Today,  December 21, is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere , which makes it the longest day of the year for places below the equator.  The winter solstice occurs at 10:27 PM ET.  Some countries celebrate this day: Iranians celebrate Yalda, meaning birth or rebirth.  Something to do with the sun god Mithra.  Families gather to eat, drink, read poetry through the night and welcome the sunrise. It's called Dongzhi in China, meaning winter's arrival.  Again, family time, with a hearty meal of glutinous rice balls or dumplings. The Native American Hopi tribe in the Southwest has a Soyal ceremony lasting up to 16 days.  A time for prayer and purification. Japan has Toji, a custom involving taking a hot bath with yuzu, a citrus fruit, and eating kabocha, winter squash, plus foods that contain the "n" sound, like udon.  Why?  Brings good luck. In a  July posting , I said: FAT? SKINNY? NORMAL? APPARENTLY, NO EFFECT ON LONGEVITY. By long-established Body-Ma

Every so often, medical science announces something astounding.  Here is the latest.  It apparently does not matter if you're fat, skinny or normal,  we all die at the same rate .  While this is a simplification of that article, this general thought is now probably closer to reality than the previous one, which says that being normal was by far the best weight.  Most of my life I've noticed that extremely thin people tended to die early, while those who are far overweight, are more troubled by diabetes, heart problems and a range of other ailments,  so therefore must have a lower longevity.  Was I imagining things?  Not really, for everything I also read said about the same thing. Health publications in the past indicated that  your Body Mass Index ( BMI ) determined your life expectancy .   People live to be 100 and older by preventing chronic diseases. Those overweight have more of these ailments. The best way to avoid getting sick is to have a normal BMI. In a nutshell,   li