How healthy living nearly killed me | A.J. Jacobs

Translator: Laura Gago Caamaño Reviewer: Alba Porrúa

I've spent the last decade

Pasei a última década

subjecting myself to pain and humiliation,

someténdome á dor e á humillación,

hopefully for a good cause,

coa esperanza de facelo por unha boa causa,

which is self-improvement.

que é o crecemento persoal.

And I've done this in three parts.

E fíxeno en tres partes.

So first I started with the mind.

Primeiro comecei coa mente.

And I decided to try to get smarter

Decidín intentar ser máis intelixente

by reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica

lendo a Enciclopedia Británica ao completo

from A to Z --

desde a A ata a Z

or, more precisely, from "a-ak" to "Zywiec."

(máis concretamente desde "a-ak" ata "Zywiec").

And here's a little image of that.

Aquí vai unha pequena imaxe daquelo.

And this was an amazing year.

Foi un ano incrible.

It was really a fascinating journey.

Foi unha viaxe fascinante.

It was painful at times,

Doloroso ás veces,

especially for those around me.

especialmente para os que estaban comigo.

My wife started to fine me one dollar

A miña muller comezou a cobrarme un dólar de multa

for every irrelevant fact I inserted into conversation.

por cada comentario irrelevante que incluía na conversa.

So it had its downsides.

Así que tivo un lado malo.

But after that,

Pero logo diso,

I decided to work on the spirit.

decidín traballar o espírito.

As I mentioned last year,

Como xa mencionei o ano pasado,

I grew up with no religion at all.

crecín sen relixión algunha.

I'm Jewish,

Son xudeu,

but I'm Jewish in the same way the Olive Garden is Italian.

pero son xudeu do mesmo xeito que o Olive Garden é italiano.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

Not really.

Realmente non.

But I decided to learn about the Bible and my heritage

Pero decidín aprender sobre a Biblia e a miña herdanza

by actually diving in

profundando nela

and trying to live it and immerse myself in it.

e intentando vivila e mergullarme nela.

So I decided to follow all the rules of the Bible.

Decidín seguir todas as regras da Biblia.

And from the Ten Commandments

Desde os dez mandamentos

to growing my beard --

ata deixarme barba,

because Leviticus says you cannot shave.

porque o Levítico di que non te podes afeitar.

So this is what I looked like by the end.

Así que ao final tiña esta pinta.

Thank you for that reaction.

Grazas por esa reacción.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

I look a little like Moses, or Ted Kaczynski.

Parecía Moisés ou Ted Kaczynski.

I got both of them.

Tiña un pouco dos dous.

So there was the topiary there.

Aí está o topiario.

And there's the sheep.

E aquí a ouvella.

Now the final part of the trilogy

Na parte final da triloxía

was I wanted to focus on the body

quixen centrarme no corpo

and try to be the healthiest person I could be,

e intentar estar o máis san que un pode estar,

the healthiest person alive.

a persoa viva máis sa.

So that's what I've been doing the last couple of years.

Así que iso é o que fixen os dous últimos anos.

And I just finished a couple of months ago.

Rematei fai dous meses.

And I have to say, thank God.

E teño que dicir que grazas a Deus.

Because living so healthily was killing me.

Porque vivir de forma tan sa estábame matando.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

It was so overwhelming,

Foi insoportable

because the amount of things you have to do,

porque a cantidade de cousas que tes que facer

it's just mind-boggling.

é incrible.

I was listening to all the experts

Escoitei a todos eses expertos

and talking to sort of a board of medical advisers.

e falei cunha especie de grupo de conselleiros médicos.

And they were telling me

Eles dicíanme

all the things I had to do.

todo o que tiña que facer.

I had to eat right,

Tiña que comer ben,

exercise, meditate, pet dogs,

facer exercicio, meditar, ter cans,

because that lowers the blood pressure.

porque iso disminúe a presión arterial.

I wrote the book on a treadmill,

Escribín o libro nunha cinta de andar,

and it took me about a thousand miles

e tardei uns 1500 quilómetros

to write the book.

en escribilo.

I had to put on sunscreen.

Tiven que usar protector solar.

