When you think of Kellogg, you probably picture cereal—maybe a sweet bowl of Frosted Flakes or Corn Flakes. But the real story behind Kellogg is far weirder than breakfast. It starts with a doctor. A good one. A very strange one.
Dr. John Harvey Kellogg wasn’t just any doctor. He was a skilled surgeon, and even Dr. Charles Mayo—the founder of the Mayo Clinic—called him one of the best abdominal surgeons he had ever seen.
But Kellogg didn’t become famous for his surgery skills. Instead, he became known for his obsession with health, diet, and—believe it or not—poop.
Kellogg ran the famous Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan. This health resort attracted celebrities like Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and even Amelia Earhart. People came there to “cleanse” their bodies with special diets, exercise, sunlight, and—yes—daily enemas.
He believed almost every illness started in the colon. His solution? Flush it out. Constantly. Sometimes, with yogurt. Sometimes, both ends. I wish I were kidding.
Dr. Kellogg didn’t just worry about digestion. He also believed that pleasure—especially sexual pleasure—was dangerous. In fact, he thought masturbation caused everything from bad digestion to insanity.
To fight back, he recommended boring, bland food. No spices. No excitement. Just plain meals that wouldn’t "stir the passions."
That’s how Corn Flakes were born. Kellogg invented them as a food so bland, they might help people forget about sex altogether.
Now, here’s where things get interesting. Kellogg’s brother, W.K. Kellogg, thought those flakes had potential—but they needed flavor. So he added sugar and started selling them to the public.
Dr. Kellogg was furious. He believed sugar was poison. The two brothers fought in court. W.K. won. And that’s why your breakfast cereal today is sweet and not designed to stop anyone’s libido.
Let’s be clear: Dr. Kellogg got a lot of things wrong.
While Kellogg’s focus on exercise and plant-based diets was ahead of his time, his fear of pleasure and obsession with “cleansing” caused more harm than good.
Dr. Howard Markel, in his excellent book The Kelloggs: The Battling Brothers of Battle Creek, dives deep into their story. He shows how Dr. Kellogg's strict health beliefs turned into fads—and how his brother’s sweet-toothed success made cereal a worldwide business. Markel, Howard. The Kelloggs: The Battling Brothers of Battle Creek. Pantheon Books, 2017.
Kellogg's ideas were extreme, but they still echo today. Whenever someone tells you to "detox," do a cleanse, or eat bland food to fix your hormones—they might not realize they’re following a 19th-century surgeon who really hated...
