Busting Diet Myths: The 3 Nutrition Lies You Need to Stop Believing

AS A RADIATION ONCOLOGIST, I HEAR PATIENTS express many diet myths. Today, we will bust some diet myths, focusing on three nutrition lies you must stop believing.

“The fridge had been emptied of all Dudley’s favorite things — fizzy drinks and cakes, chocolate bars and burgers — and filled instead with fruit and vegetables and the sorts of things that Uncle Vernon called “rabbit food.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

I always hesitate to write about food. It is a health topic that typically lacks high-level evidence.

Moreover, people are remarkably (and understandably) sensitive about their favorite foods.

Myth #1: Soy-based foods increase breast cancer risk.

When I meet my patients with breast cancer, this is the most common myth I encounter.

The myth begins this way: Soy is rich in plant estrogens, known as isoflavones.