Eat your ice cream for a long, healthy life? This doctor says so

Eat your ice cream for a long, healthy life? This doctor says so July 13, 20265:00 AM ET Allison Aubrey Oncologist and bioethicist Zeke Emanuel takes a back-to-basics approach to maintain good health in his new book, including tips like allowing yourself to enjoy ice cream. WeBond Creations/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption WeBond Creations/Getty Images If you're hankering for a cool treat on a hot day, nothing screams summer like ice cream. And a physician renowned for shaping U.S. healthcare policy has a message: Go ahead and enjoy it. How to Thrive as You Age Fast walkers in their 80s cut their risk of cognitive decline by half, a study finds Zeke Emanuel is an oncologist and bioethicist who served as an advisor to the Obama administration, helping shape the Affordable Care Act. He believes in a system that invests in prevention, one that aims to keep people healthy. So when he released his book, literally titled Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules For A Long And Healthy Life, I asked him what motivated him. "Mostly anger at the wellness industrial complex," Emanuel told me. He says the wellness industry is selling people all kinds of things that are expensive and clinically unproven, pointing to the latest peptide trend, whole body scans and "all sorts of supplements" marketed as anti-aging elixirs. Sponsor Message Emanuel takes a back-to-basics approach, based on evidence, to maintain good health in his book. And though the title is a bit tongue-in-cheek, he points to evidence that people who are in the habit of eating ice cream have a lower risk of metabolic disease, despite the fact that it has lots of sugar and fat. Researchers have dubbed this the "ice cream paradox." There's data from 2015 that suggests "that ice cream is actually pretty good at preventing development of type two diabetes, and dairy in general is good at preventing type two diabetes," Emanuel says. Want the latest stories on the science of healthy living? Subscribe to NPR's Health...