5 Habits to Boost Immunity During Cold and Flu Season

(Feature Impact) Your immune system is your strongest ally during cold and flu season, working hard to keep you healthy as you start hearing those telltale coughs and sneezes all around. Help your body do its job well by adopting a few simple habits that naturally support its ability to fight off germs or recover faster.

Talk to your healthcare provider for personalized advice then work on making these habits normal in your household.

Get Regular Exercise

Exercise is like a wonder drug that can improve nearly every aspect of health and wellness. Physical activity increases blood flow, reduces long-term inflammation, helps immune cells circulate through the body to guard against invaders and may even flush bacteria out of your lungs and airways. Plan to fit at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise into each week, like a bike ride, brisk walk, yoga class or on-demand video workout.

Eat Foods That Support Immune Health

To keep your immune system fueled, experts recommend eating a varied diet featuring plenty of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains and healthy fats like olive oil. Consider adding fresh grapes to your diet to enjoy benefits from their naturally occurring plant compounds.

Protecting the body starts all the way down at the cellular level, and grapes contain powerful polyphenols that support the health and function of cells. Studies indicate certain compounds in grapes, like resveratrol and flavonoids, support immune system function as well as brain, skin, GI and heart health.

These little fruits are easy to add to your diet, whether you enjoy sweet, juicy Grapes from California by the handful or toss them in a blender to make this California Grape Wellness Juice recipe. Support multiple aspects of wellness with the drink’s powerful combination of fruits and vegetables, delivering a variety of immune-boosting vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

Stay Hydrated

Drinking enough water helps clean your lymphatic system, which is responsible for producing special white blood cells that fight germs. It also keeps membranes in your nose and mouth moist, decreasing infection risk. If you struggle to drink enough, eating water-rich foods like grapes also helps you improve hydration.

Practice Good Germ Hygiene

To increase your odds of staying healthy during peak illness season, hearken back to the tried-and-true hygiene advice your parents might have tried to drill into your head as a kid. Regularly wash your hands with warm water and soap, avoid touching your face while out and about, keep your distance from symptomatic people and disinfect commonly used surfaces like doorknobs when someone in the house or office is sick.

Sleep More, Stress Less

Before you start feeling stressed that you aren’t getting enough sleep, rest assured there are easy changes you can make to support your well-being in both areas. Try switching up your nightly routine to be oriented less around screens and more around calming activities that actually help you wind down, like yoga, meditation or reading.

Discover more health information and recipes at GrapesFromCalifornia.com.

California Grape Wellness Juice

Servings: 3 (1 cup each)

• 5          cups black or red Grapes from California
  
• 1/2       cup peeled raw beet slices
  
• 3/4       cup orange juice
  
• 1/4       cup lemon juice
  
• 1          small carrot, peeled and sliced          
  
• 1          piece fresh turmeric (1-inch), peeled and sliced or1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1. In high-speed blender, puree grapes, beet slices, orange juice, lemon juice, carrot and turmeric until smooth.
2. Pour through fine mesh sieve, stirring to extract as much juice as possible, about 3 cups. Stop when mixture starts to get thick. Enjoy immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes: This juice can also be added to iced tea or fizzy water.

Nutritional information per serving: 230 calories; 3 g protein; 58 g carbohydrates; 0.5 g fat (2% calories from fat); 0 g saturated fat (0% calories from saturated fat); 0 mg cholesterol; 35 mg sodium; 0 g fiber.

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SOURCE:

California Table Grape Commission

Two new takes on Wingstop’s popular Lemon Pepper flavor are joining the menu as the chain rolls out a limited-edition Wing Pass aimed at football watch parties.

Football season is underway, and Wingstop is betting that wings will remain a major part of the weekly game-day spread.

The Dallas-based restaurant chain is expanding one of its signature flavors with the launch of its new Lemon Pepper Trio, featuring the familiar Original Lemon Pepper alongside two new variations: Lemon Pepper Chili Crunch and Lemon Pepper Chili Glaze.

The trio will receive an early release for Club Wingstop members beginning Sept. 10 before becoming available nationwide at participating U.S. locations on Sept. 15 for a limited time, according to the company.

Three Takes on Lemon Pepper

Wingstop’s Original Lemon Pepper combines lemon flavor with cracked black pepper in the dry rub that has become one of the chain’s best-known offerings.

