\u201cYou\u2019re going to have to do wellness for decades and decades,\u201d Emanuel says.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou better enjoy what you\u2019re doing, otherwise you\u2019re not going to do it every day. You might have to start out willing yourself to do it, but it should become part of your routine and then actually you should miss it if you don\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many wellness trends involve making drastic or extreme changes to your diet or exercise routine.<\/p>\n
But as Emanuel notes, when you find something that\u2019s good, it doesn\u2019t mean more is better.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe body is a very carefully balanced machine and sometimes getting more is actually counterproductive. You [hear] a lot these days about the immune system, people want to \u2018rev up\u2019 the immune system \u2013 that\u2019s wrong. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a very carefully balanced immune system that is so complicated we still don\u2019t fully understand it. Too much immunity gets you autoimmune diseases, gets you a lot of inflammatory diseases. Too little exposes you to infections, you can be very sickly. So you need to find that balance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life by Dr Ezekiel Emanuel, published in New Zealand on April 28 2026.<\/p>\n
Emanuel says we each have different health histories and needs, so just because an influencer says you should eat more protein, that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of the wellness industrial complex is this mindset of, if this additive is good, more of it, tons of it must be better. That\u2019s totally wrong … you have no idea what is optimal for that individual,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
In fact, he believes a lot of the health advice that circulates on social media can do more harm than good.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis issue about vaccines that seems to be sweeping the world that somehow we don\u2019t need vaccines, we shouldn\u2019t be vaccinated – it\u2019s a terrible idea,\u201d Emanuel says.<\/p>\n
\u201cVaccines are one of the great lifesavers of all time and this idea that they\u2019re dangerous to us, including the Covid vaccine, is just total nonsense. That\u2019s one thing which I think is pretty worrisome.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother thing that preoccupies a lot of people in the wellness industrial complex is all these supplements<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n While some supplements are effective, many of them are \u201cterrible\u201d, he says.<\/p>\n \u201cIn general, we way overdo the supplements and get them totally wrong – and that\u2019s a bad mistake.\u201d <\/p>\n In Emanuel\u2019s home country, there\u2019s been a big push under MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) for people to consume more protein<\/a> and eat more meat.<\/p>\n But he says most of us are already getting plenty of protein.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the United States we eat an average of 10 ounces [about 280g] of meat a day, an outrageously high amount, 225 pounds a year, way more than we probably should, especially red meat. <\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be moderate about it … one or two servings of meat a week, about 6 ounces (170g), that\u2019s the right level.\u201d<\/p>\n Conversely, many public figures brag that they need only minimal sleep<\/a> to function – but Emanuel says you shouldn\u2019t follow suit. <\/p>\n \u201cSleep is very important… this idea of \u2018I can cut that out\u2019, or \u2018I can minimise it\u2019, is just foolish.\u201d<\/p>\n Three changes Dr Ezekiel Emanuel suggests for a healthier life<\/p>\n Eat more dairy<\/p>\n \u201cIf there\u2019s a single food that I think is a superfood that we don\u2019t recognise, it\u2019s yoghurt,\u201d Emanuel says.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s dairy, it\u2019s got good protein content, it\u2019s got good fats, it\u2019s also fermented so it helps with the microbiome, it\u2019s a probiotic and, of all the food groups, is associated with losing the most weight for those people who worry about that.\u201d<\/p>\n Dairy is associated with being taller. \u201cThe Dutch have become the tallest people in the world, and there are multiple hypotheses about why – but one of them is they\u2019re very high consumers of dairy.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s also linked to reduced risks of type 2 diabetes<\/a> and colorectal cancer<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are negatives and one should be very clear about it – it\u2019s also associated with some increased risks of some cancers like prostate cancer – but from a pure numbers standpoint, colorectal cancer\u2019s a way bigger problem.\u201d<\/p>\n If you drink alcohol, don\u2019t drink alone<\/p>\n