This was no small feat,

Foi unha gran proeza

because if you listen to dermatologists,

porque se lles fas caso aos dermatólogos

they say that you should have a shot glass full of sunscreen.

dinche que tes que poñer unha copiña de protector solar.

And you have to reapply it every two to four hours.

E tes que volver aplicala cada dúas ou catro horas.

So I think half of my book advance

Así que a metade do avance do meu libro

went into sunscreen.

foi sobre o protector solar.

I was like a glazed doughnut

Fun un donut glaseado

for most of the year.

a maior parte do ano.

There was the washing of hands.

Tamén tiña que lavar as mans.

I had to do that properly.

Tiña que facelo ben.

And my immunologist told me

E o meu inmunólogo díxome

that I should also wipe down

que tiña que limpar cun trapo

all of the remote controls and iPhones in my house,

todos os mandos e iPhones que tivese na casa

because those are just orgies of germs.

porque son orxías de xermes.

So that took a lot of time.

E iso levoume moito tempo.

I also tried to be the safest person I could be,

Tamén tratei de ser o máis seguro que puiden

because that's a part of health.

porque iso forma parte da saúde.

I was inspired

Inspiroume

by the Danish Safety Council.

o Consello de Seguridade Danés.

They started a public campaign

Comezaron unha campaña pública

that says, "A walking helmet is a good helmet."

que di "un casco de camiñar é un bo casco".

So they believe you should not just wear helmets for biking,

Pensan que non só debes levar un casco na bici,

but also for walking around.

senón tamén cando camiñas.

And you can see there

Así que podedes velos

they're shopping with their helmets.

facendo a compra cos seus cascos.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

Well yeah, I tried that.

Si, eu intenteino.

Now it's a little extreme, I admit.

Pero admito que é un pouco extremo.

But if you think about this,

Aínda que si o pensades,

this is actually -- the "Freakonomics" authors wrote about this --

en realidade -os autores do "Freakonomics" escribiron sobre isto-

that more people die on a per mile basis

morre máis xente

from drunk walking

por andar bébedo

than from drunk driving.

que por conducir bébedo.

So something to think about tonight

É algo sobre o que pensar esta noite

if you've had a couple.

se tivestes parella.

So I finished,

Con iso rematei,

and it was a success in a sense.

en certo xeito con éxito.

All of the markers went in the right direction.

E todos os marcadores foron na dirección correcta.

My cholesterol went down, I lost weight,

O meu colesterol disminuíu, perdín peso,

my wife stopped telling me that I looked pregnant.

a miña muller parou de dicirme que parecía preñado.

So that was nice.

Estivo ben.

And it was successful overall.

En xeral, foi un éxito.

But I also learned that I was too healthy,

Pero tamén aprendín que estaba demasiado san,

and that was unhealthy.

e iso non era san.

I was so focused on doing all these things

Centreime tanto en facer todas esas cousas

that I was neglecting my friends and family.

que estaba descoidando aos meus amigos e familia.

And as Dan Buettner can tell you,

E como Dan Buettner pode dicirvos,

having a strong social network

ter unha rede social forte

is so crucial to our health.

é crucial para a nosa saúde.

So I finished.

Así que parei.

And I kind of went overboard

E en certo modo paseime

on the week after the project was over.

a semana despois de rematar o proxecto.

I went to the dark side,

Paseime ao lado escuro

and I just indulged myself.

e deime un capricho.

It was like something out of Caligula.

Parecía sacado de Calígula.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

Without the sex part.

Sen a parte do sexo.

Because I have three young kids,

Porque teño tres raparigos,

so that wasn't happening.

así que iso non pasou.

But the over-eating and over-drinking, definitely.

Pero si polo de beber e comer en exceso.

And I finally have stabilized.

E finalmente estabiliceime.

So now I'm back

Así que volvín

to adopting many -- not all; I don't wear a helmet anymore --

para facer moitas - non todas; non penso volver levar casco-

but dozens of healthy behaviors

das conductas saudables

that I adopted during my year.

que adoptei o último ano.

It was really a life-changing project.

Foi un proxecto que me cambiou a vida de verdade.

And I, of course, don't have time to go into all of them.

Pero non teño tempo para facelo todo.

Let me just tell you two really quickly.

Deixádeme dicirvos dúas cousas rápidas.

