--- title: "About Maya Ellison" description: "Meet the founder of Harborview Nutrition, a Maine-licensed registered dietitian nutritionist, certified health and wellness coach, former hospital clinician, and published researcher focused on practical, evidence-based nutrition." url: https://harborview-nutrition.carcin.app/about type: about updated: 2026-09-10 --- # Good nutrition should help you live more fully—not make your life revolve around food. Meet the founder ## Good nutrition should help you live more fully—not make your life revolve around food. I’m a registered dietitian nutritionist licensed in Maine, a certified health and wellness coach, a former hospital clinician, and a published researcher—and the founder of Harborview Nutrition. But more importantly, I’m someone who believes nutrition guidance should feel thoughtful, practical, personal, and grounded in science. ![Maya Ellison smiling while cooking in her kitchen](https://harborview-nutrition.carcin.app/assets/img/C1_02733-1400.jpg) ## It’s a lot. There is more nutrition information available today than ever before, yet people are often more confused about what to eat than ever. Protein. Carbs. Seed oils. Supplements. Blood sugar. Fasting. Gut health. Hormones. “Clean” ingredients. Foods you supposedly must eat and foods you’re suddenly supposed to fear. My role is to help you cut through that noise, understand what actually matters for your health, and build an approach to nutrition that feels both effective and realistic. Because eating well should support your life. Not consume it. The path here ## My path to Harborview Nutrition wasn’t a straight line—and I’m grateful for that. Before nutrition became my profession, kitchens were already a major part of who I was. I grew up cooking beside my grandmother in Rockland and paid my way through college on the line at a seafood restaurant—experiences that taught me something I still believe deeply today: food advice only matters if it survives a busy Tuesday night. What began as curiosity in a kitchen grew into graduate study, a dietetic internship, six years of hospital practice, research, and eventually the creation of Harborview Nutrition. I completed a master’s degree in nutrition, a dietetic internship, and six years of outpatient practice at a community hospital in southern Maine, working with adults across a wide range of nutrition and wellness concerns. Along the way, I also had the opportunity to contribute to published research—an experience that strengthened my appreciation for both the science behind nutrition and the responsibility involved in translating that science accurately. ![Maya Ellison cooking in a loft kitchen with open shelving](https://harborview-nutrition.carcin.app/assets/img/C2_01180-900.jpg) ![Hands choosing fresh tomatoes and greens at a market stall](https://harborview-nutrition.carcin.app/assets/img/C1_02892-900.jpg) Nutrition should be personal ## Science gives us direction. Your individual needs determine the path. Two people can have the same goal and need very different strategies to reach it. Your health history matters. Your lifestyle matters. Your preferences matter. Your relationship with food matters. Your schedule, family, stress, sleep, physical activity, environment, priorities, and season of life all matter. That’s why I don’t believe in simply handing someone a generic plan and sending them on their way. Instead, I take time to understand the bigger picture—where you are now, what may be influencing your health, what matters most to you, and what changes are both meaningful and realistic enough to sustain. Look deeper. Build stronger foundations. ## How I work We may look beyond the obvious question of “What are you eating?” and explore the broader factors that could be affecting how you feel and function. The goal isn’t to chase every possible explanation or make wellness unnecessarily complicated—it is to ask thoughtful questions and create a strategy with purpose behind it. - **Evidence-Based.** Recommendations should be supported by credible nutrition science—not fear, trends, or viral wellness claims. - **Individualized.** Your plan should reflect your body, your life, your goals, and your preferences. - **Food-First.** Whenever appropriate, we begin with food and foundational habits before adding complexity. - **Root-Cause Oriented.** Rather than focusing exclusively on a symptom or number, we consider the larger picture and factors that may be contributing to it. - **Practical.** Knowing what to do isn’t particularly useful if it doesn’t work in your actual life. - **Sustainable.** There are no prizes for following the “perfect” diet for three weeks. I’m much more interested in helping you build habits you can carry with you for years. Why Harborview? ## Harborview is about finding steady ground. The name comes from the view out of my first office window on Portland’s waterfront. A harbor is where boats refuel, make repairs, and wait out rough weather—and nutrition works the same way. It is one of the steady foundations that supports how we feel, function, move, perform, recover, and age. Instead of simply asking what you should eat, we can ask why a particular nutrition strategy makes sense for you. Instead of chasing quick fixes, we can strengthen the habits and foundations that support health over time. Instead of making decisions based on the latest wellness trend, we can return to what matters most: good science, thoughtful care, and the individual person. And that is what inspired the Harborview Nutrition promise: **Eat well. Feel steady.** Because nutrition isn’t the final destination. Living well is. ![Freshly picked green apples](https://harborview-nutrition.carcin.app/assets/img/C1_03152-900.jpg) Credentials ## You should know who you’re trusting with your nutrition. Nutrition advice is easy to find. Qualified, evidence-based nutrition guidance is something different. - **Licensed Dietitian.** Professional licensure reflects formal education, supervised experience, examination, and the standards required to provide nutrition care within scope of practice. - **Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN).** A national credential requiring an accredited graduate degree, a supervised dietetic internship, and a registration examination. - **Certified Health and Wellness Coach.** Knowing what to eat is rarely the hard part. Coaching training shapes how each plan is built around your real routines. - **Published Researcher.** Contributing to published research strengthened my appreciation for the responsibility involved in translating science accurately. **Featured research** Maya’s published work on fiber timing and post-meal blood sugar: “Dietary fiber timing and post-meal glucose variability in adults with prediabetes: a 12-week randomized pilot,” Northeast Journal of Applied Nutrition (2023). ## Let’s build something that works for you. Your next step can be as simple as a conversation.