Strange Personal Obsessions of America’s Famous Industrialists

The pioneer of cereal, John Harvey Kellogg, had some extreme health beliefs. With a strong emphasis on intestinal health, he oversaw the Battle Creek Sanitarium. Trying to reduce his affluent patients’ “carnal desires,” Kellogg imposed stringent diets and required yogurt enemas. His approaches might look unusual to us now, but they show how early health movements struggled with moral and health-related issues.