Akriti hasn't eaten roti or rice in nearly a decade.
"For the past 10 years, I haven't eaten roti or rice at all in my daily meals. Sometimes, okay, once in a while. But as such, there's no flour or rice in my house," she says in a video that has been widely shared online.
Instead, every meal comes with a moong dal or lentil chilla, paired with vegetables. She says, she strength trains five times a week, has no energy dips, and says the decision is deeply personal. Diabetes runs in her family, and she wants to stay ahead of it.
Akriti, a BITS Pilani graduate and an MBBS doctor according to her Insta bio, adds that she feels more energetic than many people in her medical school batch who are far younger. For her, cutting out roti was less about trends and more about long-term health.
But her choice reflects something larger brewing on the Indian Internet.
Skipping The Chapati
Across social media, a growing number of Indians are questioning the place of roti in their daily meals. The logic is familiar by now: chapatis are carb-heavy, protein intake is low, and modern lifestyles demand better nutritional balance.
Celebs like actor Gurmeet Choudhary also once shared on a Comedian Bharati Singh podcast that he hasn't eaten roti, rice, bread or sugar for the past one and a half years. The clip went viral further feeding into an already popular idea that cutting out staples is the quickest route to fitness and metabolic health.
At home kitchens too, substitution has become routine for many. Wheat rotis are swapped for besan chillas, moong dal pancakes, oats rotis or millet-based alternatives like Jowar (Sorghum), Bajra (Pearl Millet and Ragi (finger Millet).
For many, the roti is no longer non-negotiable. Yet, completely giving up a staple that anchors most Indian meals is easier said than done.
And that's where brands have stepped in with a different proposition: don't ditch the roti, 'fix' it.
Enter 'Protein Roti'
Instead of asking Indians to overhaul their plates, food companies are trying to re-engineer the most familiar part of the thali. Protein-fortified atta (wheat flour) and "protein-for-roti" mixes are now everywhere, from kitchen shelves to Instagram reels.
The pitch is simple. A regular wheat roti offers roughly 3 to 4 g of protein. Even eating multiple rotis rarely gets people close to the recommended intake, especially for active adults who need around 0.8 to 1.2 g of protein per kg of body weight. By blending wheat with plant-based proteins like soy, pea, peanut, Bengal gram or oats, these products promise significantly higher protein without changing eating habits.
Some brands offer ready-to-use high-protein atta, kneaded just like regular flour. Others sell scoopable protein blends that can be mixed into home atta to "upgrade" rotis without altering taste or texture too much.
Brands like Milld Protein Atta have taken things a step further and claims 46 g of protein per 100 g of flour, far higher than conventional atta.
Others, including mass-market players have also come up similar high protein atta: like Aashirvaad Atta with High Protein (15 g for 100 gm) , Arvita High Protein Atta (16 g for 100 gm) Goodmonk Plant Protein for Rotis (Adds 5 g protein per roti), suggesting that two or three rotis can now meaningfully contribute to daily protein needs.
The appeal is obvious. Rotis are eaten daily by millions, across income groups. Turning them into a protein source feels culturally intuitive, far more so than protein bars or imported powders.
India's Protein Gap
This surge of interest exists because India has a well-documented protein problem. Multiple nutrition surveys over the years have shown that a large section of our population consumes far less protein than recommended, even when calorie intake is adequate.
One major reason is structural. The Indian thali is heavily carb-driven. Rice, wheat, potatoes and refined grains dominate plates, while protein sources like pulses, dairy, eggs or meat often appear in smaller quantities. Cost, accessibility, dietary preferences and long-standing habits all play a role.
Indian Thalis are generally carb-heavy. Photo: Unsplash
Even vegetarian diets, when not carefully planned, can fall short. And while urban fitness culture has normalised protein powders and supplements, these remain inaccessible or undesirable for much of the population.
Against this backdrop, fortifying staple foods looks like a pragmatic intervention rather than a fad.
Can Protein Rotis Really Help?
The idea of embedding nutrition into everyday food is not new. Iodised salt and fortified oils changed public health outcomes without demanding behavioural shifts. Protein-enriched atta aims to follow a similar logic.
However, experts and nutrition-focused communities urge caution. Protein numbers on labels depend on formulation, serving size and testing methods. Ultra-high claims need independent verification, and heavily processed blends raise questions about long-term use, especially for children or those with allergies to soy or peanuts.
There's also the risk of seeing protein rotis as a silver bullet. They are still far more expensive then your regular flour and it cannot replace a balanced diet that includes dals, vegetables, fruits and diverse protein sources.
What they may do, however, is reduce friction. For households unwilling or unable to radically change eating patterns, a higher-protein roti could quietly improve daily intake without triggering resistance.