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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Diversity Bread Products

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 Be the transformative change to our bread making system.

” Diversity Bread.  Good for your gut, and good for the environment.”

Introducing  the products that have been developed as part of the research for the Doctorate that can be upscaled into the bread manufacturing system. I am delighted to present, in conjunction with the Doctorate paper a decade’s worth of work that has the potential to revolutionise the global food system and the BALM protocol.

The Protocol is underpinned by the dietary intervention studies, over 700 studies

We already know that we need to address the climate crisis and tackled the damage to our physical and mental health from the drastic increase in UPF  – but how?

Our physical and mental health is in crisis. and the habitats that sustain life on earth are increasingly under threat. It’s clear we need sustainable solutions. Our natural lands and forests are not just picturesque landscapes; they are the life-giving pillars of our world, playing vital roles in global temperature regulation and oxygen production. A decline in their health equates to a direct threat to our own existence. Industrial agricultural systems are one of he major contributors to climates change, and ultra processed foods are significantly damaging our physical and mental health. So I spent 10 years redesigning a system that can deliver a full by connecting build relationships and form a chain. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation calls this a circular economy. This is the invitation to the industrial bakers, the millers and the ingredients manufacturers  and the supermarkets to form the circle using the BALM Framework.

 

Syllabus for Diversity Bread. Good for your gut, good for the planet.

Home page

Total Time: 1 hours and 58 minutes

LessonsTimeWhat you will learn

- THE FULL DAY OF CONNECTIONS TO THE DIVERSITY BREAD PROJECT

100 mins

https://vimeo.com/857164274?share=copy

- WHAT IS THE BALM PROTOCOL?

5 mins

The Baking a Lifestyle medicine is a framework and when followed the way in which you bake eat and share your bread can be considered preventative medicine.

Whilst the Protocol can be used by anyone making bread,  from industrial Manufacturers to domestic bakers, the Diversity Bread products have specifically been designed to fit into to the BALM Protocol to empower large manufacturers to scale up the fibre, divinity and through fermentation increase the levels of nourishment and the key to the uniqueness of this lie in the unique blend of the diversity blend, and the specific microbes use to create products that cannot be easily replicated by competitors.

There are many areas where we can demonstrate the uniqueness of the products, including a "secret" formula as a diversity blend, but the microbial transformation by the Sourdough at Puratos is what will make the diversity products stand out as a product.

EXAMPLE - BOTANICAL BLEND FLOUR

13 mins

Described as a " game-changer," by Professor Tim Spector The BALM protocol, introduces a remarkable innovation: botanical blend flour, an ingredient that not only brings a delightful flavour to our bread, but also serves as a beacon of hope for our planet. The botanical blend flour that feeds gut bacteria to produce more short chain fatty acids, contributing to overall health. The flour has been available for purchase for over 2 years and has almost a 500% increase in sales this year.  The profits support social changes through the NHS's social prescribing efforts, and the educational awards programme.

Botanical blend flour—created with ingredients sourced from farms committed to regenerative practices—we're doing more than baking bread; we're contributing to a larger movement.

What sets this blend apart is its diversity of prebiotics that can nourish the gut microbiome, and foundation in regenerative farming—a revolutionary agricultural practice aimed at restoring our environment rather than depleting it, and restoring the fibre and diversity that nourishes our physical and mental health.

You can read more about the principles of the botanical blend flours.

- PORRIDGES

  1. Red Porridge - Background Knowledge - 10 mins
mins

During sourdough fermentation, lactic acid bacteria and yeast work together to break down complex carbohydrates and proteins in the dough. This process also helps to release bound ferulic acid from the cell wall structures of the grains, making it more bioavailable. - Click link for Puratos report .

All reasonable care is taken when advising about health aspects of bread, but the information that we share is not intended to take the place of treatment by a qualified medical practitioner. You must seek professional advice if you are in any doubt about any medical condition. Any application of the ideas and information contained on this website is at the reader's sole discretion and risk.

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