Health Tips Line

As 2025 kicked off, it was estimated that 92% of Americans would be packing their bags for trips that involve a flight or hotel stay. Whether you’re jetting off across the globe or taking a quick weekend getaway , there’s one travel document you always  need to screenshot before your flight. Travel expert Katy Nastro, spokesperson for Going (the go-to app for scoring cheap flights), swears by this tip—and once you know it, you’ll never skip it again. Curious what it is? Keep reading to find out. Chances are, you’ve been overlooking it this whole time … and trust us, it’s better to learn now than when you’re standing at the gate with a frozen phone screen. Get  Reader’s Digest ’s  Read Up newsletter for more travel tips, tech, humor, cleaning and fun facts all week long. What should you screenshot before a flight? Here’s a travel hack you should never skip: always take a screenshot of your boarding pass before your flight. Nastro puts it simply: “Sometimes we see a...

Did you know there are more than 1,000 different types of bananas ? And while almost all of them have yellow peels, there is one banana that’s blue! But don’t run down to the supermarket to seek out this tropical oddity—blue bananas are so rare, it’s highly unlikely you’ll ever get to taste one. Read on to find out more about this elusive fruit, and why, unlike red bananas , you won’t be seeing blue bananas in stores anytime soon. Get Reader’s Digest ’s   Read Up newsletter for more food news, humor, cleaning, travel, tech and fun facts all week long. Why are some bananas blue? These intriguing blue bananas aren’t a product of selective breeding or agricultural sorcery, like pink pineapples or cotton candy grapes. Blue Java bananas are a naturally occurring variety of tropical fruit found in Southeast Asia (particularly Indonesia), the Philippines and parts of Central America. The unique color comes from a waxy coating on their peels. When unripe, the peel of the Blue Java ...

As someone who often writes about cleaning and home organization, I’ll admit that I sometimes try to cut corners with my laundry. I’ve “forgotten” to fully separate dark and light clothes , and there are times I’ve packed my washer so full, it’s like I’m daring it to malfunction. To be fair, I’ve shrunk enough T-shirts over time that I’ve (more or less) learned my lesson. But there’s one mistake that I’ve continued to make over the years because I labor under the delusion that it’s actually a smart move because it saves some water and detergent. Alas, it is not a smart move. I spoke to three laundry experts about one of the biggest laundry mistakes that I frequently make—and you likely do too. Suffice it to say, I’ve been schooled, and my laundry routine will be changing moving forward. Get  Reader’s Digest ’s  Read Up newsletter for more cleaning, travel, tech, humor and fun facts all week long. What laundry mistake are most people guilty of making? If you wash towels...

I first noticed them at New York City’s JFK—those futuristic glass portals with multiple sets of doors that swing open and shut as you pass through, like a high-tech lock and dam. Without fail, every time I step inside them, I question whether the next set of doors will fail to open and I’ll end up trapped, flailing around like a rogue aquatic creature attempting to escape an aquarium. I’m happy to report that so far, I’ve never experienced such an anxiety-inducing scenario , nor have I ever heard of anyone else getting caught in that kind of claustrophobic chaos. Still, I’ve noticed that these multitiered exits I once thought of as a JFK oddity are now popping up more and more during my travels. I’ve often wondered about the growing trend—and the real purpose—of these slow-moving, sci-fi-style doors. Are they meant to streamline passenger flow, or are they designed to serve some other purpose (besides worrying me)? To find out, I reached out to someone in the know: Ken Ibold, the de...

When choosing where to live—or to move to—you have many factors to consider. Do you focus on quality of life and work-life balance, choosing a place that will make you happy ? Do you select a city that’s close to family and friends? Or do you try to get the most for your money? If your focus is on the latter, you’re in luck. There is one city in the United States that’s having a viral moment for its unique location and tax circumstances, both of which make it a place where your money can go unexpectedly far. Reader’s Digest talked to financial planning expert Ron Caruthers, the founder of Caruthers Tax, College and Financial Solutions who also doles out money and tax advice to his 93,000-plus followers on Instagram. Which U.S. city does Caruthers say will stretch your dollar the farthest? Keep reading to find out. Get Reader’s Digest ’s   Read Up newsletter for more money news, cleaning, travel, tech and fun facts all week long. Which city gives you more for your money? A...

For members of the British royal family , safety is a priority at all times. You’ll hardly ever see them walking around without at least one protection officer in tow, and even if you don’t spot any, they’re probably there, just in plainclothes. And when traveling, two heirs (e.g., Prince William and his son Prince George) are not allowed to sit on the same plane—this is to make sure the monarchy continues in case there’s a crash. Which makes it all the more surprising that there seems to be one loophole in these strict protocols: seat belts. When the royals are out and about for official engagements, you often won’t see various senior members of the family buckled up. Hold on, now—aren’t seat belts an essential safety precaution? And isn’t this a terrible example to set for British citizens? We asked Dai Davies, the former head of royal protection at Scotland Yard, to explain this seemingly strange breach of safety protocol. Read on for the details and the surprising reason the royal...

The next time you open the freezer to grab some frozen berries for your smoothie or, let’s be real, that brand-new bag of Costco french fries , check out the bottom of your freezer. You may have never noticed, but there’s a good chance it has grooves all along the bottom. Why, though? Shouldn’t it be flat? Or do appliance companies get some sort of perverse joy from having our chicken cutlets and boxes of frozen pizzas wobble about? To get to the bottom of this kitchen mystery, we consulted appliance expert Forrest Webber, owner of Bear Brothers Cleaning in Huntsville, Alabama, and the online home-improvement company The Trade Table. Slight spoiler alert: In case you were wondering, yes, this feature is in most freezers, and no, it’s not random! Read on to find out what those ridges are all about and what they mean for your frozen food . Get  Reader’s Digest ’s  Read Up newsletter for more common curiosities, humor, cleaning, travel, tech and fun facts all week long. Why ...

Trivia night is about exactly one thing, and one thing only. Forget having fun with friends, solving puzzles and showing off all the random facts you’ve picked up over the years. Trivia night is all about correctly answering the most trivia questions . But even if your team is stumped when it comes to movie trivia questions and lost in the face of history trivia questions, you’ll go out with style if you have a clever team name. OK, so trivia night is actually about two things: winning and having one of the best trivia team names in the place. You may already have a witty book club name , but it won’t do for this competition. And nobody likes the feeling of staring at a blank answer booklet as the quizmaster calls for team names, so you’d best choose yours now. Lucky for you, we’ve come up with a bunch of good trivia team names that will work for any type of group. In fact, it might be wise to keep a list of the best names on you just in case you’re called to come up with a fun team...