The two newcomers take that familiar flavor in different directions.

Lemon Pepper Chili Crunch starts with the traditional Lemon Pepper dry rub and adds crispy Korean chili crunch, introducing additional texture and heat.

Lemon Pepper Chili Glaze goes in a sweeter and saucier direction, combining citrus flavor and sweet heat with crispy Korean chili crunch.

All three flavors can be ordered on Wingstop’s classic wings, giving customers the option of sticking with the original or trying one of the spicier variations.

“Lemon Pepper is an iconic flavor, and Wingstop is proud of the role we’ve played in bringing it to fans around the world,” Wingstop President and CEO Michael Skipworth said in announcing the promotion.

The new flavors arrive as restaurants and food brands compete for a place in one of the biggest recurring food occasions of the fall: football watch parties.

Wingstop Introduces Its First Wing Pass

Wingstop is also taking an unusual approach to football-season promotions with its first Wing Pass, essentially turning weekly wing orders into the restaurant equivalent of a season ticket.

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Each Wing Pass provides access to as many as 18 Watch Party Bundles, representing one bundle for each week of the regular football season.

A Watch Party Bundle includes 20 classic wings in as many as four flavors, a large order of fries and a large ranch.

Here’s where the promotion becomes especially notable: Wingstop says the Wing Pass costs $27.99 — the price of a single Watch Party Bundle.

Only 100 passes are being made available.

Club Wingstop members can purchase the limited passes beginning Sept. 10 at noon Central Time through Wingstop’s Wingshop. Passholders will then receive a Watch Party Bundle offer through their Wingstop app account each Sunday morning during the 18-week season, subject to the promotion’s terms and conditions.

With only 100 passes available nationwide, the Wing Pass is less a traditional discount program than a limited promotional event designed to generate attention around Wingstop’s football-season push.

Wings and Football Remain a Powerful Combination

The promotion highlights just how closely chicken wings have become associated with watching football in the United States. Restaurants routinely introduce larger bundles, limited flavors and game-day promotions as fans gather at homes, sports bars and restaurants throughout the season.

For Wingstop, the strategy combines both sides of that equation.

The Lemon Pepper Trio gives customers something new to try, while the Wing Pass encourages the idea of making Wingstop part of a weekly football routine.

Founded in 1994, Wingstop has grown to more than 3,000 restaurants worldwide. The company reported more than $5 billion in system-wide sales during fiscal 2025 and has ambitions of becoming one of the world’s top 10 restaurant brands.

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Whether Lemon Pepper Chili Crunch or Lemon Pepper Chili Glaze develops the following of Wingstop’s original version remains to be seen. But for Lemon Pepper fans looking for something different during football season, the starting lineup just got a little bigger.

Source: Wingstop Restaurants Inc., press release issued Sept. 9, 2026.

Availability and promotional offers may vary by participating location. The Lemon Pepper Trio is a limited-time offering while supplies last. The Wing Pass is subject to Wingstop’s official terms and conditions.

Sources

• Wingstop — Lemon Pepper Trio and First-Ever Wing Pass announcement — Wingstop’s official Sept. 9, 2026 announcement covering the Lemon Pepper Chili Crunch, Lemon Pepper Chili Glaze and Wing Pass. 
• PR Newswire — Wingstop Kicks Off Football Season with New Lemon Pepper Trio and Wing Pass — Original distributed press release dated Sept. 9, 2026. 

Related Links

• Wingstop Lemon Pepper Flavor Guide — Background on Wingstop’s original Lemon Pepper dry rub, including its lemon and cracked-pepper flavor profile. 
• Wingstop Investor Relations — Corporate information, financial results and current company announcements. 
• Wingstop News & Press Releases — Additional Wingstop product launches and company news, including its recent Carolina Gold and Jamaican Jerk promotion. 

Craving Something Delicious? 🔥🍴

Turn up the flavor with STM Daily News Food & Drink — your destination for sizzling food news, must-try restaurant trends, crave-worthy recipes, game-day eats and the flavors everyone’s buzzing about.

Come hungry. Discover what’s cooking. Find your next obsession.

