health and wellness
Tips to Be Prepared for Cooler Weather
Cooler weather fosters the spread of germs and illnesses, so it’s essential to protect your immune system by maintaining healthy habits, practicing good hygiene, and staying hydrated. Spending time outdoors can boost vitamin D levels and mood, while managing congestion through humidifiers or products like Mucinex can relieve symptoms. Engaging with these practices aids in staying healthy during colder months.
(Family Features) Although cold weather isn’t directly to blame when you get sick, it creates an environment that makes it easier for germs and illnesses to thrive. In fact, understanding how cooler temperatures affect your chances of getting sick may be your best approach for preventive care.
Despite the old adage that “you’ll catch your death of cold,” the cold itself doesn’t cause illness. More accurately, the cold is more hospitable to viruses, making it easier for them to spread. While you can’t control Mother Nature, you can take steps to protect your health when temperatures drop.
Protect Your Immune System
A weakened immune system makes it harder for your body to ward off intrusive germs. If you’re otherwise healthy, protecting your immune system can be as simple as stepping up typical healthy habits, like eating plenty of nutrient-rich produce, getting enough sleep and exercising. Managing stress and limiting alcohol consumption are also helpful in managing your body’s immune response.
If your immune system is compromised by an underlying condition, it’s a good idea to talk with your doctor about what you can do to add an extra layer of protection during the cooler months, including any vaccines that may help boost immunity.
Combat Congestion
Cool, dry conditions can wreak havoc on your nasal passages, drying them out and reducing the protective layer of mucus that helps fight infection. Sinus pressure and congestion are often some of the first warning signs you’re coming down with something.
To treat your congestion symptoms, you can use a non-medicated option like Mucinex Sinus Saline Nasal Spray. This is the first-ever saline product with a nozzle that lets you switch between two spray pressures. The “gentle mist” helps clear everyday congestion and soothes the nose while the “power jet” helps clear tough nasal congestion often associated with colds. An added benefit is that the product can be used for children 2 years of age and older on the gentle mist setting and children 6 years of age and older on the power jet mode.
Spend Time Outdoors
People naturally spend more time indoors when temperatures drop, but there are some benefits to getting outdoors. One is the natural exposure to vitamin D. Sunlight is a natural source of this important vitamin, which plays a pivotal role in immunity. Sunlight also triggers the body to produce serotonin, which boosts your mood, and multiple studies show a strong correlation between mental and physical health.
Fresh air and exercise are also good for your overall health, and exposure to daylight can help keep your circadian rhythms regulated, which in turn promotes better sleep. What’s more, acute exposure to cold can trigger your body to produce infection-fighting cells, so you’re less prone to illness.
Practice Good Hygiene
It may seem overly simple, but the everyday act of washing your hands can play a big role in preventing illness, especially after you spend time in public places. While out and about, you likely come in contact with many surfaces others may have touched, including door handles, shopping carts, touch screens and menus.
Washing your hands frequently can help prevent you from transferring germs to your body when you touch your eyes, mouth or nose. Also make a habit of wiping down surfaces you touch frequently, such as your keyboard and phone, with disinfectant wipes.
Stay Hydrated
Keeping your body well-hydrated throughout the day can help ensure all your body’s systems are functioning as they should. If you’re dehydrated, your body can’t use the nutrients you consume properly, which affects your immunity. In addition, drinking plenty of water helps flush toxins out of the body before they can cause an infection.
Find more practical tips and products to help manage your health during the colder months at Mucinex.com.
How to Relieve Nasal Congestion
Normally your sinuses are empty except for a thin layer of mucus. When you’re exposed to irritating triggers, like bacteria, a cold or flu virus, allergies or environmental triggers like tobacco smoke and dry air, your body responds by mounting an immune response.
The delicate tissues lining your sinuses start to swell, and this, in turn, puts pressure on the underlying tissues in your face, causing painful sinus pressure.
You can relieve sinus pressure symptoms in several different ways, including:
- Using a humidifier or vaporizer.
- Taking a long, hot shower; it may have the same effect as using a humidifier if one is not available.
- Drinking plenty of fluids.
- Using a warm compress on your face; resting a warm towel over your sinuses may provide relief.
