{"id":407203,"date":"2026-01-13T21:24:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T21:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/407203\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T21:24:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T21:24:07","slug":"tired-of-the-wellness-industrial-complex-six-rules-to-ditch-and-what-to-do-instead-well-actually","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/407203\/","title":{"rendered":"Tired of the wellness industrial complex? Six rules to ditch \u2013 and what to do instead | Well actually"},"content":{"rendered":"

Being healthy shouldn\u2019t feel this complicated. Yet every week brings a new wellness fixation, from \u201cfibermaxxing<\/a>\u201d to \u201czone 2 training\u201d, creatine and cortisol-hacking.<\/p>\n

Between prescriptive plans, complex science and often contradictory advice, it can seem like being healthy is a full-time job \u2013 or a hopeless cause.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s neither, argues Dr Ezekiel J Emanuel, a leading public-health physician, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and former adviser to the Obama administration. In his new book, Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life<\/a>, Emanuel dismantles the \u201cwellness industrial complex\u201d in favour of a few basic, sustainable principles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way I like to think about it is we both make it too complicated \u2013 and we also make it too simple,\u201d he says. Here is Emanuel\u2019s expert pick of the wellness advice you can afford to leave behind in 2025 \u2013 and what to focus on instead.<\/p>\n

Let go of: Intense fitness challengesBring in: More movement \u2013 of all kinds<\/p>\n

We all know the importance of exercise, but it doesn\u2019t have to be complicated or extreme. As Emanuel writes in Eat Your Ice Cream: \u201cJust get off your ass and move around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fitness trends like \u201czone 2 training\u201d, focusing on keeping your heart rate between 50% and 70% of your maximum, often overcomplicate things. \u201cI think making an obsession of getting all the details right is absolutely the wrong thing,\u201d he says. Simply getting some exercise and getting your heart rate up should be the goal.<\/p>\n

Walking, then progressing to running or other aerobic activity, delivers major gains. But after a point, more exercise isn\u2019t always better, says Emanuel: \u201cThere is a plateau to how much benefit you\u2019re getting.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sweet spot remains 150 minutes a week (roughly 20 minutes a day) of activity vigorous enough to leave you slightly out of breath. Beyond that, you may be at risk of injury, Emanuel says.<\/p>\n

More important than benchmarks or challenges is consistency \u2013 and not just with cardio. Strength training and flexibility training are just as essential, at every life stage, Emanuel says:<\/p>\n

\u201cFor wellness to really be impactful for a healthy, long life, you have to be doing it for years and years \u2013 it has to be a habit.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, he adds, \u201cperfection is not the goal\u201d.<\/p>\n

Let go of: Sad solo mealsBring in: Social dining<\/p>\n

Health advice often neglects social connection, despite strong evidence that relationships are essential to wellness, longevity and happiness. Friends, family and even \u201cweak ties\u201d can matter more for health than diet or sleep alone, Emanuel says, while loneliness is increasingly linked to early death.<\/p>\n

One simple intervention: eat with other people. In 2023, roughly one in four Americans reported eating all<\/a> of their meals alone, a sharp rise over two decades. Eating alone is also associated with poorer nutrition.<\/p>\n

Inviting someone over for dinner delivers multiple benefits. \u201cCooking a wonderfully nutritious meal, exercising your brain in that, then making it social by inviting other people to share it is a big wellness trifecta,\u201d says Emanuel.<\/p>\n

The same goes for exercise, he adds: hitting the gym alone is better for you than not working out at all, but \u201cif you\u2019re smart, you\u2019ll make it a social activity\u201d.<\/p>\n

Let go of: Habit-tracking and statsBring in: Screen Sabbaths<\/p>\n

Restorative sleep is essential for health, but Emanuel is against tracking it with tech. The data is often inaccurate, potentially misleading people about their individual patterns, and can exacerbate difficulties with falling or staying asleep.<\/p>\n

While stats can motivate some people to form good habits, Emanuel argues that time on screens generally undermines wellbeing by displacing social interactions and distracting us from the present.<\/p>\n

Graphic with three lines of text that say, in bold, \u2018Well Actually\u2019, then \u2018Read more on living a good life in a complex world,\u2019 then a pinkish-lavender pill-shaped button with white letters that say \u2018More from this section\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

As well as no phones at the dinner table or in the hour before bed, he tries to spend every Saturday entirely screen-free. He has yet to achieve 52 consecutive weeks, Emanuele admits \u2013 but the intent is important.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we rely on our own willpower, we\u2019re going to fail \u2026 You have to create an environment where it\u2019s easy to say no,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Let go of: \u2018Wellness\u2019 as an interestBring in: Hobbies and interests \u2026 for wellness<\/p>\n

It\u2019s increasingly the norm for wellness to be taken as a passion or interest in and of itself. This worries Emanuel, along with the fixation on longevity. He says: \u201cThere seems to be this sort of obsession that you need to make wellness the focus of your life \u2026 Your life should be bigger than wellness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Too much focus on fitness, physical health and longevity can even come at the expense of other activities \u2013 such as socialising \u2013 that would make us happy and potentially healthier, he adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an opportunity cost: if you\u2019re spending all this time exercising, you\u2019re going to miss out on doing other things \u2013 talking to your friends, cooking nutritious meals or just enjoying a book.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Eat Your Ice Cream, Emanuel stresses the importance of hobbies, for not only enriching your days but also often bringing secondary wellness benefits.<\/p>\n

