So Nourished: How Two Mothers Are Quietly Transforming Mealtimes for the UAE’s Pickiest and Most Sensitive Eaters

In a region known for its love of food and family, two mothers in Dubai are challenging how we think about children’s nutrition. Their new venture,So Nourished,isn’t just another baby food brand, it’s a quiet revolution for parents raising picky or neurodivergent eaters.

Launched this month across the UAE, So Nourished was born out of desperation, intuition, and a shared belief that ancestral nutrition still holds the answers modern parents are searching for. Its debut range reintroduces bone broth, tallow, and marrow, once staples of traditional diets, into the plates (and palates) oftoday’s children, promising support for gut health, brain development, and immunity in the most natural way possible.

Behind So Nourished are Nina Kavanagh and Safa Alkubaisi, two mothers whose very different parenting journeys converged around one shared struggle: feeding their children.

For Nina, a first-time mother living abroad, mealtimes quickly became a battle she never anticipated. “When my son was ready for solids, I did everything by the book,” she says. “I made the purees, the broths, the colorful plates. But he refused almost everything.”

Months later came a diagnosis that reframed everything, her son had Level 3 autism. Suddenly, what looked like fussy eating was something far deeper: sensory aversions to textures, smells, and colours so strong they triggered physical distress.

“I felt powerless,” Nina recalls. “I knew food could help him, but nothing on the market worked. It was all bland, beige, or full of fillers. That’s when I went back to what my grandmother did, real food, slow-cooked, nutrient-dense.”

Meanwhile, Safa was fighting her own uphill battle. Pregnant with her second child and recovering from debilitating hyperemesis (severe pregnancy sickness), she had relied heavily on packaged foods to feed her toddler. By the time her daughter arrived, her son’s diet had become so limited that vegetables were the enemy.

“I tried everything,” Safa says. “He wouldn’t eat anything healthy, just beige foods. Then Nina sent me one recipe: a meat patty with bone broth and hidden vegetables. He ate it. I cried.”

That small victory became a breakthrough. Together, the two mothers began experimenting, blending traditional wisdom with modern nutritional science to create recipes their children actually enjoyed. It wasn’t long before their kitchen experiments evolved into something bigger, a shared mission to help other parents facing the same battles.

The So Nourished range is deceptively simple, designed to be incorporated seamlessly into family meals without requiring new routines or complicated prep. But behind each product lies meticulous development, with nutritionist input and real-world testing in family kitchens across Dubai.

Rich in collagen, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus, bone broth forms the foundation of the range. Gentle on sensitive stomachs, it can be stirred into anything from porridge to pasta, nourishing growing bodies from the inside out.

Perfect for busy parents, these frozen cubes pack the same nutritional value as fresh broth, with the addition of hidden fruits and vegetables. They melt into sauces, soups, or purees in seconds—no preservatives, no fuss.

High in healthy fats that support brain development and immune health, So Nourished’s tallow offers a nutrient-rich alternative to seed oils and butter. It’s dairy-free, high-heat stable, and ideal for roasting or baking.

Made from 100% whipped marrow, this smooth, spreadable “butter” brings iron, vitamin A, B12, and healthy omega fats into everyday meals. It’s perfect stirred into cereal, spread on toast, or folded into purees for an instant nutritional boost.

While So Nourished feels modern, its philosophy is deeply ancestral. The brand draws on generations-old wisdom that viewed food as medicine, long before supplements and “organic” labels entered the conversation.

Medical research increasingly links gut health to early brain development, particularly in children with sensory sensitivities or neurodivergent conditions. The gut-brain axis, a communication network between the digestive system and the nervous system, plays a vital role in emotional regulation, focus, and even sleep quality.

Ingredients like bone broth and tallow are naturally rich in amino acids and minerals that support this connection, helping repair the gut lining, enhance nutrient absorption, and strengthen immune defences.

For Nina and Safa, the science only validated what their instincts already knew. “When we stripped everything back and focused on real food, food our ancestors would recognise, the changes were remarkable,” says Safa. “Better digestion, calmer moods, deeper sleep. It was like watching our kids come back to balance.”

This October marks So Nourished’s soft launch across the UAE, with pre-orders already open and deliveries beginning in late October. Media sampling and storytelling will roll out over the coming months, and new product innovations are already in development.

But for the founders, So Nourished was never just a business idea. It was born from tears, trial, and deep maternal instinct. “We built the brand we needed,” says Nina. “And we know we’re not the only ones.”

In a market dominated by convenience and marketing buzzwords, So Nourished stands apart, not by shouting the loudest, but by quietly rewriting what it means to truly nourish a child.

Because sometimes, the most radical thing you can do as a mother is return to the basics.

So Nourished products are available for pre-order from 29 September 2025, with delivery beginning in late October 2025 across the UAE.

For more information, visithttps://so-nourished.com/or follow @sonourished.me on Instagram.

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