Issue Date: June 11, 2006
The "Da Vinci Code" road
Here's how to visit the novel's landmarks.
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If reading "The Da Vinci Code" made you want to catch the next flight to Paris, you're not alone. Travelers on the trail of Dan Brown's best-selling novel have visited its European landmarks in droves. In fact, the Mona Lisa smiled at 7.3 million visitors last year (600,000 more than in 2004). And railroad attendants have found more than 1,000 copies of the book left behind on Eurostar trains.
The movie's release could inspire a new wave of visits. Two new guidebooks and dozens of tour companies can help you retrace the steps of Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu, no detective work needed.
"Fodor's Guide to The Da Vinci Code" (Fodor's Travel, $14.95) features a 12-day travel itinerary to France, Italy and Britain, with stops at Da Vinci's last home, Vatican City, and the chapel in Roslin, Scotland. "Walking the Da Vinci Code in Paris" (Avalon Travel Publishing, $13.95) starts with two do-it-yourself tours of the book's Paris locations -- the first one is available free online at walkingthedavincicode.com.
For a list of "Da Vinci Code" tours, visit the Paris visitors' bureau website at en.parisinfo.com.
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Men: Overcome workout barriers
Despite the sobering fact that men die nearly six years younger than women, on average, and have higher death rates from all but one of the 15 leading causes of death, many men make health and fitness a low priority.
"Men perceive themselves as invulnerable," says Will Courtenay, director of Men's Health Consulting in Berkeley, Calif. "We can talk to men about exercise and health until we're blue in the face, but it won't matter if attitudes don't change."
To kick off National Men's Health Week, which starts Monday, here are three things you can do to make this summer the season you get fit:
1. Get a checkup. I like to think I stay in pretty good shape, but I make a point to check in with the doctor once a year and confirm I'm on track.
2. Re-examine your fitness plan. First, do you have one? If not, sit down and write fitness goals and how you'll accomplish them. If you've been working out, are you enjoying it? Are you seeing progress?
3. Commit. We're all busy, and fitting everything in is tough. Here are my own goals for this summer: 30 minutes of challenging cardio five days a week; resistance training in a circuit (to keep up my heart rate) for 30 minutes, three days a week; and one day committed to spending time with my wife and son, with some kind of physical activity included.
Join me, and let's make this our fittest summer ever.
Contact Jorge Cruise, author of "The 3-Hour Diet," at 3hourdiet.com.
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3 ways to get Web discounts on anything
Sign up at Ebates.com. This shopping portal has links to more than 800 online retailers, such as Gap.com and Petco.com, which offer from 1% to 25% cash back on your purchases every three months.
Know the code. Have you ever gotten to an online checkout page and noticed a field asking for a promotional code? Whenever you see that, go to your search engine and type in the retailer's name with the words "promotional code," "coupon" or "deal." You just may find a special offer or discount that you can use immediately on your transaction.
Find local deals. For dozens of coupons from your grocer, dry cleaner, and other local shops and services, log on to Valpak.com and enter your ZIP code. (Yes, the site is run by the same folks who mail you that coupon-stuffed blue envelope.) Unlike other coupon sites, Valpak doesn't make you answer pages of personal questions before it lets you hit the print button.
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Don't be vitamin D-ficient
A new Harvard study finds that men who had the highest blood levels of vitamin D were 29% less apt to die from any cancer than those who had the least blood D.
The vitamin appeared to be particularly effective in preventing deaths from colon, pancreatic, esophageal and stomach cancers. According to one measure, an extra 1,500 IU of a vitamin D supplement may cut such cancer deaths by 45%.
New German research suggests that vitamin D may be a new anti-inflammatory agent for treating congestive heart failure. A daily dose of 2,000 IU vitamin D strongly reduced signs of inflammation, which is involved in heart failure.
Such high doses of D generally aren't recommended but are safe, researchers say. High-vitamin D foods include canned pink salmon (3 ounces have 530 IU).
Scientific sources for this article
Vitamin D vs. cancer
Giovannucci E. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2006 Apr 5;98(7): 451-9
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16595781&query_hl=5&itool=pubmed_DocSum
Vitamin D vs. heart failure
Schleithoff, Stefanie. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006 Apr; 83(4):754-9
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16600924&query_hl=8&itool=pubmed_docsum
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