The cereal you eat at breakfast hide a secret that you probably ignore.
Cornflakes were an invented by an American doctor to fight against…
masturbation. You heard me correctly… At least those
who don’t practice it too much, as the saying goes
Dr Kellogg’s Cornflakes were a part of the arsenal he used in his crusade
against male and female pleasure. Ardent seventh day Adventist worshiper,
he defends what he calls “movement of the healthy life”, by advocating for the importance
of hygiene, cleanliness and purity.
For Dr Kellogg, a healthy diet helps fight against multiple phenomena,
one of which was masturbation, that he condemned as a moral and physical pollution.
Today, at l’histoire nous le dira, cereals against masturbation.
That’s right, you didn’t misunderstand.
John Harvey Kellogg was born in 1852 in the state of Michigan in the United States. He would become
one of the most influential nutritionists of the beginning of the 20th century.
Kellogg gained notoriety when he became the head doctor of
the Battle Creek Sanatorium, in Michigan.
As a reminder, sanatoriums were a kind of convalescence hospital
where people with infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, were quarantined
- yes, that word again! –
Kellogg’s sanatorium was one of the most famous in the United States.
It had around 1600 patients at its peak between 1890 and 1920.
Much like many other sanatoriums at the time, the one in Battle Creek was funded and managed
by a church, here the seventh day Adventist church, of which Kellogg was a member.
The Adventists managed around 800 hospitals, clinics, orphanages,
as well as well being centers and vegetarian restaurants throughout the world
in order to teach and heal.
Dr Kellogg treated famous patients such as republican president
Howard Taft, the aviator Amelia Earhart, playwright George Bernard Shaw, automotive engineer
Henry Ford, French actress Sarah Bernardt and even inventor Thomas
Edison.
Kellogg was a very devout man. He devoted his life to finding a harmonious
balance between science and faith, in addition to applying this synthesis
in his own medical practice. In the late 1890s, John Kellogg and his brother
Will founded the Sanitas Food Company and began to market the famous cornflakes.
This alternative to the classic breakfast is a revolution to the American culinary landscape
of the time: indeed, the wealthier classes ate meat
and eggs for breakfast, while the poorest would often
eat porridge.
Kellogg's ideas are not entirely novel. There were influences,
notably that of a religious vision during the American Civil War.
(1861-1865). It all began on June 6, 1863,
when Ellen White, a Seventh-day Adventist churchgoer in Michigan,
went into a trance and received a vision 50 kilometers northeast of Battle Creek
in front of several Adventists in a moment of meditation.
The divine message that Mrs. White received was that every human being must absolutely take
care of his health through a special diet. A diet of fruits and vegetables
of the Earth. Ms. White would then leave it to Adventist doctors to apply
the principles she had seen in her vision.
Seventh-day Adventists like Kellogg were supporters of vegetarianism,
as well as abstinence from alcohol and tobacco,
they also encouraged regular outdoor exercise. In addition to these fundamental precepts
to which he adhered, Dr Kellogg was convinced of two things:
First, it was necessary to consume large quantities of oleaginous fruits (hazelnuts,
nuts, almonds etc.) and cereals to stay healthy. Secondly,
it was necessary to prohibit any consumption of meat or spicy dishes in your diet
because these foods strongly stimulated the sexual appetite. Which is why he invented the cornflakes
that would contribute to his glory
Dr Kellogg affirms that he never had any sexual relations with his wife. He describes
his beliefs in a scientific work: Plain Facts for Old and Young: Embracing
the Natural History and Hygiene of Organic Life. The commercial success of cornflakes
will however lead to an argument between the Kellogg brothers.
Will Kellogg, the famous doctor’s brother, who had a better commercial sense, proposed
to add sugar to the original recipe and to market the product on
a larger scale.
John, the doctor we’re talking about, refused, arguing that this new recipe
would contradict the spirit of the sanatorium diet. Sugar
isn’t good, it isn’t healthy
Adventists teach that illness is usually a violation of health laws.
This vision of health is holistic.
It integrates all the dimensions of the individual: physical, mental, social and spiritual
capacities. According to Adventists, the human being is an indivisible entity,
without a separation of body and mind. Furthermore, the body is “The temple of the Holy Spirit”
All the inventions of Dr Kellogg, such as corn flakes, peanut butter
- This invention is disputed, as many declare having invented it -
As well as granola, were made to promote vegetarianism.
They were a part of his crusade against carnal love. - eating cornflakes
Is thus keeping away the tentative hand of masturbation –
Believing that masturbation was the cause of some deaths, Kellogg Declared that
"victims were literally dying by their own hands." - what a formulation
However, the doctor went further, he advised to treat masturbators, by recommending
circumcision for young boys and application of phenol (carbolic acid) on
the clitoris of young girls.
Kellogg also proposed putting bandage strips on the hands of teens,
tying them up, covering their sex with a patented cage, sewing their
foreskin or giving them electric shocks.
As such, Dr Kellogg is a product of his time: like many
people at the time, mostly in Protestant circles of the middle class,
Kellogg adheres to the principles of sanitary morality, which dominate the
English speaking protestant circles of the late 19th century and even until
World war 1 (1914-1918).
Doctor Kellogg died in 1943 at the age of 91, proof according to some of the quality of the diet.
For others, it is the proof that Kellogg did not undergo his own treatments
because then he wouldn’t have lived so long.
Thank you to Laurent Busseau, under the Historien sans Frontières label, who wrote this video.
I recommend you go over to his blog, it's worthwhile
you will learn a lot. I will add the link down below.
It's over for today, I'm Laurent Turcot, of l’Histoire nous le dira…
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