“Eat Your Ice Cream”: Health Expert Shares Simple Rules for a Good Life
More joy, less restriction: Eating should be fun, and that includes the occasional treat. As long as your overall diet is healthy, a bit of junk food or something sweet now and then can boost your sense of joy. Photo: Freepik
Living a long and healthy life is simple, says bestselling author Ezekiel J. Emanuel. He is not only a health expert, bioethicist, and oncologist, but also works with the World Health Organization (WHO) and has written 15 books.
In his latest publication, Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life, he argues that a healthy lifestyle requires only a few straightforward, reasonable rules.
Here are his six rules and what he means by them:
1. Don’t be a schmuck. Avoid self‑destructive risks.
Emanuel starts provocatively: “Don’t be a schmuck” is his first rule. Many health problems or deaths, he argues, result from avoidable foolishness. He appeals to basic common sense: avoid self‑destructive risks. That means not driving drunk, not smoking, avoiding extremely dangerous hobbies, and not chronically sabotaging yourself.
In an interview with the Harvard Gazette, he explains that he once considered BASE jumping the dumbest thing a person could do. When jumping off a mountain in a wingsuit, the risk of dying is 1 in 2,300. But it gets worse, he says. The statistical chance of dying while climbing Mount Everest is 1 in 100. “Hardly anything is dumber than that”, Emanuel says.
“We need to weigh risks and understand which ones are worth taking and which ones are not.” For him, this is the foundation of longevity. Those who avoid the big, obvious risks already gain a massive health advantage.
2. Talk to people. Cultivate family, friends, and other social relations.
Emanuel sees social relationships as a medical factor. He cites recent studies showing that loneliness increases mortality almost as much as smoking.
He therefore recommends actively maintaining relationships: regular meetups and conversations, reliability, and genuine closeness. A healthy social life, he argues, is a prerequisite for physical health.
He also writes: “Be a mensch”. By this he means that the purpose of life should include making the world a better place. In the Harvard interview, he quotes Benjamin Franklin: “The noblest question in the world is: What good may I do in it?” For Emanuel, that is part of being human.
3. Expand your mind. Stay mentally sharp.
The third rule is one of the classics of longevity. But Emanuel goes beyond simply staying mentally active: he recommends constantly challenging the brain. Learn new things, stay curious, think differently, make discoveries.
He explains that cognitive fitness is strongly linked to quality of life in old age. Reading, learning, debating, and acquiring new skills are, according to many studies, protective factors against cognitive decline.
What matters to him is that this should not become a routine program of crossword puzzles or other “brain training”. The mind must be challenged. And it must be enjoyable and fit into everyday life.
He himself takes up a new hobby every year, he says in the interview. Once he learned how to make chocolate. Last year he kept bees in his garden. Currently he has started a dance class. He is a terrible dancer, he admits, but learning the steps requires intense mental engagement and keeps the brain active.
4. Eat your ice cream. Consume healthy food and drink.
Here the title says it all: Emanuel criticises the excessive moralising around nutrition. There are too many prohibitions, warnings, and extreme diets. “Constant restriction that requires great willpower does not lead to well‑being”, he says.
Instead, he recommends a simple, relaxed, science‑based approach: lots of vegetables, few processed foods, little alcohol, and above all no rigid dogmas. And he emphasises that pleasure is part of the equation. “Eat your ice cream” means that occasional treats are not only allowed but healthy, because they reduce stress and increase joy.
Good eating habits can be developed, Emanuel explains. Unhealthy snacks can be replaced with healthier ones. But nutrition is not an Olympic discipline; it does not require perfection. Junk food is unhealthy, but eliminating it completely is unrealistic.
If you manage to follow good nutrition 85 percent of the time, you get an excellent grade, he says. Eating should be enjoyable, not neurotic.
5. Move it! Exercise well and regularly.
Emanuel is extremely pragmatic here as well: no marathon training, no fitness apps, no expensive equipment. Just normal movement. Science shows clearly that regular, moderate physical activity is one of the strongest longevity factors.
For Emanuel, strength training is essential to prevent frailty. He also recommends exercises for balance and flexibility. His tip: yoga.
Regular training is very important. But more is not always better, he explains in the Harvard interview. After 150 minutes of exercise per week, there are no additional benefits, only increased risk of injury.
6. Sleep like a baby. Get the rest you need.
Emanuel sees sleep as an underestimated health factor. He argues that good sleep reduces inflammation, stabilises mood, protects cognitive performance, and prevents disease in the long term.
At the same time, he warns against excessive sleep technology: data from watches and similar devices are often inaccurate. Gadgets can motivate good habits, he says, but screens generally impair well‑being and distract.
One hour before bedtime should therefore be strictly screen‑free. He also recommends a stable sleep routine, sufficient duration, and a relaxed attitude. Sleep is not a luxury but a pillar of health.
The six rules
Don’t be a schmuck. Avoid clear, self‑destructive risks.
Talk to people. Nurture relationships. Make the world better.
Expand your mind. Stay curious. Learn new things.
Eat your ice cream. Eat healthily, but with pleasure.
Move your body. Exercise regularly and without fuss.
Sleep like a baby. Get enough good‑quality rest.
Sources
Harvard Gazette: 6 keys to a long, healthy life (ice cream included)
Ezekiel J. Emanuel: Eat Your Ice Cream
The Guardian: Tired of the wellness industrial complex? Six rules to ditch – and what to do instead
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