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Sourdough - transform your bread & your health

The Healthiest Bread in the World: Science-Backed Baking for a Better Gut Heath

Vanessa Kimbell is a time-served baker who specialises in gut health and trained in the art of sourdough bread in the Dordogne. A bestselling author, she holds a doctorate in Baking as Lifestyle Medicine and Preventative Health and is a member of BANT. Vanessa combines deep expertise in sourdough with unparalleled knowledge of the science of bread and digestion. At The Sourdough School, she teaches personalised artisan bread tailored to optimise gut health and genetics. Discover healthy bread recipes, tips, and techniques featuring sourdough fermentation, wholegrain benefits, and personalised baking advice—designed to inspire a slower, healthier approach to baking, eating, and sharing bread.

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Diversity 8 Seed Blend
Diversity 8 Seed Blend - Image 2
Diversity 8 Seed Blend - Image 3
Diversity 8 Seed Blend - Image 4
Seeded sourdough loaf

Diversity 8 Seed Blend

£4.99

The Sourdough School Bread Seed Mix is a blend of fibre-rich seeds developed to support gut health and enhance your baking. With each seed providing unique benefits, this is an easy and delicious way to support the gut health and manage the blood sugar of you and your loved ones.

Available as a monthly subscription option, this 250g bag of seeds is ideal for regular use, helping you establish a routine of nourishing your gut as part of your baking practice.

This blend is ideal for regular use, increasing diversity and fibre, helping you establish a routine of nourishing your gut as part of your baking practice, simply add to your sourdough bakes for an extra dose of health and flavour. Use in bread, on crackers, and as a sweet or savoury topping.

Contains pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, linseeds, hulled and black sesame seeds, chia, hemp, and poppy seeds.

Categories: Featured Products, Sourdough Ingredients
  • Description

The Sourdough School Bread Seed Mix

A blend of seeds thoughtfully curated by Dr Vanessa Kimbell. This mix is designed to make life easy, adding flavour and diversity to your homemade baked goods. This unique seed mix aligns with baking for health, transforming your bread into a nourishing staple that promotes gut health, balanced blood sugar levels and relieves constipation.

Created with an understanding of the gut microbiome, this blend combines a variety of seeds rich in fibre, healthy fats, and essential minerals. Each seed has been carefully chosen to contribute a specific benefit, supporting digestive health, stabilising energy levels, and encouraging a diverse gut flora. The seeds add to texture and visual appeal, increase fibre content, and enrich the flavour profile for a truly satisfying bite.

How to use:

For bread, add around 100g of seed mix to your dough during the final stretch and fold for an even distribution throughout the loaf.

For crackers, sprinkle the seed mix generously over the surface before baking or knead it directly into the dough for a textured, nutritious snack.

For toppings, toast and scatter a handful of the mix over salads, soups, or even your morning porridge to get the same gut-boosting benefits outside of your baked goods.

 

Seeded sourdough loaf

Health benefits

Pumpkin seeds – high in magnesium, which is essential for balancing blood sugar and supporting energy metabolism. They also contain antioxidants that promote gut and immune health. Research also suggests magnesium supplementation alongside melatonin and B vitamins also has a positive effect on insomnia and sleep quality.

Sunflower seeds – rich in vitamin E, an anti-inflammatory nutrient, and fibre, which encourages the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut.

Linseeds (flaxseeds) – a powerhouse of omega-3 fatty acids and lignans. These seeds support gut health by promoting regular digestion and reducing inflammation.

Sesame seeds – high in fibre and essential minerals, including calcium and iron, to support bone health and stable blood sugar levels, some research even suggests improved blood pressure levels.

Chia seeds – high in fibre and can absorb water to create a gel-like consistency, helping to slow down digestion, prevent blood sugar spikes, and support a feeling of fullness.

Hemp seeds – known for their complete protein profile, are rich in essential fatty acids that have anti-inflammatory properties, proteins and fibre which contributes to gut health and may improve cardiovascular health.

Poppy seeds – a good source of dietary fibre and magnesium, supporting digestive health and offering a mild nutty flavour.

 

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Todays live for diploma students will be on 'How t Todays live for diploma students will be on 'How to engage your patient in the lifestyle changes of the BALM' with @vanessakimbell 

In their 6pm live session, we help keep our students on track with the syllabus and discuss the application of Baking As Lifestyle Medicine to the 6 pillars of Lifestyle medicine, applying the research papers, application of the Research, and how this ties into prescribing, along with guest lecturers, discussions and sharing knowledge.

