The Sourdough School

BALM – Proven as one of the healthiest approaches to bread in the world.

Based in the walled gardens of Dr. Vanessa Kimbell's beautiful Victorian home in rural Northamptonshire, UK, we tutor individuals and train bakers and healthcare professionals in Baking as Lifestyle Medicine (BALM). Personalising bread to your lifestyle, gut microbiome, and unique genetics for optimal health—tailoring fermentation, fibre, and diversity so that your daily bread becomes the foundation of your health.

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Do I need to know how to make sourdough?

Taking part in a Baking as Lifestyle Medicine (BALM) protocol study at The Sourdough School does not require you to have any pre-existing baking skills. Our objective is to research the potential impacts of sourdough bread on health, and your role as a participant is to provide valuable data for this investigation.

To enable this, we provide all the knowledge, recipes, and teaching lessons necessary to carry out any baking that may be required as part of the study. Our expert team will guide you through the process, offering step-by-step instructions and continuous support to ensure that you can successfully bake sourdough bread at home.

Alternatively, some studies just require eating, so for these, we provide the option of supplying the sourdough bread ready-made. This flexibility allows for a wide range of participants and ensures the study remains accessible to all, regardless of baking experience or availability of time.

In both scenarios, our priority is ensuring that you’re comfortable with the process and fully supported throughout the study, as your participation is key to expanding our understanding of the relationship between bread, digestion, and overall health.

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