As a child, I believed my mother could diagnose anything. A sneeze meant haldi doodh and a stomach ache meant a spoon of ajwain! And it would all get magically better. At the time, I never questioned how she knew. It was just one of those mystical motherly things. Now, years later, as a practicing nutritionist and a mother myself, I understand that no matter how fairy-tale like it felt, it was never magic. It was deeply intuitive, culturally rooted, time-tested nutritional wisdom.

…Kyunki Maa ko sab pata hai.’

And just like ‘Kanoon ke lambe haath hain’ and ‘Chacha Chaudhary ka Dimaag computer se bhi tez hai, this phrase is also used with a smile. But as I counsel patients, decode dietary patterns and design meal plans backed by research, I find myself circling back to what my mother once practiced without formal training.

She didn’t talk about probiotics, but fermented kanji was always on the table in winter. She didn’t know the term ‘anti-inflammatory’, but haldi, ginger and methi found their way into our daily meals. She understood balance, seasons and how locally procured foods were the best. Like I always say, they are there for a reason, right?

And yet, despite all this quiet expertise, there’s one pattern I continue to see across generations: mothers rarely apply this same nourishment to themselves.

They feed the entire family but often skip meals. So, while they monitor everyone’s sugar, they usually end up adding extra spoons of sugar to in their tea to soothe their fatigue. They ensure their children carry fruit in their tiffins, but rarely stop for one themselves.

As a nutritionist, I’ve stopped telling mothers to ‘prioritise self-care’ as a vague command. Instead, I ask them to start small:

• Sit down and eat, not just serve.
• Cook one dish a week for your taste, not just the family’s.
• Recognise fatigue, not ignore it.
• And yes, accept help without guilt.

Mothers must know that their intuitive kitchen cures, their healing meals, their ability to just know; it all matters. They’ve shaped healthier generations. And they deserve the same nourishment in return.

Every Mother’s Day, we all do make an effort to celebrate our mothers but this year, let’s learn from them, truly. Let’s preserve their food wisdom before it’s lost to fad diets and fast fixes. And most of all, let’s remind them:

You always knew what was best for us.
Now let us return the favour.
Because ‘maa ko sab pata hai’ and it’s time the world recognised it.

As a kid, I genuinely believed my mom could diagnose everything.

There was Haldi doodh to cure sneezing and ajwain would simply drive away stomach troubles. And just like that, things got better. It was always so amazing how she just knew what to do, and as they say ‘Maa ko sab Pata hai..’. She just… did. It was part of that magical ‘mom-logic’ we all trusted without question.