What is Lifestyle Medicine?
Lifestyle medicine is a clinical approach that uses lifestyle changes as a therapeutic tool to help prevent, manage, and even reverse chronic disease. It focuses on six evidence-based pillars: healthy eating, physical activity, stress reduction, restorative sleep, social connection, and the avoidance of harmful substances.
At The Sourdough School, we use this approach through our Baking as Lifestyle Medicine (BALM) protocol. This protocol links traditional sourdough baking with dietary diversity, gut health, and mental wellbeing. It allows both individuals and healthcare professionals to integrate nutritional therapy into everyday life in a practical and meaningful way.
The Role of Lifestyle Medicine in Modern Health
Chronic lifestyle-related conditions such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and depression are on the rise. These conditions are often preventable. Small, consistent changes to diet, movement, and stress management can significantly improve long-term health outcomes.
Lifestyle medicine offers an empowering and sustainable approach to wellness. It encourages people to play an active role in their own health using food, habits, and community. When combined with medical care, it can form part of an effective, patient-centred treatment plan.
How We Use It at The Sourdough School
Through our BALM framework, we teach how fermented bread can become a foundation for change. Our courses help people understand how to use sourdough baking to support:
- Gut and digestive health
- Blood sugar balance
- Mental wellbeing
- Microbial diversity
- Connection with food and others
We work with freshly milled wholegrain flours, botanical blends, and long fermentation to support fibre-rich, nutrient-dense baking. These techniques align with dietary recommendations and clinical evidence.
Healthcare professionals can also access our clinical diploma programme, which provides training in prescribing baking as part of a lifestyle medicine plan. You can learn more about this on our courses page.
Community Empowerment Through Lifestyle Medicine
The Sourdough Club supports our wider community with recipes, research, and resources to embed these principles into daily life. It brings these principles into daily life through recipes and community forums. It encourages baking as a way to foster social connection and holistic health in line with BALM’s focus on mental wellbeing and community resilience.