WESTON, Mo. — Kansas City barbecue is heading north to historic Weston, Missouri, where dozens of competition pitmasters are battling for more than prize money. The winner could soon be serving their barbecue to travelers from around the world.

The 4th Annual Made for KC BBQ Championship, held August 21–22, 2026, brought 47 of the region’s top competition barbecue teams to downtown Weston, with Holladay Distillery serving as a host partner.

The weekend began Friday with a VIP event on the grounds of the historic distillery before teams settled in for an overnight cook ahead of Saturday’s competition.

More Than a Barbecue Trophy

Created by OHM Concession Group in partnership with the Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS), the Made for KC BBQ Championship offers competitors an unusually valuable prize.

The 2026 championship features a $33,500 total purse, including $10,000 for the Grand Champion. But the biggest opportunity may come after the smokers cool down.

The winning team receives an 18-month licensing agreement to become the next featured pitmaster at the Made for KC BBQ Experience at Kansas City International Airport, beginning March 1, 2027.

The Grand Champion’s name, recipes, rubs and sauces will be showcased at the approximately 8,000-square-foot restaurant, putting the winning team’s barbecue in front of travelers passing through Kansas City.

That makes the competition more than a traditional barbecue contest. For one pitmaster, it could provide a major platform to introduce their food and brand to an international audience.

Competition Barbecue Meets Kansas City’s Airport

The Made for KC BBQ Experience opened alongside Kansas City International Airport’s new terminal in 2023. Its concept gives competition barbecue teams an opportunity rarely available on the traditional barbecue circuit: moving their food from cook-offs and judging tables into a major commercial restaurant.

A new Grand Champion is featured at the airport restaurant every 18 months.

In 2024, Meat Rushmore BBQ of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, captured the championship and later became the featured pitmaster at the airport location.

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The competition is designed to continue that rotation while highlighting the deep barbecue culture associated with the Kansas City region.

Barbecue and Bourbon in Historic Weston

Weston provides a fitting setting for the competition.

Holladay Distillery was founded there in 1856 and is celebrating its 170th anniversary in 2026. According to the company, it remains the oldest continuously operating distillery on its original site in Missouri.

“Hosting the Made for KC BBQ Championship is exactly the kind of opportunity we’re proud to bring to Weston,” Patrick Fee, Holladay Distillery’s vice president of sales and marketing, said in the announcement.

“This competition celebrates the craftsmanship and traditions that make our region special, while bringing talented people from across the barbecue community right here to our hometown.”

The combination of bourbon, barbecue and a historic Missouri town also gives the championship an identity that extends beyond the judging tent.

“Bourbon and barbecue have always been a natural pairing,” Fee said.

A Bigger Prize for Kansas City Pitmasters

Competition barbecue can require years of practice, specialized equipment, travel and countless hours tending smokers in pursuit of trophies and recognition.

The Made for KC championship adds something different: the possibility of turning a competition victory into a lengthy restaurant residency.

For the 2026 Grand Champion, that means going from an overnight cook in Weston to having their recipes served at one of the region’s busiest transportation gateways.

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And for travelers arriving in Kansas City, it offers something equally interesting — an opportunity to experience barbecue created by the people who compete seriously in one of America’s best-known barbecue regions.

The Made for KC BBQ Championship may take place in Weston, but for the winning pitmaster, the journey is only beginning.

Source: Holladay Distillery press release, August 21, 2026. The Made for KC BBQ Championship was created by OHM Concession Group in partnership with the Kansas City Barbeque Society.

Source & Related Links

Primary/official sources

Holladay Distillery — Official site for the historic Weston distillery, which says it has been making bourbon for 170 years. 

Kansas City Barbeque Society — Made for KC Championship background — Background on the competition and its relationship with the airport restaurant.

Kansas City International Airport — Made for KC BBQ Experience — Official airport background explaining how championship pitmasters rotate through the airport restaurant.

Vantage Group — Meat Rushmore airport residency — Details on previous champion Meat Rushmore and the 18-month airport showcase.

2026 results

FireBoard — 2026 Made for KC BBQ Championship results — Reports Smokey Bey’s BBQ as the 2026 Grand Champion.

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KCTV — Smokey Bey’s wins 2026 championship — Post-event coverage of the winner and upcoming airport residency.

For more Food and Beverage News visit our “Food & Drink” page.