Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Drop Dead Healthy (A.J. Jacobs)



When author A.J. Jacobs says he is going to do something, he does it WHOLEHEARTEDLY.  Exhibit A: His book The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World documents his reading of the encyclopedia from A-Z.  In the popular The Year of Living Biblically, Jacobs lives one year following each rule of the Bible in as literal a way as possible.  And so it is with Drop Dead Healthy: One Man’s Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection, in which Jacobs is determined to make every part of himself from head to toe (and those parts you can’t see) the healthiest they can be.

This is the best type of read – it’s not only enjoyable and funny, but you’ll come away with lots of knowledge you can either take or leave.  Jacobs keeps each chapter short, focusing on how he’s trying to improve that part of his body. For food, he tries eating raw and vegan but also goes to the other extreme and eats Paleo style. What advice is worth taking?  Exercising 20 minutes a WEEK hardcore or working out like our caveman ancestors?  What environmental “dangers” are really worth worrying about?  You might be surprised by the research.

Jacobs fully realizes that he can’t keep up with all this advice for the rest of his life.  There just aren’t enough hours in the day, and some things have to give.  In the end, he’s definitely a lot healthier than he was at the beginning and inspires us all to make little tweaks for big results.

MY RATING - 4