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660. The Wellness Industry Is Gigantic — and Mostly Wrong

January 23, 2026 • 1h 5m

Summary

⏱️ 12 min read

Overview

Zeke Emanuel, oncologist, bioethicist, and health policy expert, discusses his new book 'Eat Your Ice Cream,' which argues against the overly complicated wellness industry. He advocates for simple, sustainable lifestyle habits focused on social connection, mental engagement, sensible nutrition (including ice cream), regular exercise, and good sleep. Emanuel emphasizes that wellness should be enjoyable and habitual rather than requiring constant willpower, and critiques both the wellness industrial complex and systemic barriers in healthcare and food systems that make healthy living difficult.

The Wellness Industry's Gilded Age Moment

Emanuel draws parallels between today's $7 trillion wellness industry and a similar wellness craze 150 years ago during the Gilded Age. Both periods featured rapid urbanization, immigration, xenophobia, economic inequality, and concerns about food integrity. In both eras, people turned inward to control what they could—their own wellness—when the world felt chaotic and uncontrollable.

  • The global wellness industry is estimated at around $7 trillion and growing fast
  • Around 1870, there was an enormous wellspring of interest in wellness with books, magazines, and exercises
  • Current moment mirrors the past with rapid urbanization, immigration, xenophobia, economic inequality, and food integrity concerns
  • When people can't control their environment, they look inward to control their own wellness
" We've got the Gilded Age, we've got a lot of immigration, consequent xenophobia, people worrying about the food supply in terms of ultra-processed foods, and the world feeling topsy-turvy, like people can't control their own environment, much less the direction of their lives. And what you have is, I think, people looking inward like, what can I control? My wellness, my own life is something I control. "

Ice Cream, Dairy, and the Joy Factor

Emanuel explains why ice cream became the book's title, emphasizing dairy's underappreciated health benefits including preventing colon cancer, diabetes, and potentially dementia. Beyond nutrition, ice cream represents a joyous component of wellness—the idea that healthy living shouldn't require constant self-denial. He argues wellness must be sustainable for decades, not just a moment of willpower.

  • Dairy has advantages: societies that eat more dairy are generally taller, it provides protein, and helps prevent colon cancer
  • Recent reports show cream and full-fat aged cheeses may decrease risk of dementia
  • Ice cream represents the joyous component—we don't have to lead our lives in self-denial
  • Wellness is a lifestyle for decades that should become habitual and enjoyable
" So last night I had a piece of vodka cake for dessert with a scoop of very nice ginger ice cream. It was wonderful. "

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