Health Tips Line

There I was, mindlessly scrolling through Instagram, when I saw him. He was under 2 feet tall, sporting big, mournful eyes and tightly clutching a stuffed orangutan. I couldn’t look away. Of course, I am talking about Punch, the world’s sweetest, saddest little monkey. One look at him, and it’s clear that all he wants is love. Well, he’s gotten it, though not in quite the way he intended. Much of the internet has fallen in love with him—myself, included—with tens of millions of social media users obsessing over Punch’s videos from Japan’s Ichikawa City Zoo. As we watch him clinging to his plushie, our hearts feel like they’re about to burst. And when we see him being shunned and bullied by his fellow macaques, it is like a (forgive the pun) punch to our collective gut. Yes, cute baby animals litter the internet, but Punch is different. As a former editor for National Geographic , I’ve seen firsthand how certain animals capture our hearts and minds. Now Punch has joined the ranks of ...

When I was a kid, nothing was more exciting than a wiggly tooth because it meant I didn’t have long to wait until the Tooth Fairy came. Every time I woke up to discover a crisp dollar bill under my pillow, I felt rich. I couldn’t wait to spend it on candy, much to my dentist ‘s dismay. But times have changed, and $1 doesn’t go very far today—I probably couldn’t even buy a pack of gum (sugar-free, of course). Fortunately, the Tooth Fairy has taken inflation into account. Delta Dental just released its annual Original Tooth Fairy Poll, which found the Tooth Fairy is paying top dollar for baby teeth these days. I dug into the report, and you won’t believe some of these hauls! (Or maybe you will since you’re paying.) Keep reading to find out the going rate for lost teeth in the United States and around the world. Get  Reader’s Digest ’s  Read Up newsletter for more fun facts, cleaning, humor, travel and tech all week long. The Tooth Fairy pays how much for lost teeth? ...

I was in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) first announced the suspension of TSA PreCheck and Global Entry in February. The news was stressful, to say the least. I was already bracing for potential chaos at the Cabo airport after violence shook Mexico in the wake of the killing of a major cartel boss, so the thought of landing in Los Angeles later that day—without Global Entry and facing long customs lines—only heightened my anxiety. Thankfully, I sailed through LAX without issue, but others weren’t so lucky, and confusion surrounding TSA PreCheck and Global Entry continues. You may have heard that within hours of the initial announcement, one of the programs was reinstated after public outcry. Another is still in limbo. Travelers are caught in a daily guessing game, which is definitely not reassuring when you’re getting ready to board a plane during the busy spring break season. Whether you’re enrolled in TSA PreCheck or Global Entry, consideri...

You always tip the delivery dude who brings your curry noodles. And of course you leave a gratuity in restaurants, adding a few extra bucks when the server really knocks it out of the park. But lately, even ordering a latte or a burrito bowl requires facing a tip screen, and sometimes you don’t even interact with a human at all! No one wants to appear cheap, but getting guilted into tipping at a self-checkout? No thanks. How much to tip is a common dilemma, and it probably has you wondering how others deal with it where they live. Well, we happen to have the answer, and according to a new report by the payment app JIM, some states are definitely more generous than others. Ahead, we break down the findings of JIM’s Generosity Index to learn which states tip lavishly—and which ones cheap out after the Uber drives away. Get  Reader’s Digest ’s  Read Up newsletter for more etiquette, cleaning, humor, travel, tech and fun facts all week long. How did the report determine whi...

In addition to my writing job, I teach dance fitness classes on the side, which is a riot. (I also get to tell my dad I dance on a stage for money. He’s very proud of me.) But an extra job means extra co-workers, and extra co-workers means the opportunity for more drama. Usually, everyone is wonderful, but recently an issue arose that got me pretty heated. I was ready to fire off an angry email to my boss, but as a card-carrying adult, I’ve learned you should never send a work email when angry or PMS’ing (and this checked both boxes). So I ate some frozen chocolate-covered raspberries, took three deep breaths and popped my email into ChatGPT. “Could you please help me rewrite this to make it sound more professional and less angry? Also please take out all the curse words. Thank you.” (I know that saying “please” and “thank you” to AI is apparently bad for the environment, but I can’t help it. Someday our AI overlords will remember who was polite and who wasn’t, and I intend to be on...

You’re either a Whopper person or a Big Mac person. (Don’t argue with me; you already know which side you’re on.) But even the most committed burger fan has opinions on how things could be better. In fact, Burger King die-hards have been sounding the alarm on a few problems with their beloved burger for a full decade. Well, the powers-that-be have finally listened. Burger King recently announced that some pretty big upgrades are in the works—the first changes to the Whopper in a whopping 10 years!—and they just might be enough to make Big Mac aficionados rethink their favorite order. So what’s going on, and when can you expect to see an upgraded Whopper on BK’s menu? Read on to find out. Get  Reader’s Digest ’s  Read Up newsletter for more food news, fun facts, humor, cleaning, travel and tech all week long. What is happening to the Whopper? Burger King’s goal is make this signature item better without reinventing it. And again, the company is taking aim at elements t...