- Irrigating your sinuses. Using a neti pot; saline nasal spray, such as Mucinex Sinus Saline Nasal Spray; or syringe with salt water may help flush debris from your sinuses to relieve sinus congestion.
- Sleeping with your head elevated.
If these steps don’t work, the next approach is typically over-the-counter medicine. When trying to relieve sinus pressure and nasal congestion, look for a decongestant. A decongestant can help shrink mucus membranes that have swollen in your sinuses, allowing the trapped mucus to drain.
Photos courtesy of Shutterstock
SOURCE:
Mucinex
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Lifestyle
Loneliness affects 1 in 6 people globally. New research reveals the childhood experiences that help adults thrive
The World Health Organization (WHO) calls loneliness a global health threat, and the numbers explain why. With 1 in 6 people affected worldwide, loneliness hits the hardest among teens and young adults ages 13 to 29, where between 17% and 21% report feeling lonely.
(Tiffany Miller) Kids have more ways to connect than ever. They can text, scroll, game, comment and chat all before they even leave the house. Yet for many young people, all that connection does not necessarily translate into feeling known, useful or part of something larger than themselves.
The World Health Organization (WHO) calls loneliness a global health threat, and the numbers explain why. With 1 in 6 people affected worldwide, loneliness hits the hardest among teens and young adults ages 13 to 29, where between 17% and 21% report feeling lonely. Young people experiencing chronic loneliness are twice as likely to develop depression and 22% more likely to earn lower grades, according to the WHO. If screens are now built into childhood, what actually helps kids build confidence, purpose and belonging?
New research from Harris Poll, commissioned by Scouting America, examined more than 3,000 U.S. adults, including those who earned the Eagle Scout rank, the program’s highest designation, and compared them with adults who never participated. Conducted for three months beginning October 10, 2025, the survey of 3,178 adults asked for feedback on well-being, civic engagement, leadership and character development. The findings reveal meaningful differences in how those groups describe their relationships, outlook, civic involvement, connection and sense of purpose.
The clearest difference may be loneliness. Just 11% of those who earned the Eagle Scout rank say they frequently feel lonely, compared with 23% of non-participants. Those who earned the rank are also more likely to report a strong sense of purpose, with 78% saying they feel one compared with 60% of those who were never in the program, and 95% describe themselves as happy versus 82% of adults who never took part.
The data does not reduce childhood connection to a single activity. It shows how structured, real-world experiences can give young people repeated chances to be active participants rather than passive ones, working alongside others, taking responsibility, solving problems, serving a community and building confidence over time.
That matters because belonging is not built in theory, it is built through repetition and lived experience. A young person shows up, learns a skill, helps with a project, gets trusted with responsibility and begins to see that their presence matters. From the outside these moments may look small, but over time, they can shape how a person sees themselves and how they relate to others.
Those patterns extend into adult life. The research does not establish that the program causes these outcomes, but the consistency across measures is striking. Some 74% of those who earned the Eagle Scout rank say they have held leadership positions at work, compared with 31% of non-participants. Another 57% say they have spoken up for a cause they believe in or on behalf of others, versus 33% of those who never took part.
The story inside the numbers is not that every child needs the same path. It is that young people need places where they are asked to show up, contribute and be counted on. They need adults who mentor them, peers to collaborate with them and real responsibilities that help them practice who they are becoming.
In a childhood increasingly shaped by digital life, those experiences can be easy to underestimate. But the research shows the long-term value of giving kids something to do, somewhere to belong and a reason to see themselves as capable. For families worried about loneliness, confidence or lack of meaningful connection alongside their digital lives, the takeaway is practical: Look for structured experiences that allow young people to participate, contribute and lead. Connection is not just something kids feel. It is something they get to practice.
Methodology
The research was conducted online in the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Scouting America among 3,178 U.S. adults ages 18-plus, including 1,549 who were never members of Scouting America (“non-Scouts”) and members of Scouting America (“Scouts”), including 1,067 who achieved the rank of Eagle Scout (“Eagle Scouts”) and 562 who did not achieve the rank of Eagle Scout (“non-Eagle Scouts”). The survey was conducted initially from Oct. 10 through Nov. 17, 2025, and relaunched from Dec. 16, 2025, through Jan. 9, 2026.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
SOURCE:
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Beverages
Caraway Tea Company Scales Up to Meet 2026’s Sleep & Stress Tea Boom
Caraway Tea Company expands Poughkeepsie production for private label sleep and stress herbal teas, including chamomile, valerian, and adaptogen blends.
