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.
