Drop dead healthy - Rambling Readers

English language

Published Jan. 1, 2012 by William Heinemann.

ISBN:: 978-0-434-02010-2
OCLC Number:: 772968325

(1 review)

"You may know A.J. Jacobs as the man who attempted to read the Encyclopedia Britannica from cover-to-cover. Or you may have been introduced to him when he spent a year trying to follow the Bible as literally as possible. He returns once again with another seemingly impossible task--that of becoming the healthiest man alive. As with his earlier books, Jacobs brings his quick wit, self-deprecating humor, and journalistic eye to the experiment. He leaves no health stone unturned: from literally running his errands and wearing noise-cancelling headphones for hours a day to rigging a desk that he can work at while walking on the treadmill (there are instructions at the end for those interested), Jacobs chronicles the good, bad, and ugly of trying to attain "perfect" health. Jacobs' writing is breezy, informational, and entertaining, and he manages to achieve the near impossible--discussing issues of health without sounding preachy. --Caley Anderson …

"You may know A.J. Jacobs as the man who attempted to read the Encyclopedia Britannica from cover-to-cover. Or you may have been introduced to him when he spent a year trying to follow the Bible as literally as possible. He returns once again with another seemingly impossible task--that of becoming the healthiest man alive. As with his earlier books, Jacobs brings his quick wit, self-deprecating humor, and journalistic eye to the experiment. He leaves no health stone unturned: from literally running his errands and wearing noise-cancelling headphones for hours a day to rigging a desk that he can work at while walking on the treadmill (there are instructions at the end for those interested), Jacobs chronicles the good, bad, and ugly of trying to attain "perfect" health. Jacobs' writing is breezy, informational, and entertaining, and he manages to achieve the near impossible--discussing issues of health without sounding preachy. --Caley Anderson in amazon.com.

3 editions

crabbygirl reviewed Drop dead healthy by Jacobs, A. J.

Review of 'Drop dead healthy' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

the biggest takeaway I got was that health is an industry. for every ailment, real or imagined, there is a supplement or a piece of equipment you can buy. worse still, there's a need to purchase diagnostic tools or pay for tests just to SEE if you have a problem/ailment. for example, look at something as mild as sleeping. you can pay to go to a diagnostic sleep lab or buy a contraption that measures the ratio between your REM and non-REM sleep. when you find your sleep problem - and there's always going to be one - you may need an expensive machine to fix your sleep apnea, or breathe right strips and ping pongs sewn onto the backs of your pjs to reduce your snoring. or maybe you need to buy special blinds to cut out all light. or sleep away from your partner. the extra time and …

the biggest takeaway I got was that health is an industry. for every ailment, real or imagined, there is a supplement or a piece of equipment you can buy. worse still, there's a need to purchase diagnostic tools or pay for tests just to SEE if you have a problem/ailment. for example, look at something as mild as sleeping. you can pay to go to a diagnostic sleep lab or buy a contraption that measures the ratio between your REM and non-REM sleep. when you find your sleep problem - and there's always going to be one - you may need an expensive machine to fix your sleep apnea, or breathe right strips and ping pongs sewn onto the backs of your pjs to reduce your snoring. or maybe you need to buy special blinds to cut out all light. or sleep away from your partner. the extra time and stress of keeping a sleep diary and obsessing over data can't be good for your sleeping or overall health.

Subjects

Health
Humor