For most of us, our information concerning metabolism has related in one way or another to eating, in that we are told of metabolism-friendly foods, or metabolism unfriendly foods.

But really, while we may be basically aware that, all else being equal, a stalk of celery is better for your metabolism than fries with gravy, our understanding of diet and metabolism is pretty low.

To help overcome this, the following looks at some powerful and scientific diet-related tips that will boost your metabolism. Indeed, as you will soon learn, it is not merely what you eat that matters; it is when, and how, too.

So calories - yes, the word calorie has a bad rap. We constantly come across low calorie or calorie reduced foods. And it is not uncommon to overhear someone gasp about the immense calorie content of certain foods, such as a rich and creamy desert, or a giant fast food burger.

All of this anti-calorie rhetoric has therefore made a lot of us pretty calorie-phobic; as soon as we see something that has lots of them, we run away. But is this wise?

Yes and no. Yes, it is wise in the sense that avoiding that double-layer chocolate fudge cake for dessert may be a good idea. The calories that come from the cake are really going to be the so-called empty calorie kind; which means there is no real nutritional value that your body can squeeze out and make use of.

But in the bigger picture, it is unwise for your metabolism to become calorie-avoidant.

Why? Because your body is a marvelous machine that tries, at all times, to do what it can to make your life easier. Indeed, while it may not always function at optimal levels (for a variety of reasons, including genetics), it still tries to do its very best. The body, for all of its limitations and so forth, is not lazy!

With this in mind, the body is always trying to keep us alive and functioning in the manner that it deems to be healthiest. And that is why if you suddenly decrease the amount of calories you need, your body will not try to do more with less. In other words, your body will not respond in the way that you want it to, it will not necessarily provoke catabolism and thus reduce weight and fat cells.

Instead, your smart and wise body will try to keep you alive by slowing down its metabolism. It will simply believe that something is wrong - maybe you are trapped somewhere without food - and it will just begin to become very stingy with energy.

So what is the end result? If your body needs 2000 calories a day to survive, and you suddenly give it only 1000, it will not begin to burn off 1000 calories worth of cells that you have lying around on your love handles. Instead, your body will slow down its metabolism. It will really try and get as much energy out of those 1000 calories, because it does not want to waste anything.

Physically, you will naturally feel more tired because your body is being very miserly with energy, and will devote its 1000-calorie ration to essential systems, like blood and oxygen supply (and others). Metabolically, you will not be burning off extra calories. In fact, you can actually gain weight by dramatically reducing your calorie intake!

The flipside of this is of course, that you should consume a daily caloric intake that is proportionate to your body size, type, and weight loss goals. Once you have got an idea on the amount of calories that you need you can provide them to your body via healthy, efficient calories.

For example, if your body needs 1500 calories per day, and one slice of double-fudge chocolate cake delivers a whopping 500 of those, then obviously, eating just one of these slices will take up a full 1/3rd of your daily caloric needs and worse still, they are empty calories, which means you are going to be very tired and lethargic.

On the other hand, drinking a tasty fruit smoothie made with yogurt and nuts can deliver half as many calories, and provide you with essential nutrients, vitamins, and other elements that your body needs.

So, the healthy way to lose weight is not by slashing your calorie intake; and if you are looking for easy ways to lose weight, banishing all the bad calories you enjoy in your diet is certainly not the answer either. But if you understand where good and bad calories come from, and ration the bad rather than the number of calories in themselves, you will find food lovers fat loss really can happen for you, and it is a whole lot easier than you would think!