Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection

A. J. Jacobs

Simon and Schuster, Apr 10, 2012 - Biography & Autobiography - 416 pages

From the bestselling author of The Year of Living Biblically and The Know-It-All comes the true and truly hilarious story of one person’s quest to become the healthiest man in the world.

Hospitalized with a freak case of tropical pneumonia, goaded by his wife telling him, “I don’t want to be a widow at forty-five,” and ashamed of a middle-aged body best described as “a python that swallowed a goat,” A.J. Jacobs felt compelled to change his ways and get healthy. And he didn’t want only to lose weight, or finish a triathlon, or lower his cholesterol. His ambitions were far greater: maximal health from head to toe.

The task was epic. He consulted an army of experts— sleep consultants and sex clinicians, nutritionists and dermatologists. He subjected himself to dozens of different workouts—from Strollercize classes to Finger Fitness sessions, from bouldering with cavemen to a treadmill desk. And he took in a cartload of diets: raw foods, veganism, high protein, calorie restriction, extreme chewing, and dozens more. He bought gadgets and helmets, earphones and juicers. He poked and he pinched. He counted and he measured.

The story of his transformation is not only brilliantly entertaining, but it just may be the healthiest book ever written. It will make you laugh until your sides split and endorphins flood your bloodstream. It will alter the contours of your brain, imprinting you with better habits of hygiene and diet. It will move you emotionally and get you moving physically in surprising ways. And it will give you occasion to reflect on the body’s many mysteries and the ultimate pursuit of health: a well-lived life.

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - annhepburn - LibraryThing

As ever, AJ Jacobs writes a funny, self-deprecating work that sneaks in some really useful information. I found myself sitting up straighter and eating better just by reading it.

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - howifeelaboutbooks - LibraryThing

've read Jacobs' The Guinea Pig Diaries and thought it was really funny how he jumps into these experiments, so I knew that his quest to be the healthiest man in the world would be just as funny. It ...

Contents

• Prologue: 1
• The Heart: 29
• The Ears: 53
• The Immune System: 75
• The Genitals: 101
• The Lower Intestine: 131
• The Brain: 165
• The Endocrine System: 183
• The Feet: 203
• The Stomach Revisited: 223
• The Heart Revisited: 247
• The Bladder: 269
• The Nose: 293
• The Back: 313
• The Skull: 335
• Five Tips on Treadmill Desks: 357
• Authors Note: 371

About the author

A.J. Jacobs is the author of Thanks a Thousand, It’s All Relative, Drop Dead Healthy, and the New York Times bestsellers The Know-It-All, The Year of Living Biblically, and My Life as an Experiment. He is a contributor to NPR, and has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Entertainment Weekly. He lives in New York City with his wife and kids. Visit him at AJJacobs.com and follow him on Twitter @ajjacobs.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection
• Author: A. J. Jacobs
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Simon and Schuster, 2012
• ISBN: 1439110158, 9781439110157
• Length: 416 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / General; Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs; Health & Fitness / Exercise; Humor / Topic / Marriage & Family