Sonali Bendre faces backlash from doctors for crediting autophagy, naturopathy in cancer recovery

Bollywood actor Sonali Bendre is facing criticism from sections of the medical community after she credited naturopathy and autophagy as part of her recovery from cancer. In a post shared on X on Friday, Sonali said that learning about autophagy — a process in which the body breaks down and recycles damaged cells — had played a role in her healing journey.

Sonali wrote that her naturopath had introduced her to the concept when she was undergoing treatment, prompting her to research it further. She added that she has continued to follow autophagy-based practices since then.

However, several doctors objected to her post, arguing that autophagy-based therapies and naturopathy are not proven cancer treatments. They accused the actor of unintentionally endorsing quackery and warned that such claims could mislead vulnerable patients.

Sonali was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic cancer in 2018 and announced that she was cancer-free the following year. She has previously spoken about the importance of conventional cancer treatment in her recovery, but her latest comments have sparked debate over alternative therapies and their unverified medical claims.