Your metabolism. It's the sum of all the chemical reactions firing off inside your body right now. Converting the food you eat into energy, composing proteins and other important biochemical building blocks, transporting nutrients and other key chemicals between cells – all this is the realm of your metabolism.

Your metabolism. You really don't want to screw it up, but you probably do, at least a little but every day. Here's how:

You diet wrong. It's all very well and good to lose weight, but starving yourself just confounds your metabolism. When your body stops getting enough calories, your metabolism slows down as it attempts to make the most of every bit of caloric intake. Eat less, sure, but don't try to starve yourself. Your body won't let you.

You don't get at least seven hours of sleep. You've heard that sleep is when your body “recharges,” but what does that mean? Research shows that sleep deprivation, sleep disordered breathing, and circadian misalignment are believed to cause “metabolic dysregulation” that is a significant contributor to obesity.

You eat the wrong salt, or not enough of the right salt. So many people seem terrified of salt, it has become the white crystal kryptonite of our generation! Yes, too much salt consumption can lead to hypertension, but not enough iodine in your diet can lead to thyroid problems – and it is your thyroid which manages your metabolism. Sea salt, the latest marketing gimmick, is billed as somehow “more pure” than regular salt – except that it contains no iodine! You don't need much real salt in your diet to keep your thyroid happy, just a pinch a day, so keep some handy.

You don't get enough calcium. By all means cut down, or even eliminate, dairy from your diet, but don't eliminate the calcium! It is a key mineral requirement for a swift metabolism. If you have eliminated dairy from your diet, be sure to make your smoothies with a nut milk fortified with calcium.

You keep your house too hot. At room temperatures of 75 degrees and above, your body stops making brown fat, which is the “good fat” loaded with calorie-burning cells. So keep it cool, at least in the room where you sleep.

You drink decaf. Caffeine boosts your metabolic rate, pure and simple, and a cup or two each morning to get your motor running won't imperil your cardiovascular system, as so many people fear.