The first is -- and this was surprising to me;

A primeira - que me sorprendeu;

I didn't expect this to come out --

é que non esperaba que fose así,

but I live a much quieter life now.

pero agora levo unha vida máis tranquila.

Because we live in such a noisy world.

Porque vivimos nun mundo barullento.

There's trains and planes and cars

Hai trens, avións e coches

and Bill O'Reilly, he's very noisy.

e Bill O'Reilly é moi barullento.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

And this is a real underestimated, under-appreciated health hazard --

E isto está subestimado, un perigo para a saúde menosprezado,

not just because it harms our hearing, which it obviously does,

non só porque nos dana o oído, que o fai,

but it actually initiates

senón porque inicia

the fight-or-flight response.

a resposta de loita ou foxe.

A loud noise will get your fight-or-flight response going.

Un ruído forte fará que esa resposta de loita ou fuxa se adiante.

And this, over the years,

E isto, cos anos,

can cause real damage, cardiovascular damage.

pode causar danos reais, danos cardiovasculares.

The World Health Organization just did a big study

A Organización Mundial da Saúde fixo un estudo

that they published this year.

que publicou este ano.

And it was done in Europe.

Fixéronno en Europa.

And they estimated

Estimaron

that 1.6 million years of healthy living

que cada ano en Europa

are lost every year in Europe

se perden 1,6 millóns de vidas sas

because of noise pollution.

por culpa da contaminación acústica.

So they think it's actually very deadly.

Realmente pensan que é mortal.

And by the way,

E por certo,

it's also terrible for your brain.

tamén é malo para o cerebro.

It really impairs cognition.

Certamente afecta á cognición.

And our Founding Fathers knew about this.

E os nosos Pais Fundadores sabían isto.

When they wrote the Constitution,

Cando escribiron a constitución,

they put dirt all over the cobblestones outside the hall

puxeron terra por todos os adoquíns da entrada

so that they could concentrate.

para poder concentrarse.

So without noise reduction technology,

Sen a tecnoloxía de redución do ruído,

our country would not exist.

o noso país non existiría.

So as a patriot,

Como patriota

I felt it was important to --

sentín que era importante.

I wear all the earplugs and the earphones,

Eu levo tapóns e auriculares

and it's really improved my life

e iso mellorou a miña vida

in a surprising and unexpected way.

dunha forma sorprendente e inesperada.

And the second point I want to make, the final point,

E a segunda e derradeira cousa da que quero falar

is that -- and it's actually been a theme of TEDMED --

é que - isto está sendo un tema de TEDMED -

that joy is so important to your health,

a alegría é tan importante para a saúde

that very few of these behaviors

que poucos destes comportamentos

will stick with me

se quedarán comigo

unless there's some sense of pleasure and joy in them.

a non ser que conleven pracer e alegría.

And just to give you one instance of this:

E para darvos un exemplo disto:

food.

a comida.

The junk food industry

A industria da comida rápida

is really great

é xenial

at pressing our pleasure buttons

para presionar os nosos botóns do pracer

and figuring out what's the most pleasurable.

e pescudar que é o máis pracenteiro.

But I think we can use their techniques

Pero penso que podemos usar as súas técnicas

and apply them to healthy food.

e aplicalas na comida sa.

To give just one example,

Para dar só un exemplo,

we love crunchiness, mouthfeel.

encántanos a sensación do crocante,

So I basically have tried to incorporate crunchiness

polo que intentei incorporalo

into a lot of my recipes --

en moitas das miñas receitas

throw in some sunflower seeds.

engadindo sementes de xirasol.

And you can almost trick yourself

E case te podes enganar

into thinking you're eating Doritos.

pensando que estás a comer Doritos.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

And it has made me a healthier person.

Isto fíxome ser unha persoa máis sa.

So that is it.

Iso é todo.

The book about it comes out in April.

O libro no que falo disto sae en abril.

It's called "Drop Dead Healthy."

Chámase "Drop Dead Healthy" (Deixa a saúde mortal).

And I hope that I don't get sick during the book tour.

Espero non enfermar durante a xira do libro.

That's my greatest hope.

E a miña maior esperanza.

So thank you very much.

Moitas grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)