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It was Doris Grant’s realization that we can all be as well as we wish to be, following her own speedy restoration to health after discovering the Hay system of food combining, that led her to study nutrition and its relation to health.

After meeting Dr William Howard Hay she produced two books based on the American editions of Hay system recipes and menus. The letters she received convinced her of the need to study further and her research into food, how it is grown and produced and its effect on human health, was wide-ranging and meticulous. She once said that it was like living in an exciting detective novel as more and more clues and discoveries emerged.

In 1944 her classic book Your Daily Bread established her as an author and doughty campaigner for natural whole food and wholewheat bread, then practically unobtainable unless made at home. Her easy no-knead recipe for bread became known as the Grant loaf and a sample was even brandished during a House of Lords debate on the use of so-called ‘improvers’ in white flour.

Doris wrote for women and their families, as titles such as Dear Housewives imply. Her style was friendly and direct but she pulled no punches when it came to describing the harm that could be caused by the use of agene in bread flour:

If you love your husbands, keep them away from white bread … if you don’t love them, cyanide is quicker, but bleached bread is just as certain and no questions asked.

Countless families have been influenced by her ideas for a balanced diet, her excellent recipes and her insistence on the importance of fresh, whole food. She had no time for highly-processed foods, especially the various margarines containing trans-fats that threaten our health.

Doris was a founder member of the Henry Doubleday Research Association and her extensive research and wide knowledge brought her into contact with many medical and other health professionals. She was a member of the prestigious McCarrison Society and corresponded regularly with many leading nutritionists who all respected her views, even if they didn’t always agree with them.

Her championship of the Hay system was a case in point. She remained a strict adherent to food combining principles throughout her long life and always said that she owed Dr Hay a debt of gratitude for her excellent health. The debt was certainly paid, for Food Combining for Health has remained a steady seller since its publication in 1984. Although the medical establishment has never quite come to terms with the Hay theory of digestion, anecdotal evidence in countless letters has shown that the system can indeed improve health and wellbeing.

Whatever Doris did was done with enthusiasm and integrity. Her capacity for sheer hard work even in her nineties was quite extraordinary. She always acknowledged most generously the help of friends and colleagues and, in particular, the support of her husband and family. She was a loyal friend and colleague and is greatly missed by all who knew her and have been inspired by her example and wise counsel.

Jean Joice, December 2003