Dr Vanessa Kimbell is “one of the world’s leading experts on bread.” – Josiah Meldrum, Co-Founder of Hodmedod. Professor Tim Spector states, “Vanessa’s work on sourdough and the gut microbiome changed the way we think of bread, health, and baking.”
With a doctorate in Baking as Lifestyle Medicine Vanessa understands Nutrition and Digestibility of Bread like one else. Specialising in the gut microbiome and bread’s impact on mental health, Vanessa has pioneered the personalisation of bread through nutrigenomics, influencing bakers globally on bread and health. As the founder of The Sourdough School, Vanessa has trained thousands of bakers, shaping both artisan and industrial approaches to baking, focusing on health and social justice. Vanessa teaches how to tailor the way you bake, eat and share bread according to the individual. Vanessa has been a key figure in influencing bakers globally to approach bread through the lens of health as part of a social justice movement for many years.
Vanessa's has worked alongside the world's best bakers, including bakers such as Richard Hart, Gabriele Bonci, Michael James of Tivioli Road bakery and Emmanuel Hadjiandreou. Her work is acknowledged as groundbreaking and has contributed to reforms in the baking industry. Many of the issues she has written about and techniques she has shared around diversity in bread and nourishment are being addressed by industrial bakeries and used by both domestic and artisan bakers.
Vanessa runs The Sourdough School in Northamptonshire. Her work has influenced the way the world unde... See more
Dr Vanessa Kimbell is “one of the world’s leading experts on bread.” – Josiah Meldrum, Co-Founder of Hodmedod. Professor Tim Spector states, “Vanessa’s work on sourdough and the gut microbiome changed the way we think of bread, health, and baking.”
With a doctorate in Baking as Lifestyle Medicine Vanessa understands Nutrition and Digestibility of Bread like one else. Specialising in the gut microbiome and bread’s impact on mental health, Vanessa has pioneered the personalisation of bread through nutrigenomics, influencing bakers globally on bread and health. As the founder of The Sourdough School, Vanessa has trained thousands of bakers, shaping both artisan and industrial approaches to baking, focusing on health and social justice. Vanessa teaches how to tailor the way you bake, eat and share bread according to the individual. Vanessa has been a key figure in influencing bakers globally to approach bread through the lens of health as part of a social justice movement for many years.
Vanessa's has worked alongside the world's best bakers, including bakers such as Richard Hart, Gabriele Bonci, Michael James of Tivioli Road bakery and Emmanuel Hadjiandreou. Her work is acknowledged as groundbreaking and has contributed to reforms in the baking industry. Many of the issues she has written about and techniques she has shared around diversity in bread and nourishment are being addressed by industrial bakeries and used by both domestic and artisan bakers.
Vanessa runs The Sourdough School in Northamptonshire. Her work has influenced the way the world understands bread and she has trained thousands of bakers around the globe to bake sourdough, shaping the way bakers approach bread. She has played a central role in understanding the impact of bread on health and building systems change through online communities and social movements for bread that nourishes as a food and environmental activist.
Vanessa has been part of a broader movement for many years, working with activists, including Mott Green, making “the first carbon-neutral trans-Atlantic mass chocolate delivery". Chantal Coady OBE - Lifelong food activist and Captain Arjen van der Veen, one of the founders of the Fair Transport movement.
HISTORY
Vanessa's journey began when she started baking sourdough almost 40 years ago, at the age of 11, working in a village bakery in South West France. She is renowned for her specialist knowledge and understanding of bread's nutrition and digestibility. Day-to-day, she teaches various courses at the award-winning Sourdough School, specialising in bread for health. These courses cover topics such as bread and mental health, blood sugar balance, IBS, and baking for individuals with wheat intolerance.
The Digestion & Nutrition of Bread Diploma for healthcare professionals was accredited by the Royal College of General Practitioners in 2019. Her courses have been named among the top three courses in the UK by the Times top 10 in the UK by the Telegraph and the Evening Standard.
Vanessa is also a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4's Food Programme and is acknowledged around the world as "The Queen of Sourdough" by The Telegraph. You can learn directly from her in The Sourdough Club, where she teaches Baking as Lifestyle Medicine, or at The Sourdough School, other in person or online, as she teaches BALM - baking a lifestyle medicine - an evidence-based approach to baking, eating and sharing bread for better physical and mental health.
QUOTES ABOUT VANESSA
"Vanessa's work on sourdough and the gut microbiome has changed the way we think of bread health, and baking." – Professor Tim Spector, King's College London.
Vanessa's recipes will have you "wanting to scuttle off into the kitchen." – Nigella Lawson.
"She's an enthusiast, a delighter in life's most civilized pleasure, and a grown-up who's retained a child-like wonder at the mysteries of the world." – Sheila Dillon, BBC Radio 4 Food Programme
"Vanessa won't just teach you to make sourdough bread; she will blow you away with how you can incorporate it into your everyday baking." – Baker & Author Dan Lepard
" When it comes to bread not all bread is equal. Some breads are far more wholesome than others and Vanessa is one of the most knowledgable people in the world when it comes to bread." The late Dr Micheal Mosley