If 2026 has a defining wellness habit, it might be the “evening ritual”—that intentional wind-down window when people trade late-night scrolling (or a nightcap) for something calmer, warmer, and repeatable. Caraway Tea Company is betting on that behavior in a big way. The Hudson Valley-based, women-owned tea manufacturer and private-label co-packer announced it has expanded production capacity specifically for sleep- and stress-support herbal blends, responding to what it calls one of the fastest-moving consumer wellness categories of the year.
The company, which is SQF Level 2-certified and USDA Organic, has relocated to a larger manufacturing facility in Poughkeepsie, New York. The new setup includes six pyramid tea bag lines, dedicated iced tea bag lines, pyramid envelope lines, and loose tea packing capabilities—giving brands flexibility to launch (or expand) sleep and stress SKUs across multiple retail formats without having to compromise on presentation or scale.
Why “wind-down” tea is having a moment
Caraway points to a broader shift: sleep support isn’t a niche add-on anymore—it’s becoming a primary product driver. Chamomile alone represents roughly 32% of the global herbal ingredient market, making it the most consumed wellness botanical worldwide. And consumer research published earlier this year places sleep-supporting herbal teas among the highest-growth wellness beverage segments, with both retail and DTC brands building full product lines around the wind-down occasion.
In other words: consumers aren’t just buying tea. They’re buying the routine.
“Sleep and stress are no longer a sub-category — they’re driving the conversation,” said Michael Caraway, COO of Caraway Tea Company. He noted that brand requests have evolved quickly—from simple chamomile blends to more complex, multi-ingredient evening formulas featuring botanicals like valerian, passionflower, lemon balm, and lavender, sometimes layered with adaptogens. Those formulas, he added, come with higher expectations: clinical-quality botanicals, traceability, and packaging that supports a ritual—not just a single serving.
The blends brands are building now
Caraway says its expanded facility is designed to support a range of sleep and stress formulations, including:
- Classic relaxation blends built on familiar botanicals like chamomile, lavender, and lemon balm—the traditional foundation of many bedtime teas.
- Deeper sleep formulas incorporating ingredients such as valerian root, passionflower, hops, and skullcap for consumers with more pronounced sleep concerns.
- Stress-and-cortisol-support blends featuring adaptogens like ashwagandha, holy basil (tulsi), and reishi—bridging daytime stress management with nighttime recovery.
- Caffeine-replacement evening rituals aimed at the growing audience swapping evening alcohol or screen time for a structured wind-down practice.
All blends are produced under SQF Level 2 and USDA Organic protocols, with packaging options spanning pyramid sachets, traditional and iced tea bags, pyramid envelopes, and loose-leaf formats for retail and foodservice.
The “rigor problem” in functional sleep teas
Alongside capacity growth, Caraway is also making a standards argument—especially for the sleep category, where consumer expectations are high and the line between marketing and outcomes can get blurry.
“A bedtime tea makes a promise,” said Gina Caraway, CEO and Co-Founder. “Consumers expect it to help them sleep. That promise is earned through sourcing, formulation, and batch testing. You can put ‘sleep’ on a box. You can’t put it in the cup unless the work is real.”
Caraway says it supports partners from concept to finished goods with in-house blending, small-batch flexibility, and full regulatory documentation—positioning itself as a manufacturing partner for both established brands and emerging wellness companies that want to compete in a crowded, fast-moving category.
What’s next
With the expanded Poughkeepsie facility now online, Caraway Tea Company is accepting inquiries for Q3 productionfor sleep and stress-support blends—an indicator that brands are already planning ahead for late-summer and fall wellness demand.
For brands watching the market, the takeaway is simple: the evening ritual is no longer a trend to test—it’s a product lane to build around. And as consumers get more discerning about what “works,” manufacturers that can deliver traceability, testing, and format flexibility may become the quiet force behind the next wave of functional tea growth.
