The Mother Road Dietitian’s name comes from the historic Route 66, often called “The Mother Road.” It ran through the heart of America, including Tulsa, Oklahoma. While Route 66 became a symbol of freedom and exploration for some, for Black Americans, it also represented exclusion. During segregation, Black travelers were not welcomed in many establishments along the route, and Black business owners were often denied the opportunity to set up shop on this iconic highway.
In 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic and a national reckoning with racial injustice, Krystal decided to reclaim the name and legacy of The Mother Road. By naming her practice after Route 66, she honored its deep history while also rewriting its narrative and creating a space where Black business ownership thrives, and where every person, regardless of race, body size, or background, is welcomed with dignity and respect.
From its beginnings as a solo practice rooted in weight-inclusive care, The Mother Road Dietitian has grown into a thriving team dedicated to helping clients heal their relationships with food and body.
Our Story: The Mother Road
We envision a world where all bodies are respected and health is redefined. That vision guides how we show up for our clients and for each other.
Our Mission
Our Philosophy
We practice nutrition care that centers you, not numbers, scales, or one-size-fits-all solutions. Our philosophy centers compassion and evidence that respects your story and supports your goals.
We practice cultural humility by honoring the identities and lived experiences that shape your health. Guided by science and grounded in liberation, we practice through the lenses of Health at Every Size® and Intuitive Eating, we reject weight-centric approaches and focus on sustainable, behavior change that prioritizes you.
We practice care by working to reduce disparities in nutrition and by building systems that make support accessible, reliable, and equitable.
We practice joy as a metric. When care feels empowering, sustainable, and meaningful that’s when real change lasts.
TL;DR
We practice nutrition care without focusing on the scale. With compassion, cultural humility, and evidence, we use Health at Every Size® and Intuitive Eating to guide sustainable, behavior change. Our work reduces disparities, builds accessible systems, and measures success by joy because real change lasts when care feels meaningful and empowering.
12 months
Implementing
Effective nutrition care for disease prevention and treatment has the potential to lower health care costs and improve population health, life expectancy, and workforce productivity.
0.3 to 2.0%
Research consistently shows that medical nutrition therapy (MNT) provided by registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) significantly improves outcomes for adults with prediabetes, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and malnutrition.
Why Dietitians are Powerful in Chronic Disease Care
Source: JAMA Internal Medicine (Shan Z, et al, 2023)
Systematic reviews confirm that MNT provided by registered dietitian nutritionists achieves absolute HbA1c decreases of 0.3% to 2.0% in type 2 diabetes within 3 to 6 months.
Source: Nutrients (Minari T, et al, 2024)
Source: J Acad Nutr Diet (Morgan-Bathke, M, et al, 2023)
of MNT provides significant improvement outcomes (glycemic control, blood pressure, anthropometrics).
The Heart Of It
Completing 3-6 medical nutrition therapy sessions within the first 6 months reduces hemoglobin A1c by 0.5-2% in adults with type 2 diabetes and significantly improves cardiovascular risk factors including blood pressure, cholesterol, and body weight.
meaningful, sustained improvements
Evidence demonstrates that MNT interventions lasting at least 12 months optimize outcomes, with benefits maintained at 1-year follow-up when ongoing support continues.
For prediabetes, MNT reduces progression to type 2 diabetes while improving HbA1c and fasting blood glucose over intervention periods ranging from 3 to 24 months.
Cardiovascular improvements include significant reductions in total cholesterol, LDL, triglycerides, and blood pressure, alongside increases in HDL cholesterol, with intervention durations of 3-21 months.