Maudene Nelson, RD, CDE has been a nutrition educator at the Columbia University Institute of Human Nutrition for the past thirty years. She is also a diabetes educator at the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center. She tells us how to make our diets healthier by adding in beans!

Q: Is there a simple tip that you share with people who are starting to change their diet?

A: Yes. Start with small changes. Introduce or change one food idea at a time. Most of the time the most traditional or simple foods are the most healthy. Beans are probably the most body-friendly food that any person can eat, but especially for people who have diabetes since they're so high in water soluble fiber. All over the world people eat beans and peas in many forms. A great start to a better diet is to put beans on your plate at least once a day. They are good sources of folic acid, protein, a modest amount of iron, and they are fat free. Most people think that serving beans means a lot of planning and work. Not so! You can keep it simple and buy them canned.

If you prefer to cook dried beans, it's no more complicated than boiling water. Just rinse and simmer. Beans are great as a side dish, mashed as a spread, in soup, in salad, baked (with a dried spice mix of your choice) and eaten as a snack, and, of course, served with rice.

Q: What is fiber and why is it good for you?

A: There are two kinds of fiber: water soluble (can be dissolved in water) and water insoluble (can't be dissolved in water). Beans are very high in both types of fiber. Have you ever opened a can of beans and noticed that sort of white, murky stuff floating on the top? That's the soluble fiber. That's the good stuff. You never want to rinse that away. A lot of recipes want you to rinse that away because it's prettier, but you're rinsing away some healthy stuff. For people who have high blood pressure, reducing your salt might help keep your blood pressure low. In this case it's useful to rinse all of your canned food, including beans.

What fiber does is help slow down the time it takes for the carbohydrates in the foods you are eat to turn into glucose (sugar) in your blood. The fiber acts as a screen door-everything can't go straight through the door-it has to go slowly. That's good-the slower the carbohydrate goes through the better. For people who have diabetes, the more soluble fiber in a meal, the better, because that delays how soon the carbohydrate on your plate turns into glucose in your blood.

You also get soluble fiber in oats or oatmeal, apples, citrus fruits, okra, and essentially all foods made from plants.

If you are interested in working with Maudene Nelson and bringing nutrition into your community, please e-mail her at mln2@columbia.edu.

Harlem Word is a series of interviews with community health experts written by HHPC and reviewed by our Health Advisory Board.