Fuelled by Form: Longevity Chef Natalie Golba on Slowing Ageing Through Diet

Nutritionist Natalie Golba (@nataliegolba) is on a mission to train everyone in the art of ageing slower. The former model turned private chef, who became passionate about nutrition in her early 20s, has spent over a decade plating up healthy dishes for everyone from NBA athletes to DJs and celebrities.

After noticing how a plant-based, microbiome-focussed diet could help her clients stay lean, energised and healthy in their 40s and beyond, the Russian-born culinarian launched Healthiest Chef, a set of online cooking courses designed to help her time-poor followers achieve longevity through better dietary choices. 

Built alongside best friend and start-up founder Irina Swan, the platform shares easy-to-digest video lessons that package everything Golba learned while cutting her teeth at culinary school, as well as the nutrition lessons she’s learned from courses at Harvard Medical School, Stanford Medicine and Cornell.

In the latest instalment of our Fuelled by Form series, the longevity specialist sat down with us to talk plant-based myths, her favourite breakfast recipe and the importance of protein for bone density as you age.

You were a model before you trained as a chef. What inspired you to move into the nutrition space?

I’ve always read books and studied nutrition in one way or another, but it wasn’t until I moved to the US and gained over 30 pounds, despite sticking to the same diet, that I wanted to learn more about the food I was eating. 

It motivated me to study nutrition at multiple different institutions, and through this, I achieved the results I wanted for my own health. Someone saw the recipes I was posting on Instagram and reached out to ask if I would be interested in being their private chef. Over the next few months, I saw how their life changed through their diet. Her posture, her personal life, her dating life, her confidence all transformed. It made me realise that helping people is what makes me happiest.

Can you tell us more about your online culinary school Healthiest Chef and the ethos behind it?

The platform is a collection of plant-based cooking courses and meal prep ideas, designed to increase longevity, that taste as good as something you’d order from a restaurant. 

In the era of ChatGPT, it’s so easy to ask AI what to make for dinner – but these recipes haven’t been tasted by a human or a chef. You can also look at a lot of beautiful recipes online, but many of them are ‘Instagram pretty’, so they don’t taste as good as they look.

Over the past nine years, I’ve worked with a range of high-performance individuals, including celebrities and athletes, who were spoiled with their restaurant choices – so it was always crucial for me to create meals that were both healthy and tasty. I think regular people deserve this knowledge too. Maybe it doesn’t have to be cooked by an in-house private chef, but you can become your own healthiest chef with the right information.

What is the most surprising thing that you’ve learned about nutrition since moving into this space?

Ironically, that eating a varied plant-based diet can provide all the essential amino acids you need. When I stopped eating animal products, I thought it wasn’t the healthiest decision, but I did it for the animals. 

Over the years, I’ve studied more about gut health, micronutrients and precision medicine at courses associated with Harvard Medical School and Stanford Medicine. With every new education, I’ve learned that the more your diet is focussed on quality, plant-based whole foods, the better the chances of you living longer. I turned 40 this year, but my body feels healthier than when it was 30.

What are some of your top dietary tips for people who are wanting to increase their longevity?

Start making your meals at home. That’s the best way to build a healthy relationship with food – as you know the quality of your produce and the cookware you used. Certain takeaway boxes can leach microplastics into food, which is something you can avoid by using what’s in your kitchen. Plus, cooking from home is an amazing way to build community and family traditions with your loved ones. 

How does Form fit into your busy lifestyle?

Having protein oatmeal at breakfast is my new favourite thing. I make it with my homemade almond milk and a couple of scoops of Form’s Performance Protein. 

On top, I layer fresh bananas, blueberries, chopped walnuts, flaxseeds, chia seeds and a little bit of maple syrup. It’s very high in protein – almost 40 to 50 easy grams of protein per bowl – so I tend to eat it after my heavy weights workout, as it helps to build my body.

What does a typical day of eating look like for you?

I’ll start the day with oats, then for lunch, I usually eat my meal prep soup. This week it’s borscht (a type of fermented Polish soup), and a big green salad with beans and legumes on the side. For dinner, my new obsession is a crispy tofu bowl with vegetables and air fried tofu. 

One of our guest experts at Healthiest Chef is Dan Buettner, the founder of Blue Zones (a lifestyle method that looks at the habits of communities in geographic regions of the world where people live significantly longer). 

I’ve spoken to him a few times about drinking coffee, and his research suggests that the people who live the longest tend to have one or two cups early in the morning. They drink it black and they don’t add sugar, so there’s no fancy Starbucks order here. That’s one of my happiest times of the day, though – drinking my black coffee and speaking to my mum in the morning.

Why is protein important to you?

Lately I’ve started learning more about bone health, as women with a lower BMI can naturally be at a higher risk of issues like osteoporosis. People only start caring about bone density in their 50s or 60s when there’s already been a significant loss, so I’ve decided to start focusing on it earlier. 

Eating enough protein and lifting heavy weights are two of the most important things women can do to improve their bone density. So, I add 40 grams of extra protein to my already high-protein plant based diet, to try and meet the numbers that the bone health doctors recommend. 

Finally, what is the one food or ingredient that you couldn’t live without?

As a vegan girl, I have to say avocado. I eat at least half of one a day, either in my salad or on toast. But I also love mangos as a sweet treat. They’re delicious!