Meet the Psycopath Who Invented Your Breakfast

Back in the early 1900s! Imagine you're a well-off American dealing with health issues. You might have considered a short visit to the Battle Creek Sanitarium, often called "the San." This place was a famous health retreat sprawling across 30 acres in Michigan. Its brochure promised a cool and delightful summer spot, and it wasn't wrong. As you entered, you'd see the words "Mens sana in corpore sano" (a healthy mind in a healthy body) and people enjoying the outdoors. The lobby was all fancy with beautiful furniture and crystal chandeliers.

The San was the go-to place for health-conscious elites. You could bump into famous folks like Henry Ford, President Warren Harding, or Thomas Edison. You might even spot a quirky man riding a bicycle in a white suit with a white cockatoo on his shoulder, dictating notes to a scurrying assistant. That man was Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, the San's founder and the brains behind Kellogg's Cornflakes, the famous cereal. Now, John Kellogg is known for some bizarre beliefs, and we'll get into that.

John Kellogg was a health fanatic, and it's no surprise given his tough childhood and upbringing. He was born into a large family of Seventh-day Adventists, and many of his siblings died from diseases. His parents didn't bother much with education because they believed the second coming of Christ was near. Despite this, John was smart, determined, and a reader. The church supported his education, and he ended up heading the Battle Creek Medical Surgical Sanitarium.

At the San, John preached "biological living," believing the body was a temple to be nurtured. He advocated exercise, fresh air, sleep, good hygiene, and nutritious, easy-to-digest food. He even dabbled in light therapy, with patients standing in artificial light showers. But things get weirder; he used enemas to "cleanse" people's insides and had a thing for yogurt enemas, yes, you read that right!

He also created a vibrating chair that would shake you 60 times a second, and for a more intense experience, there was a slapping machine for flogging or pounding. Strangely enough, he was a staunch advocate for abstinence and saw sex as the root of society's problems, despite his peculiar health treatments.

Masturbation was his arch-nemesis, and he had various treatments to stop it. He'd tie hands up, bandage the penis, or put a cage over it. Circumcision without anesthesia was his preferred method, and if that failed, he'd sew the foreskin over the tip of the penis with a needle and wire. It's pretty disturbing, especially considering most of his "patients" were young boys.

Now, when it comes to girls, he'd apply carbolic acid to the clitoris or surgically remove it. But the best way to prevent all these urges, according to John, was a bland diet.

While growing up, most American breakfasts were heavy and hearty, like porridge, fried bacon, and steak. John wanted something plain to keep people from indulging, which led to the birth of Kellogg's Cornflakes. However, it was his little brother, Will, who played a crucial role in creating this cereal. Will was a natural businessman, and he thought adding sugar to the flakes would make them more competitive.

John, on the other hand, opposed this, fearing the sweetness would lead to "impure" thoughts and actions. Will didn't want his tasteless Kellogg cereal to affect his brand, so he left and started his own cereal company. The legal battle between the brothers raged on for years, but Will eventually won, establishing the Kellogg's Cereal Company. He introduced the iconic rooster mascot and changed breakfast forever with ready-to-eat cereals.

John's Sanitarium lost visitors during the Great Depression, and he closed it in 1938. He died of pneumonia at 91. Despite their feud, the brothers changed breakfast tables forever, in their own unique ways.