ADRU Sourdough for Mental Health Pizza Recipe (Serves 4)

Learning Objective

Have you ever been told that Pizza is bad for you?

So often, pizza is lumped in with ultra-processed foods that contribute to poor health. Not this one. This pizza uses the Botanical Blend flour milled by Hodmedod's, and the recipe has been developed for Professor David Veale at ADRU (Anxiety Disorders Residential Unit) as part of a range of pizzas, and he has declared it "the most gut-friendly pizza ever."

David and his team run the unit where patients are empowered to change their gut health and mental health through a combination of cognitive behavioural therapy and baking using the BALM Protocol.

This recipe shows you how to make an epic pizza with high diversity. To make it even more supportive of gut health, it is inoculated with a live probiotic-rich sauerkraut. This live finish encourages gut-friendly eating and is inspired by Dr George Porter Phillips, a former Bethlem psychiatrist who published one of the first studies treating mental disorders with live probiotics.

The amazing baker showing you how to shape the dough in the video is one of my best friends Adam Pagor of Grain and Hearth. It's easy, fun, delicious, and supportive of both gut health and mental health. If you want to find out more about nutritional psychiatry through baking or about ADRU, you can contact David and the team at ADRU directly.

How can baking a pizza support mental health?

The pizza recipe combines the art of baking with the science of nutritional psychiatry. This pizza is crafted according to the BALM Protocol, a revolutionary approach that harnesses the power of baking as a form of preventative healthcare and lifestyle medicine.

The BALM Protocol is an evidence-based system that integrates baking, eating, and sharing bread to promote both physical and mental well-being. This pizza recipe adheres to BALM's principles by reducing refined sugars, increasing probiotics through symbiotic eating, increasing fibre and diversity in the bread, fermenting the dough, and boosting antioxidants.

The Botanical Blend flour not only enhances the diversity of the bread but also contributes to its gut-friendly properties. The recipe also includes a live probiotic-rich yogurt dressing, which is inspired by the work of Dr George Porter Phillips, who pioneered the use of live probiotics in treating mental disorders. This is known as pyschobiotics. Here we will be using strain-specific bacteria on the pizza and toppings.

By embracing the BALM Protocol and the concept of nutritional psychiatry, this pizza becomes more than just a delicious meal: it becomes a tool for supporting gut health and mental well-being. The carefully selected ingredients, such as the vibrant array of vegetables, homemade tomato sauce, and fresh herbs, work together to create a pizza that nourishes the body and mind - enjoy the recipe!