One Week Left to Apply for the Healthcare Professionals Award

how much bread can I eat per week? — Pumpkin & Polenta Sourdough from our book The Sourdough School Published by Kyle Books. Photography by Nassima Rothacker.

Is sourdough bread good for you? Dr Vanessa kimbell talking about bread and health and sourdough whilst showing a healthy sourdough bread — Pumpkin & Polenta Sourdough from our book The Sourdough School Published by Kyle Books. Photography by Nassima Rothacker.

Dear All,

This is a final reminder that applications for the Dr Annie Elliot Health Care Professional Award close next week — Tuesday 25th November.

The Diploma in Nutrition and Digestibility of Bread is our flagship two-year programme exploring the intersection of baking, nutrition, gut health and nutrigenetics, designed specifically for busy healthcare professionals seeking a practical, evidence-informed approach to lifestyle medicine.

As part of The Sourdough School Educational Awards Programme, we are delighted to offer six supported places funded through the Dr Annie Elliott Healthcare Professional Award, generously sponsored by Lifecode Gx.

Award recipients benefit from a £1 enrolment fee and a reduced monthly tuition of £49.99 throughout the course. This makes it possible for committed practitioners to train with us while keeping the learning accessible and sustainable.

Apply for the Health Care Professional Award Now

Over two years, you will bake as you learn, literally eating the knowledge. While exploring fermentation science, nutrition and gut health. The course then advances into nutrigenetics and personalised nutrition, giving you the skills and confidence to integrate this approach into clinical practice, community health initiatives, or wellbeing work. Where appropriate, you will also learn to prescribe Proven Bread as part of a personalised lifestyle intervention.

If you are committed to integrating food, health and evidence-based practice, this is your invitation to join a small, dedicated cohort shaping the future of preventative healthcare.

View our Educational Awards Programme

We look forward to hearing your story and supporting healthcare professionals who champion community nourishment and public health.

Warm wishes,

Dr Vanessa Kimbell

All reasonable care is taken when writing about health aspects of bread, but the information it contains 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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About Dr Vanessa Kimbell

Dr Vanessa Kimbell is acknowledged as one of the world’s foremost authorities on bread and human health — the first person to hold a doctorate in Baking as Lifestyle Medicine and Preventative Healthcare, and the pioneer who, long before gut health became a mainstream concern, first identified the crucial role bread plays in the gut microbiome and mental wellbeing. A fourth-generation baker of Italian descent, she has been baking sourdough since the age of 11, served her traditional apprenticeship in the Dordogne, and is a time-served, French-trained qualified baker who has worked alongside some of the world’s greatest bakers including Richard Hart and Gabriele Bonci. She has spent four decades asking the questions the food industry preferred no one asked: why was industrial mono bread slowly harming us, and what would it take to make bread that genuinely nourishes?

The answer became her life’s work. As founder and Course Director of The Sourdough School in Northamptonshire — a world-renowned centre of research and education — she has taught bakers from over 84 countries, integrated the BALM (Baking as Lifestyle Medicine) Protocol into NHS clinical practice at Bethlem Royal Hospital, and developed Proven Bread: the first bread built on clinical evidence, personalised to the individual through nutrigenetics and gut microbiome assessment. She delivered the Royal College of General Practitioners‘ approved course in the Nutrition of Bread, has been a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4’s Food Programme for many years, and collaborates with leading scientists and clinicians including Professor Tim Spector — who credits her with teaching people to make the healthiest bread in the world — and Professor David Veale. Named the Sourdough Queen by The Telegraph in 2013, her influence reaches far beyond the classroom — from artisan bakers and healthcare professionals to the world’s leading food scientists and multinational food corporations.

A bestselling international author of five books, her sixth — Proven — publishes in November 2026.

More information about Vanessa can be found at
The Sourdough School,
The Sourdough Club,
on Instagram at @SourdoughClub,
@SourdoughSchool and
@vanessakimbell,
on Facebook and
LinkedIn.