Doris Margaret Louise Grant, ''née'' Cruikshank (25 January 1905 – 27 February 2003) was a British nutritionist and food writer, the inventor of the wartime Grant loaf.

Life

Grant was born in

Banff, Aberdeenshire Banff () is a town in the Banff and Buchan area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is situated on Banff Bay and faces the town of Macduff, Aberdeenshire, Macduff across the estuary of the River Deveron. It is a former royal burgh, and is the county ...

on 25 January 1905 to William and Adeline Cruickshank. She was educated first at Banff Academy, and then attended the

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; ) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and design. These are all awa ...

where she had won a scholarship to study in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

as the top student of the year. however the scholarship was removed after she had become engaged to her future husband Gordon Grant. Grant married on 8 November 1927 and soon afterwards moved to London, where her husband Gordon Grant set up the new London office for his family firm, William Grant, the distillers. Grant suffered with chronic indigestion and

rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects synovial joint, joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and h ...

, but discovered that the Hay diet helped to alleviate the symptoms. She became a passionate believer in the diet, and after advocating for it in a series of articles in ''

Sunday Graphic The ''Sunday Graphic'' was a weekly English tabloid newspaper that was published in Fleet Street. The newspaper was founded in 1915 as the ''Sunday Herald'' and was later renamed the ''Illustrated Sunday Herald''. It was acquired by Alli ...

'', she was visited by William Howard Hay, the developer of the diet, who asked her to create a recipe for British tastes. The book, ''The Hay System Menu Book'', was published in 1937. Over many years Grant championed the use of fresh and natural ingredients along with minimising the amount of processing in our food. In doing so she ran a long campaign against many of the major food companies by continually criticising the overuse of refined

carbohydrates A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' ma ...

, especially in the manufacture of

white bread White bread typically refers to breads made from wheat flour from which the bran and the germ layers have been removed from the whole wheatberry as part of the flour grinding or milling process, producing a light-colored flour. Nutrition Wh ...

and

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

. She and her husband retired to

Poole, Dorset Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

in 1962, where they often sailed in the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

in their yacht. She remained active in matters pertaining to nutrition and diet for the rest of her life. Doris Grant died in

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

of heart disease at the age of 98 on 27 February 2003.

Grant loaf

Grant discovered the secret for the loaf, which was subsequently named after her, by accident when she realised that she had forgotten to knead the wholemeal dough she was making, and found it to have a superior taste to its kneaded counterparts. The bread was subsequently promoted as a way of encouraging wartime wives to eat well on their rations.

Works

* Doris Grant (1937), ''The Hay System Menu Book'', London:Harrap * Doris Grant (1942), ''Feeding the Family in Wartime'', * Doris Grant (1944), ''Your Daily Bread''. London:Faber & Faber * Doris Grant (1956), ''Dear Housewives'', London:Faber & Faber * Doris Grant (1973), ''Your Daily Food''. London:Faber & Faber * Doris Grant with Jean Joice (1984), ''Food Combining for Health'', * Doris Grant (1995)"Food Combining for life: the health success of the century" *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Doris 1905 births 2003 deaths British nutritionists Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art People educated at Banff Academy Scottish food writers Diet food advocates