Source and Related Links
- Press release pickup (Morningstar / PR Newswire syndication): Caraway Tea Company Expands Capacity for Sleep & Stress Wellness Teas
- Company overview page: Caraway Tea Company
- Main site (services / private label positioning): Caraway Tea Company – Private Label Tea Manufacturer
- Company press page (helpful for context + additional announcements): Caraway Tea Company Press
- Additional syndication pickup (Yahoo Finance): Caraway Tea Company Expands Capacity for Sleep & Stress Wellness Teas
- Brand social proof / updates (Facebook page): Caraway Tea Company on Facebook
Visit the Food and Drink section on STM Daily News for the latest food news, beverage trends, restaurant stories, seasonal recipes, culinary events, and community-driven lifestyle coverage.
health and wellness
A Win for Your Skin: 4 Steps to Support Skin Health
A bit of shade and diligent sunscreen use can go a long way, but protecting your skin – the body’s largest organ – takes more than just the basics for optimal health, particularly during the hottest times of the year. In fact, it’s not only about what you put on your body, but in it, too.
(Feature Impact) A bit of shade and diligent sunscreen use can go a long way, but protecting your skin – the body’s largest organ – takes more than just the basics for optimal health, particularly during the hottest times of the year.
In fact, it’s not only about what you put on your body, but in it, too. Emerging research suggests grapes may do more than simply provide hydration, nutrition and natural sweetness; they may help support health at the genetic level. A study published in “ACS Nutrition Science” found consuming grapes changed gene expression in human skin and helped support biological processes associated with healthier, more resilient skin.
These findings add to mounting evidence that grapes act as a “nutrigenomic” food, meaning the antioxidant and other polyphenol compounds naturally found in grapes may influence how genes behave in the body. The results also highlight how whole foods like grapes may influence important biological pathways in the body, according to John Pezzuto, dean and professor of pharmaceutics at the Western New England University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
“We are now certain that grapes are a superfood and mediate a nutrigenomic response in humans,” Pezzuto said. “The changes in gene expression indicated improvements in skin health.”
Along with making foods like Grapes from California a regular part of your diet, consider these ways to support and protect skin throughout the year.
Cool Down After Sun Exposure
Time in the sun can leave skin feeling dry or irritated, even with sunscreen and protective clothing. After going for a run or spending time at the pool, make sure to rinse off sweat and chlorine with a gentle cleanser then follow up with a lightweight moisturizer or lotion to replenish skin and leave it feeling fresh. Applying moisturizer regularly – especially after showering or washing your face – can help lock in hydration and support your skin’s natural barrier.
Consume Skin-Friendly Foods and Beverages
A cold glass of water goes a long way, but what you put on your plate can play a role in how your skin looks and feels, too. Foods that deliver antioxidants and other polyphenols, like California grapes, may help support skin health from the inside out. An additional bonus: With their high water content, grapes can help maintain hydration, particularly during warmer months.
For the best of both worlds, add an easy beverage to your menu with California Grape Rosemary Spritzers, which combine sparkling water and grapes with a hint of rosemary for a sip that’s equal parts refreshing and delicious.
Don’t Forget Lips and Eyes
Layering sunscreen on exposed skin might be your first priority before stepping into the sun. However, lips and eyes shouldn’t be forgotten. Often overlooked in skin care routines, lips are especially vulnerable to sun damage and dehydration. Make sure to use a lip balm with SPF protection throughout the day and reapply often.
Similarly, the delicate skin around the eyes might be one of the first places to show signs of sun damage. Wear sunglasses with UV protection to shield both your eyes and surrounding skin from harsh rays.
Keep an Eye on Changing Skin
New spots, skin changes or itchiness shouldn’t be ignored. Perform regular skin checks at home, particularly if you spend a lot of time outdoors, and routinely visit a dermatologist who can help catch potential concerns early in support of long-term skin health.
Find more ways to support your skin with nutritious foods and recipes by visiting GrapesFromCalifornia.com.
California Grape Rosemary Spritzers
Servings: 8
- 8 rosemary sprigs (about 6 inches long)
- 24 whole Grapes from California
- 2 quarts sparkling water
- 1 1/2 cups sliced Grapes from California
- ice
- Partially strip rosemary branches, leaving 3-4 inches of greenery. Skewer three grapes on each branch.
- Pour water into large pitcher. Add sliced grapes and stir.
- Fill eight glasses with ice and grape sparkling water. Garnish each drink with grape-rosemary skewer.
SOURCE:
California Table Grape Commission
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