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Sourdough for Health

Internationally recognised as a leading authority on bread nutrition and digestibility, Dr Vanessa Kimbell holds a doctorate in Baking as Lifestyle Medicine and preventative healthcare.

Have you ever wondered why some breads make you feel tired, foggy and achy — or been puzzled that some leave you bloated while others don’t? If you can eat sourdough but not other bread, these articles and recipes are a great place to spark curiosity: learn how bread interacts with the gut microbiome, discover how your unique nutrigenetics shape your response, and read practical, evidence-based guidance. Cutting through the nonsense with clear, useful explanations, Vanessa shares tips, information, advice, recipes and methods to bake, eat and share healthy bread to support digestion and overall health. You can read more about training in personalising bread at The Sourdough School, or book a 1:1 meeting to get your bread personalised.

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Sourdough Starter
Sourdough Starter Kit
White Sourdough Starter Kit & Course - Image 3

White Sourdough Starter Kit & Course

£34.99

We’ve put together an amazing kit & course containing everything you need to get started with a very special white sourdough starter.

When you buy our sourdough starter kit it comes with:

  • 50g of active white sourdough starter – FREE
  • A 600ml ceramic storage jar with lid
  • 1kg strong white flour
  • 5 Sourdough printed cards – Basic Recipe, Loaf record, Loaf schedule, White Starter, Tasting/Flavour wheel
  • Sourdough Starter Course on how to refresh and look after your starter (RRP £24.99)
  • Optional – you can add to this a signed copy of ‘The Sourdough School’ book should you wish to.

All postage is on the fastest tariff possible. We can ship to both Europe and the USA, but you will need to make sure you are on hand to refresh your starter the moment it arrives.

Categories: Featured Products, Sourdough Bread Kits, Sourdough Ingredients, The Sourdough School Shop
  • Description

Description

Buy our White Sourdough Starter Kit & Course – we have 100 starters available to pre-order, however we expect to release more later in the year.

White Starter – sweet yogurt-like flavours – our original sourdough starter

Vanessa-kimbell-Bakery-680
The bakery where I grew up baking sourdough in the South of France.

The Starter Origins

My French white starter is one that I have been using since I was 11 year old and originates in the bakery I grew up baking with in France. It takes a bit longer to reach its peak and is generally slower and sweeter, and much more forgiving of being neglected for a week, so is the one I recommend for beginners.

I have verbal confirmation that the starter originated over 115 years ago and has been maintained ever since…it’s a lovely story. Although the microbes double every 20 – 30 minutes when they are refreshed…so it is either over a century old or 30 minutes old depending on how you want look at it.

The kit contains:

  • 50g of white starter – FREE
  • A 600ml ceramic storage jar with lid
  • Sourdough School White Starter label
  • 1kg strong white flour
  • 5 Sourdough printed cards – Basic Recipe, Loaf record, Loaf schedule, White Starter, Tasting/Flavour wheel
  • Sourdough Starter Course on how to refresh and look after your starter (RRP £24.99)
  • Optional – you can add to this a signed copy of ‘The Sourdough School’ book should you wish to.

We are always asked if it is possible to buy our sourdough starter, but because it is basically organic flour, water and wild yeast naturally occurring in the flour, we decided it was important to give it away for free.

Microbial Composition

In January 2017, our beautiful Sourdough School’s French white sourdough starter, derived from the original French starter from the bakery I grew up baking in, was analysed by the Puratos Sourdough Library in Belgium. This analysis revealed that it contained one dominant yeast and several kinds of LAB, which is typical of the make-up

  • Yeast = Saccharomyces Cerevisiae
  • Lactobacillus kimchii
  • Lactobacillus sanfrenciscensis
  • Lactobacillus acidifarinae

REFRESH STRAIGHT AWAY

The starter will need refreshing the moment you get it, as it will have been travelling from The Sourdough School to you. Please use the flour that comes as part of your kit.

Please go to How to Refresh Your Starter for detailed instructions and video and/or print off our PDF Refreshing A Sourdough Starter.

You can follow our Basic Sourdough Recipe online

You can learn how to make sourdough with Vanessa Kimbell at The Sourdough School, or you can learn to make sourdough online at The Sourdough Club.

* Please note that our sourdough starters are only posted out when we are able to make them. We build the starter here at the School to ensure each starter is in peak condition and at its most active. The rest of your kit will be sent at the same time as the starter.

* IT IS ESSENTIAL that when you receive your starter, it is refreshed immediately in accordance with the instructions

* For best results, continue to refresh your starter using the recommended flour. Using a different flour can alter the microbial composition of the starter and may affect its level of activity.

Although we are based in the UK, it can be shipped to Europe and the USA on the fastest delivery available.

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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. 📆 The S 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.

📋 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 On 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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