​Oh my gosh – nutrition and diet info is everywhere!
 
And each expert and association tries to lead you in their direction because they know best and their advice is going to help you.  Right?
 
Well, maybe…
 
Everyone has heard (and maybe lived through) the intense focus on how much you eat.  This has gotten way too much attention because while this does affect your weight and energy level, it's certainly not the “holy grail” of health. 
 
Let's focus a bit more on the often overlooked (and proven) benefits of what you eat and drink and how you eat and drink it. 

​What is Metabolism?
 
This word “metabolism” is thrown around a lot these days.
 
You know that if yours is too slow you might gain weight.  But what exactly does this all mean?
 
Well technically “metabolism” is the word to describe all of the biochemical reactions in your body.  It's how you take in nutrients and oxygen and use them to fuel everything you do.
 
Your body has an incredible ability to grow, heal, and generally stay alive.  And without this amazing biochemistry you would not be possible.
 
Metabolism includes how the cells in your body:

• Allow activities you can control (e.g. physical activity etc.).
• Allow activities you can't control (e.g. heart beat, wound healing, processing of nutrients & toxins, etc.).
• Allow storage of excess energy for later.

 
So when you put all of these processes together into your metabolism you can imagine that these processes can work too quickly, too slowly, or just right.
 
Which brings us to the “metabolic rate”.  

Do you try to eat a rainbow of natural foods every day? If so, you're treating yourself to a diverse group of nutrients that all play vital roles for your health. Greens, for instance, are detoxifiers, while orange colored foods have cancer preventing properties. And it's easy to add green and orange produce to your diet, whether you opt for spinach, broccoli, tangerines or carrots. But as you may have noticed, it's a bit more difficult to find blue and purple foods because there aren't as many. And "blue" foods, such as blue corn and blueberries, are arguably closer to a purple hue.
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But even if they aren't as easy to find at your grocery store or farmers market, don’t neglect adding blue and purple fruits and veggies to your diet. Why? They actually contain more antioxidants than any of the other colors of produce. Whole Foods has predicted that eating purple foods - including violet varieties of asparagus, sweet potatoes and cauliflower—will be among the top 10 wellness trends in 2017.
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Natural blue and purple foods can help prevent a host of health issues, including cancer and high cholesterol.