#lifestylemedicine #health #functionalmedicine #nutrition #integrativemedicine #healthylifestyle #wellness #lifestyle #rcgp #dietitian #nutritionist #healthcareprofessional #holistichealth #healthyliving #plantbased #guthealth #naturopathicmedicine #selfcare #functionalnutrition  #naturopathicdoctor #foodasmedicine #foodismedicine #lifestylegoals #cpd #lifestylechange #mentalhealth #sourdough #sourdoughschool #bakeforhealth
BAKE, ANALYSE, EAT; RECALIBRATE & REPEAT. 📆 Th BAKE, ANALYSE, EAT; RECALIBRATE & REPEAT.

📆 The Sourdough School Clinic - Thursdays 8pm - for students of The Sourdough School 

✏️ In this weekly live session, we cover technical baking questions. Students can submit their Baking Record Sheets in advance of the session.

đź“‹ We look at the details of our student's bakes - the specifics of the flour, timings and temperatures. Using our sourdough record sheets Vanessa will make suggestions on how they might modify, or recalibrate the next time they bake.

Follow the link in the bio to learn more about becoming a student at The Sourdough School 👆

#sourdough #sourdoughschool #bread #sourdoughlove #sourdoughlover #naturalleavened #leavening #levain #realbread #breadmaking #bakebread #makebread #makerealbread #learntobakebread #breadmakingclass #sourdoughstories #bakingforlove #bakingtherapy #sourdoughbaking
IBS AWARENESS MONTH Do you suffer from irritable IBS AWARENESS MONTH

Do you suffer from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)? It can be tough to deal with the uncomfortable symptoms of stomach cramps, constipation, diarrhoea and bloating. But did you know that making dietary changes, such as incorporating sourdough bread into your diet, could help alleviate some of those symptoms?

Studies have shown that sourdough's long, slow fermentation process can reduce IBS symptoms. Plus, during #ibsawarenessmonth, we're exploring how adding different herbs and spices to your sourdough can further improve both the flavour and the digestion of your bread.

Let's talk about gut health, fermentation, and how sourdough can be a delicious and healthy addition to your diet. Join the conversation and share your experiences with IBS and sourdough.

#guthealth #healyourgut #healthygut #guthealing #guthealthmatters #letfoodbethymedicine #foodasmedicine #gutbrainconnection #nutrientdense #micronutrients #digestivehealth #nutritionfacts #microbiome #breadandguts #ibsawarenessmonth
THE SOURDOUGH SCHOOL – HAND CARVED WOODEN LAME THE SOURDOUGH SCHOOL – HAND CARVED WOODEN LAME

One of the biggest issues around using a plastic lame to score sourdough, of course, is that eventually the blade will become blunt and the lame could end up in landfill.  So several years ago I talked to my dear friend EJ about developing a lame with a replaceable blade. And he came up with this very beautiful hand carved wooden lame.

Very sadly EJ is no longer with us. Recently a friend of EJ’s who is also a wood turner and carver offered to make these again for us in remembrance of our dear friend.

Follow the link in the bio to our shop where you can find our full selection of wooden sourdough tools 👆

#sourdough #sourdoughschool #bread #sourdoughlove #sourdoughlover #naturalleavened #leavening #levain #realbread #breadmaking #bakebread #makebread #makerealbread #learntobakebread #breadmakingclass #sourdoughstories #bakingforlove #bakingtherapy #sourdoughbaking
The Baking As Lifestyle Medicine (BALM) Protocol The Baking As Lifestyle Medicine (BALM) Protocol

The current food system is broken at multiple levels, from the pesticides used in our soils to the emulsifiers and additives adulterating industrially-processed foods. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the bread we eat.  The figures reported by the UK Flour Millers say that bread is bought by a staggering “99.8% of British households” and that “the equivalent of nearly 11 million loaves are sold each day. Approximately 60-70% of the bread we eat is white and sandwiches are thought to account for 50% of overall bread consumption. Average bread purchases are the equivalent of 60.3 loaves per person per year.” 

Most bread sold is made by modern processing methods that strip heart-healthy whole grains of their nutrient contents, resulting in low-fibre bread with a high glycemic index. Over time, white processed bread can increase a person’s risk of insulin resistance alongside other lifestyle diseases.

We’re on a mission to revolutionise the bread making process at every level – from soil to slice. The rules governing this are laid out in our Baking As Lifestyle Medicine protocol. 

#lifestylemedicine #health #functionalmedicine #nutrition #integrativemedicine #healthylifestyle #wellness #lifestyle #rcgp #dietitian #nutritionist #healthcareprofessional #holistichealth #healthyliving #plantbased #guthealth #naturopathicmedicine #selfcare #functionalnutrition  #naturopathicdoctor #foodasmedicine #foodismedicine #lifestylegoals #cpd #lifestylechange #mentalhealth #sourdough #sourdoughschool #bakeforhealth
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