Metabolism. This is perhaps the most frequently used word in the weight loss/weight gain vocabulary. It’s quite common to overhear people talking about their struggles or triumphs over the holiday bulge or love handles, in terms of whether their metabolism is working or not. Doctors often refer to metabolism when trying to explain why starvation and water-loss diets don’t work.

With all the focus on this rather daunting and biologically charged word, you would assume that most people actually understand it. Or at least, have some fundamental knowledge about how to speed up their metabolism, right? Wrong!