Health Tips Line

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans Recommended by: Tayari Jones , author of Kin Genre: Epistolary fiction Books that let you peek into someone else’s correspondence are irresistible, aren’t they? If you agree, The Correspondent is for you. It follows 73-year-old Sybil Van Antwerp, who writes letters to friends, family and even famous writers as she reflects on the loves and secrets that have shaped her life. As her eyesight begins to fail, those letters become even more important. This is a warm, intimate read for anyone who loves getting deeply attached to a character and slowly discovering what made her who she is. Shop Now Transcription by Ben Lerner Recommended by: Mary H.K. Choi , author of Pool House Genre: Literary fiction A missing recording is at the center of this clever, slightly strange novel . When an interview disappears, the people involved have to reconstruct what was said from memory, and naturally, their versions don’t quite match. From there, L...

Remember Megxit? Yep, we do too! When Harry and Meghan quit the royal family in January 2020, they made a BIG deal of leaving the U.K. and starting their new life in California. And all the drama that followed afterward made just as many headlines. Sometimes, it seemed like there really was nothing they could do that would still surprise us. But Harry and Meghan have proven us wrong. After more than six years in the U.S., the pair is ready for a new chapter. And they’re doing that by moving. Again. Their new home base? It’s one that wasn’t on our bingo card—and we’re pretty sure it wasn’t on yours either. But the move is happening, and it’s apparently imminent. Like, before-the-kids-go-back-to-school imminent. So where are they going, and why? Read on for the royal scoop. Get  Reader’s Digest ’s  Read Up newsletter for more royals, humor, cleaning, travel, tech and fun facts all week long. Where are Harry and Meghan movin...

When I was growing up, we had two flavors of M&M’s. If you liked nuts, you grabbed the Peanut M&M’s at the movies or on Halloween when given the choice by silly parents who left the basket out. If you didn’t like peanuts, were allergic or were just a strange kid who liked nuts but didn’t like them *in* things (hey, it made sense to me), well, you got plain M&M’s. Now, not to be all “uphill both ways” about my limited choices as a youngster, but people today have it much better, at least when it comes to M&M’s. There are now more than 10 current varieties of the popular treat, and they all melt in your mouth, not in your hands. But which one rules the candy aisle where you live? Coventry Direct, the insurance giant, wondered the same thing—and we have the results coming up. Are you an M&M’s purist , or do you prefer a quirkier, newer variety? Ahead, I’ll take you through the most popular M&M...

Dehydration is annoyingly good at disguising itself as other problems. Your head hurts, so you blame your screen. You feel wiped out, so you blame your sleep . You stand up and get a little dizzy, and your brain immediately goes somewhere more dramatic: Do I have an iron deficiency? Is my blood sugar low? Am I dying?  Sometimes, you just need more fluids. But while it’s easy to assume everyone is walking around at least a little dehydrated, hydration isn’t that simple to measure. The good news is that your body tends to leave clues. There are the obvious ones, like thirst, but plenty of others are easy to miss. There’s also a surprisingly simple physical check you can do using your own skin, and it takes just a few seconds. Before you try it, though, there’s an important catch: It can give you useful information, but it shouldn’t be the only thing you use to decide whether you’re dehydrated. Ahead, Mitchell Rosner, MD, a nephrologist who speciali...

I grew up in the ’70s and ’80s, which meant summers spent greased up in oil, lounging on the beach beside my mother, who held one of those foil-lined reflectors under her chin like she was trying to broadcast a signal to space. The goal was to burn first in the hopes that it would magically turn into a tan a few days later. And it usually did, but only after nursing a tomato-toned burn so painful, I couldn’t stand the weight of a T-shirt on my shoulders, and had to sleep naked, slathered in Noxzema (engulfed in that awful medicinal smell!), for at least two extremely uncomfortable days. We know so much more today about what the sun does to our skin—from wrinkling and age spots to skin cancer. But knowing better doesn’t make us immune to the downsides of a forgotten sunscreen reapplication . In fact, the CDC’s most recent National Health Interview Survey found that an estimated 88.1 million U.S. adults had at least one sunburn during the previous year...