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

on 25 January 1905 to William and Adeline Cruickshank. She was educated first at

Banff Academy Banff Academy is a S1–S6 secondary school in Banff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It serves the towns of Banff, Macduff, Whitehills, Portsoy, Aberchirder, Gardenstown, Ordiquhill, Fordyce and surrounding communities. The school does not teac ...

, and then attended the

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; gd, Sgoil-ealain Ghlaschu) 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 ...

where she had won a scholarship to study in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

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 joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and hands are involv ...

, 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'', 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 In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or may ...

, 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. This milling p ...

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, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

. She and her husband retired to

Poole, Dorset Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council ...

in 1962, where they often sailed in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

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 large 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, Stevena ...

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