Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life

Everyone wants to live a full and healthy life--and every day brings a tidal wave of attention-grabbing misinformation, faddish ideas from "wellness" influencers, and bizarre advice from news outlets over-extrapolating the results of tiny, outlier studies. The "Wellness Industrial Complex" prescribes conflicting and complicated regimens while promising us more time to enjoy in the future--though it sure is demanding a lot of time right now. But what actually matters most to our health and longevity? What has the most robust, actionable evidence? What's the junk you can skip?

In Eat Your Ice Cream, renowned physician Ezekiel J. Emanuel argues that life is not a competition to live the longest and that "wellness" shouldn't be difficult; it should be an invisible part of one's lifestyle that yields maximum health benefits with the least work. Dr. Emanuel cuts through the noise with wit and good humor, giving readers just what they need: simple, high-impact, evidence-based guidelines on such issues as alcohol consumption, food and nutrition, exercise, sleep, mental acuity, and social engagement. Resisting the tide of the latest trends to extend life at all costs, Eat Your Ice Cream reveals that many of the tools for a long, healthy and meaningful life are already within reach.

Pairing common sense with uncommon wisdom based on his decades of expertise and experience, Dr. Emanuel helps us consider which lifestyle changes are worth making and how to most easily implement them for longer, healthier, and happier lives. Readers will come away with greater clarity and a deeper understanding of what really matters for well-being--connection, purpose, and sustainable choices backed by rigorous science.

Author: Ezekiel J. Emanuel
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 01/06/2026
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.41h x 5.61w x 1.01d
ISBN: 9781324117537

About the Author
Emanuel, Ezekiel J.: - Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD is a vice provost and professor at the University of Pennsylvania. A bioethicist, health policy expert, and oncologist, he was one of the architects of the Affordable Care Act. He is a regular guest on CNN and MSNBC and often contributes to the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and Atlantic. He lives in Washington, DC.