What you eat can make a big difference to your health!

Healthy eating helps children grow and adults live longer. Following a healthy diet can help lower the risk for heart disease and certain cancers. It can also help people with chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure manage these conditions and prevent complications.

Many people do not have a healthy diet. A registered dietitian can help!

A dietitian is a specialist in using food and nutrition to promote health and manage diseases. They can help you understand what to eat in order to lead a healthy lifestyle or achieve a specific health-related goal.

Nutrition services for primary care patients

Our nutritionists are Registered Dietitians (RD) and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialists (CDCES). They offer one-on-one counseling to help primary care patients bring healthy nutrition into their lives.

During these sessions, our nutritionist will work with each patient to:

  • Review current nutritional status
  • Set achievable goals
  • Create personalized plans to improve overall health

Each session is tailored to the patient based on the patient’s lifestyle, cultural background, and specific nutritional needs.

Talk with your provider about seeing a nutritionist.

Our nutritionists can help primary care patients at Harbor Health with health issues such as:

  • Weight management
  • Heart health
  • Diabetes
  • Digestive diseases and food allergies
  • Kidney disease
  • Pregnancy/preconception nutrition
  • General healthy eating and lifestyle habits

Meet our nutritionists

Rebekka Bean has 4 years of experience as a Registered Dietitian. She earned her certification as a Diabetes Care and Education Specialist in 2022.

Before joining Harbor, she worked as an RD and CDCES at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center. She also worked at Tufts Medical Center and Tuft’s Children’s Hospital. Her areas of nutrition and lifestyle-related counseling include:

  • Type 1 diabetes
  • Type 2 diabetes
  • Pre-diabetes
  • Gestational diabetes
  • Hypertension
  • High cholesterol
  • Kidney disease
  • Gastrointestinal diseases and food allergies/intolerances
  • Obesity and weight management
  • Unintended weight gain or weight loss

Rebekka has had the privilege of working with individuals from different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, enabling her to develop and tailor education, counseling and materials to meet the needs of each patient in their preferred languages.

Before joining Harbor, she worked as an RDN at Old Colony Elder Services and the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Brockton. She also works at the Old Colony YMCA and Cohannet Academy.

Her areas of nutrition and lifestyle-related counseling include:

  • Type 2 diabetes
  • Pre-diabetes
  • Hypertension and heart disease, including Congestive Heart Failure
  • High cholesterol
  • Kidney disease
  • Gastrointestinal diseases and food allergies/intolerances
  • Obesity and weight management
  • Unintended weight gain or weight loss
  • Disordered eating
  • Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease
  • Cachexia
  • End of Life nutrition concerns

Amanda has also had the privilege of working with individuals from different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, enabling her to develop and tailor education, counseling and materials to meet the needs of each patient in their preferred languages.

Additional information

If you get your primary care at a Harbor Health community health center, you can meet with a nutritionist with a referral from your provider.

Virtual Care (Telehealth/Video) and in-person appointments are available.

Harbor Health accepts all insurances including MassHealth, Health Safety Net, and most private insurance plans. You can also find help applying for insurance and a sliding fee scale at our community health centers.

Most health insurances cover all or a portion if nutrition services. You can contact your insurance company for more information about your coverage.

Please ask your provider if you need assistance with nutrition services!

If you need help getting food, you can find more help with food access resources at our health centers including: