Proven Bread ™ is no ordinary loaf. It is has been created according the the BALM Principles and is the result of over two decades of pioneering research by Dr Vanessa Kimbell into the connections between diversity, fermentation, fibre, gut health, and mental health. Developed as part of my doctoral studies, this bread was used in clinical dietary intervention research and stands as The Sourdough School’s flagship formula within the Diversity Bread ™ range.
- These handcrafted Diversity Breads are developed using the BALM Protocol and grounded in Dr Kimbell’s doctoral research into gut and mental health. Each is made with over 30 plant-based ingredients using hand-blended, stoneground flour milled from regeneratively farmed grains, legumes, seeds, and botanicals — without synthetic fortification.
- This subscriptions comes with a focused, personalised session for anyone seeking to improve digestive health or to interpret their nutrigenetic test results. In this 30-minute one-to-one consultation, Dr Vanessa Kimbell will explore either your gut symptoms and dietary patterns, or your genetic health reports, offering tailored guidance aligned with the BALM Protocol.This consultation is ideal if you’re considering a personalised bread prescription or want to support your microbiome using evidence-based, practical interventions.Includes:
– 30-minute consultation via video call
– Follow-up summary with personalised recommendations
– Optional integration with the BALM Framework and Proven Bread protocols
Every loaf delivered is mixed by hand and slow-fermented for 18 hours using Dr Kimbell’s live starter culture, enhancing digestibility and improving nutrient bioavailability.
With 6g of fibre per slice, the Proven Bread® range is designed to support digestive health, balance blood sugar, and complement a wide range of personalised dietary needs.
This is the also first-ever learning programme that transforms the simple act of eating bread into a structured, empowering practice — combining microbiome science, lifestyle medicine, and nutrigenetics to reconnect food, body, and the wider food system with a 12 week learning programme and a self assessment to monitor how you feel.
This is the also first-ever learning programme that transforms the simple act of eating bread into a structured, empowering practice — combining microbiome science, lifestyle medicine, and nutrigenetics to reconnect food, body, and the wider food system with a 12 week learning programme and a self assessment to monitor how you feel.
Crafted with 30 unique plant-based ingredients — including grains, seeds, legumes, flowers, and botanicals — it meets the threshold identified by the American Gut Project for significantly enhancing gut microbial diversity.
It is:
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My Botanical Blend Flour ™ is is hand blended and milled to order from regeneratively farmed grains by Hodmedods
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Each loaf is hand made with my starter and naturally fermented for 18 hours to enhance bioavailability
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It is baked, sliced and then delivered to you in sustainable packaging and pre cut into in 24 slices, with 6g of fibre per slice (12g per two-slice serving — enough to fill the UK’s daily fibre gap)
Yes Proven is more than a loaf — it is a reconnection to the food system as a whole.
From soil to seed, from farmer to miller, from baker to doctor, and finally to the person eating the bread, this is a circular, shared system. And through this model — food as medicine, baking as care — we reawaken the original purpose of bread: not just to feed, but to heal, to connect, and to empower.
The development of Proven was supported by many:
Advisors, farmers, scientists, millers, and doctors who helped along the way — including Professor David Veale (King’s College London), Dr Alexandra Davidson, Dr Miguel Mateos, Nick Saltmarsh and Josiah Meldrum, Ben Johnson, and Baker Peter Cook and family, with encouragement inspiration for many years from Tim Spector, my amazing students over the past two decades and of course my husband parents and children— each contributing insights that shaped the final product.
