise modern urban populations.
I am frequently asked what the single most important dietary change is for gut health. My answer is consistent: increase dietary fibre, from whole food sources, consistently. Not as a supplement. Not as a temporary intervention. As a permanent feature of the daily diet.
For most Indians, the most practical and most immediately impactful way to do this is through the daily roti. Switching from a refined, commercially milled atta to a stone-ground whole grain flour increases dietary fibre intake significantly through food that is already being made every day, in the same recipe, with no additional effort. A Khapli roti with dal and a vegetable is not a medical diet. It is an ordinary Indian meal, made better by the quality of its ingredients.
The gut lining benefits. The microbiome benefits. The motility benefits. These are not speculative claims. They are the physiological consequences of adequate dietary fibre delivered through the most consistent food source in the daily diet.
The gut does not ask for complicated interventions. It asks for consistent, adequate fibre from whole foods. The daily roti, made from the right flour, is the most practical answer to that request.
Good gut health is built in the kitchen over the years, and common digestive discomfort like occasional bloating, irregular motions, and sluggish digestion usually responds well to dietary improvement. But if there are persistent symptoms lasting more than 2 weeks, unexplained weight loss, blood in the stool, or a change in bowel habits, don’t manage that with diet alone. Those symptoms need to be clinically evaluated for underlying conditions.
Dr. Veerendra Sandur is a Consultant, Medical Gastroenterology at Manipal Hospital Kanakapura Road, Bengaluru. This article reflects his professional clinical perspective and is intended as general information for a lay audience. It is not a substitute for individualised medical advice. If you are experiencing persistent digestive symptoms, please consult a qualified gastroenterologist.
