Forest Nash: Advocate for Vegan Nutrition and Fitness Excellence, Part 1 of 2

Forest Nash is a dedicated Vegan Fitness & Nutrition Coach and Natural Physique Champion based in Melbourne, Australia. Passionate about promoting whole-food, plant-based nutrition, Mr. Nash has completed a Certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies and Cornell University. “I’ve been vegan myself since 2015, so almost 10 years now. And I’m also a natural body building competitor and multiple time physique champion on the Vegan Strong Plant Built team, which is the largest team of vegan athletes in the world, and I’ve been kind of a fitness enthusiast and training myself for the past 18 years.”

“And since doing that, of course, I’ve learned a lot more about the ethical benefits of a plant-based diet. Of course, it’s for the animals, it’s the best diet in lifestyle that we can cultivate, for sure, but also the environmental benefits. Of course, if you’re eating a plant-based diet, it’s going to consume a lot less resources and produce fewer carbon emissions, use less land and all those sorts of things, and also from a health benefit as well.” “I think (it) makes the transition easier for folks nowadays. So, a little bit of a challenge that I had early on was just with my digestion, kind of adapting, because I started eating more legumes, so like beans and lentils and chickpeas, stuff like that, and those foods are super health promoting. I encourage everyone to eat them, whether you’re vegan or not, because there’s some of the healthiest foods that we can eat.” Forest’s advice for beginners to get plant-based protein is to gradually increase dietary fiber intake. “If you’re someone where throughout your life, you just haven’t been consuming as much dietary fiber, then what I would recommend doing is gradually ramping up your intake of those foods.”