Eating fruits, vegetables, dairy, nuts, legumes, meats, poutlry and seafood in their natural, unprocessed state is the best path to optimal nutrition. Every process a food undergoes leaches important nutrients and often adds harmful byproducts that can be dangerous to your health and leave you feeling sapped of energy. Follow these 5 tips for clean eating and you're well on your way to increased energy and vitality:

1). Don't eat anything that comes in a box, bag, tube, wrapper, or can. These foods have been processed to extend shelf life and they inevitably contain way too many ingredients, many of which are harmful.

2.) Stick to the outer aisles of the grocery store. If you're eating clean, nothing you need will be on the inside aisles, because that's where all the bagged, boxed, canned and processed junk will be. Spices, tea, coffee and cooking oils are the only things you should be buying from the inner aisles.

3.) Give your basket a once-over before heading to the check out. Stop in an unobtrusive area and look through the items in your cart to make sure everything you have chosen adheres to clean standards. Generally you should be able to take out at least one item that was an impulse choice.

4.) If you don't recognize it, it's not clean. Imagine you came to your kitchen via a time machine and had never seen our modern industrial foodscape before. Would you know that a potato chip came from a potato just by looking at it? Probably not. If your food doesn't resemble a fruit, vegetable, or animal in its whole state, don't eat it.

5.) Eat according to how you feel. Food should make you feel good and energized, not sluggish, lethargic or bloated. Pay attention to how you feel after eating certain foods. Keep a list of what makes you feel good and what doesn't. Even some clean foods may not be clean for you.