Drop Dead Healthy is a fantastic plethora of fun facts. The author, A.j. Jacobs, is on a mission to be the healthiest man in the world. For 2 years he focuses every month on a different body part.
It covers everything from flossing (which could possibly add 6.4 years to your life) to how squatting while going number 2 instead of sitting can help prevent hemorrhoids (we were not meant to sit on toilets, we were meant to squat in fields, which completely eliminates reading on the toilet).
The great thing about this book was that a lot of the things I learned I can actually apply to my life and they were understandable. Yes, I will start walking more because we are not made to sit as long as we do. Maybe I will start thinking about what I'm eating (big maybe), but I will definitely start eating smaller portions (we eat too dang much). Jacobs does a superb job of explaining in a non-textbook way how to be healthy and gives you so many options that allows you to determine what would be best for you.
In an interview with Forbes Magazine, Jacobs was asked what they top 3 things he did to improve his health were. His response was, "never sit at your desk for more than an hour. Sitting is surprisingly bad for your heart, like eating a deep-fried Twinkie while smoking. Any movement helps, even getting up from your desk every hour to walk around for a couple of minutes." Jacobs wrote the book while walking on the treadmill and went an astounding 1,200 miles. His second tip is to chew your food, "Seems minor, but chewing slows you down, which means you eat less, which means you get thinner." Extreme chewers say to chew 50 times. His last tip is to avoid white foods, "white bread, white rice, white flour, even potatoes - these things will send your blood sugar rocketing. They are the devil".
The most important thing I learned from this book is that there is a fine line between being healthy and being healthy. I learned that it is very healthy to have human interaction and friendships, but I also learned that if you eat with people who don't eat healthy you are more likely not to eat healthy. So are you willing to give up eating with your friends so you can eat healthy, or are you willing to give up eating healthy to eat with you friends (I hope my friends pick the latter option seeing as my diet consists of pizza, coke and hot dogs).
Enjoy,
Mo Bridge
