So what are you doing for New Year’s Eve?

How about a trip to Japan? Okay, it is kind of short notice to do that. So why not do the next best thing.

Have some soba noodles on New Year’s Eve.

Soba are thin, long noodles made out of buckwheat. They’re a favorite in Japan all year long, but especially on New Year’s Eve.

They are served lots of ways, but at the end of the year they are dished up in a popular hot soup that can come along with a fish cake. And noisily slurping them is part of the fun.

The tradition goes that finishing your bowl of soba noodles before midnight will bring good luck in the coming year.

And that’s good enough reason to slurp your soba tonight. But, as they say, wait, there’s more!

And that has to do with the many health benefits of buckwheat, an unusual gluten-free fruit seed that’s actually more closely related to rhubarb than wheat.

Buckwheat is a real power food, high in easy-to-digest proteins and phytonutrient flavonoids such as rutin. Buckwheat also shines with high amounts of manganese, copper, magnesium, fiber and phosphorus.

And all those good things translate into helping to lower “bad” cholesterol, along with upping “good,” or HDL cholesterol levels, better blood sugar control and reducing your risk of diabetes, being good for your heart and even helping to prevent gallstones.

So here’s to noodles, luck and buckwheat, and a healthy and happy new year!