An oncologist who’s ‘vehemently against’ the wellness industry says only 4 diet changes actually matter for lowering disease risk
2. Cut Back on Soda
Emanuel’s second recommendation is to stop drinking sugary soda, or at minimum cut down to one or two glasses a week. He cited a roughly 26% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes among people drinking 1-2 sodas a day — a figure that lines up closely with a well-known meta-analysis published in Diabetes Care, which found that people in the highest category of sugar-sweetened beverage intake had about a 26% greater risk of type 2 diabetes than those drinking less than one serving a month. He also linked regular soda consumption to heart disease and fatty liver disease. A 12-ounce can, he noted, contains about 140 calories and roughly 10 teaspoons of sugar, with no nutritional value in exchange. It’s worth noting that diet soda isn’t automatically a clean swap either — other reporting on nutrition research has found that while it can be a helpful bridge away from sugary drinks, diet soda may still affect gut health in its own way.
3. Cut Back on Ultra-Processed Snacks
“We all have to cut back on the packaged snacks,” Emanuel said. The average American gets around 60% of daily calories from ultra-processed or “junk” foods — packaged muffins, cookies, chips — which tend to be high in salt, sugar, fat, and additives while offering little nutritional value. Regularly eating these foods has been linked to a higher risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and depression, and some research suggests certain common additives may disrupt the gut microbiome. Emanuel prefers the plainer term “junk food” over “ultra-processed,” since the more technical term has become a contested one in nutrition science — it can lump genuinely healthy staples, like packaged whole-wheat bread, in with items like doughnuts and hot dogs that share little in common nutritionally.
4. Get More Fiber
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