The debate around Sidhu’s wife’s cancer treatment with food raises an important question: can diet alone cure serious illnesses like Cancer, Diabetes, or BP ?
Dr. Vaishali Zamre, a Surgical and Breast Oncologist at Andromeda Cancer Hospital, Sonipat, weighed in on this in an interview with TOI Lifestyle. She clarified that while diet cannot cure cancer, a healthy, Personalized Diet plays a vital role in improving quality of life and enhancing the body’s response to treatments.
This perspective resonates deeply with my own journey. I managed and ultimately cured colon pain and inflammation by making personalized dietary changes. This experience taught me a powerful lesson: food has the potential to heal, but its effectiveness depends on how well it is tailored to an individual’s unique needs.
Inspired by this principle, we created NutriMap—a Food Navigator that predicts how different foods affect your body. By understanding your body’s specific needs, Nutrimap helps you make informed choices to support healing and overall well-being.
Have you ever tried using food to manage or even cure a health condition?
I have seen a close relative of mine go through the same journey as Sidhu’s wife.
Dietary changes can help only in prevention and mitigation of lifestyle diseases but can’t cure cancer. Most of the times, family members fall for the ayurvedic approach as they can’t see the loved ones suffer, as going through Chemotherapy sessions is not easy at all.
And my cousin went to through this pattern and still had to go through a surgery after that.
The controversy is the narrative, where the allopathy and scientific treatment has been opted but Sidhu promoted the ayurvedic approach in media, which is what the doctors are concerned about as that influences patients who are already suffering with cancer take the wrong decision, instead of the well informed one.
Sorry to hear about your relative’s journey, and I appreciate that you agree on the importance of dietary changes in preventing and mitigating lifestyle diseases. I completely understand the concerns doctors have when it comes to cancer treatment options.
I’m a firm believer in the science behind Ayurveda, particularly its core principles, which remain consistent and effective over time. Unlike modern science, which tends to evolve with new findings and trends, Ayurveda offers a timeless approach to health and wellness. For example, not long ago, high-fat diets were blamed for heart disease, but today, low-carb, high-fat diets like Keto are being widely promoted with scientific backing.
I believe Ayurveda, with more research and studies, could find its rightful place alongside conventional medicine, complementing each other to offer the best solutions for health.
Scientific backing usually means the causation is tested and understood since the body’s response to any particular method is well interpretable. Keto for example is proved to work because of the caloric deficit that occurs but is also considered not the healthiest for long-term adoption. But yeah, science only tests the practical application and validates and it is better that way for many reasons.
On the other side, debating on Ayurveda vs Science may not lead us anywhere without any systematic review evidence. But it is extremely important to stick to proven methods for treatments where an individual’s life is at stake and also to separate the context from anything else so that the information is not convoluted.
Agreed, but blindly following ever-changing scientific evidence is also not foolproof.
Take the case of Siddhu, for instance. What if he had stopped at chemotherapy? The results could have gone either way. This highlights the importance of considering the context alongside evidence, ensuring that decisions are holistic and account for the individual’s unique situation…
