Actor Sonali Bendre reacted on November 24 to backlash from doctors after she credited her cancer recovery to autophagy – a natural process by which cells degrade and recycle proteins to maintain internal stability. “I never claimed to be a doctor, but I’m certainly not a quack either,” Sonali said in a statement.
On November 21, Sonali shared a post on X referencing Yoshinori Ohsumi, the 2016 Nobel Prize winner who discovered key mechanisms of autophagy. Sonali claimed that after she was diagnosed with cancer in 2018, the study of autophagy “helped” her. She added that she had learnt about autophagy through a ‘naturopath’. Qualified medical professionals refer to so-called naturopaths as quacks.
Her comments received immediate criticism from doctors, who pointed out that Sonali survived cancer through evidence-based treatment like chemotherapy at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Doctors also highlighted that Yoshinori Ohsumi was awarded the Nobel prize for his research on autophagy, not cancer treatment through naturopathy. Many accused her of irresponsibly amplifying unproven methods. Her post on X even received a community note highlighting that she was treated with modern medicine.
Responding to the controversy, Sonali said in her statement, “I am a cancer survivor, someone who has lived through the fear, pain, uncertainty, and rebuilding that the disease brings.”
She added that everything she shares stems from her personal experience: “As I've repeatedly said, no two cancers are the same and no treatment path is identical. One of the many protocols I personally explored, through research and medical guidance, was autophagy. It made a difference for me then and continues to do so today ... for me.”
Sonali added, “What truly matters is open, respectful dialogue. We don't all have to agree, but we should avoid dismissing one another simply because we lean toward different approaches. Each person must choose what feels right, safe, and empowering for them.”
She also said, “I will always share my journey with honesty and humility, never as a prescription, but as lived experience.”
While doctors appreciated her honesty in sharing her recovery journey, they expressed concerns over the messaging.
“You keep emphasising her personal experience, but you still aren’t acknowledging the core issue people raised. Your survival came from chemotherapy and surgery. Everything else, like autophagy, diet, and routines, was supplementary and done under strict medical guidance, as you have now specified,” wrote Dr Dipshika Ghosh.
Dipshika added that while sharing lived experience is important, a celebrity who wields significant influence failing to clearly acknowledge the actual medical treatment misleads vulnerable people into believing that lifestyle changes alone can cure cancer.
“When a public figure talks about healing protocols without clearly stating that the real treatment was medical, it unintentionally blurs lines for vulnerable people who may think lifestyle changes can replace actual cancer care. No one is dismissing your pain. We’re just asking for accurate framing, because accuracy saves lives,” she said.
Similarly, Dr Cyriac Abby Philips, popularly known as Liver Doc on social media, said that Sonali is not a quack but the naturopath she is taking advice from is one.
Cyriac added that Sonali, like many others, is a victim of "big claims, zero evidence" pseudoscientific practices such as naturopathy.
“The whole point is not to victimise Ms Sonali, but to focus on the aspect that education does not equate to intelligence and intelligence does not equate to rationality. We need to be rational humans so that we can make logical conclusions based on evidence, not experience or anecdotes,” he said.
He further stressed that critical thinking skills must be taught in schools instead of prayers and poems. This would prevent naturopaths and other “scammers” from taking our children for a ride in the future, like the majority of our adult population is going through now,” Cyriac also said.