Each year, he challenges himself to take up an entirely new activity. Last year, he learned to keep bees and make his own honey. \u201cI learned a lot, and actually it was very good for me, because for bees, you have to move slowly and be very conscious,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

This year, he has committed to learning ballroom dancing with his wife \u2013 again, promising multiple benefits, he points out: \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of moves, you have to do a lot of coordination, you have to connect with another person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such activities support wellness as a way of life \u2013 rather than being the point of it, Emanuel says.<\/p>\n

Let go of: Your daily puzzleBring in: A book club<\/p>\n

Emanuel\u2019s annual challenge to learn something new also helps to keep him mentally sharp, he says. Many of us do crossword puzzles or word games daily to stave off cognitive decline, but repeating the same activity reinforces the same neural pathways.<\/p>\n

Watching television, scrolling social media or engaging in otherwise passive consumption likewise don\u2019t stretch our brains. \u201cA diversity of mental engagement\u201d is important for slowing cognitive decline, especially if you\u2019re retired, Emanuel says: \u201cAnd make sure you don\u2019t just do it once.\u201d<\/p>\n

A regular book club can help keep you mentally nimble, combining critical thinking, exposure to new ideas and debate \u2013 along with the all-important social element.<\/p>\n

Learning to cook or expanding your repertoire is also accessible and rewarding, Emanuel adds; he suggests attempting one new dish every week: \u201cIt doesn\u2019t take that much to learn a new recipe, and it expands your palate and your experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let go of: \u2018Ultra-processed foods\u2019 anxietyBring in: Real food<\/p>\n

\u201cUltra-processed foods\u201d may dominate public-health debate, but the \u201cquasi-scientific\u201d term and debate over what counts as such may be adding to confusion about how to eat, Emanuel says:<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s call it what it is: junk food. It\u2019s not healthy for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unrealistic to eliminate it entirely, but junk food should be minimised, Emanuel says: \u201cFrom scratch, and natural \u2013 that\u2019s the way we should be eating.\u201d<\/p>\n

One way to achieve this is, again, by cooking most of your meals yourself. Processed, packaged foods have been linked to<\/a> depression and anxiety, as well as to faster cognitive deterioration.<\/p>\n

Even many supposed \u201chealth foods\u201d don\u2019t deliver nutrition. Protein bars, for example, can be convenient during intensive exercise or while you\u2019re on the go, but many are only slightly better for you than candy bars, Emanuel says: \u201cYou should not think they\u2019re healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Multivitamins and supplements, too, are generally unnecessary if you aren\u2019t pregnant or vegan or otherwise have specific needs. As for \u201cwellness drips\u201d and infusions, they\u2019re a \u201ctotal waste of money\u201d, Emanuel says.<\/p>\n

Better to focus on nutrition, and limiting your intake of empty calories. Snacks make up 500 calories per day in an average adult\u2019s diet \u2013 nearly 25% of the daily total. You don\u2019t need to cut them out, Emanuel says, but \u201cmake sure it\u2019s a good snack\u201d.<\/p>\n

Let go of: RestrictionBring in: Pleasure<\/p>\n

One of the biggest issues with modern wellness culture, Emanuel says, is its narrow focus on the individual, encouraging fixation and restriction. \u201cA lot of the recommendations are about depriving yourself,\u201d he says, whether of food, leisure time or social opportunities.<\/p>\n

Not only can obsessing about health and wellness come at the detriment of overall wellbeing, it can also be counterproductive, Emanuel says: \u201cYou\u2019re not going to sustain that activity if you\u2019re constantly depriving yourself. You\u2019re just using too much willpower \u2013 and we know that willpower fatigues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite his commitment to health, Emanuel is an enthusiastic home baker and avowed chocaholic. He has even made his own chocolate bar, listed alongside his professional accomplishments on his website under \u201chobbies<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

By embracing his sweet tooth, Emanuel has cultivated new interests, learned new skills, connected with others and enriched his life. That\u2019s the best way to approach indulgences, he suggests: make them worth it.<\/p>\n

Hence the provocative title of his book: wellness isn\u2019t one-size-fits-all, and pleasure plays a part.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife\u2019s grandmother ate ice-cream every day for her 101 years,\u201d Emanuel says. You wouldn\u2019t think of it as medicine \u2013 but, as a treat, enjoyed two or even three times a week, \u201cit makes perfect sense\u201d.<\/p>\n

Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life by Ezekiel J Emanuel is out now<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Being healthy shouldn\u2019t feel this complicated. Yet every week brings a new wellness fixation, from \u201cfibermaxxing\u201d to \u201czone…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407204,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[49,48,407,84],"class_list":{"0":"post-407203","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-fitness","11":"tag-health"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}