>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Today we're diving into the strange legacy of a man

who was by all accounts, including Charlie

Mayo himself, you know of the Mayo Clinic, A

damn fine surgeon. He was a pioneer of

aseptic technique, a skilled operator, but

also a man who thought yogurt enemas were a,

ah, cure to all your problems. Ladies and

gentlemen, meet John Harvey Kellogg.

I am your Chief Medical Explanationist, Dr. Terry Simpson. And

this is Fork you, Fork University,

where we bust a few myths, make sense of the

madness and teach you a little bit about food

as medicine.

Dr. Kellogg ran the Battle Creek

Sanitarium in Michigan. This wasn't just

a hospital, it was a health mecca for the rich

and famous. Presidents came here, Thomas

Edison came here, Amelia Earhart and

Henry Ford. They all came for Dr.

Kellogg's healing regimens. And

all of them suffered from overweight like President

Taft or dyspepsia. And to

be fair, Dr. Kellogg was ahead of his time in some

areas. He championed exercise, clean air,

bathing. And he was one of the early vegetarians,

when most doctors were still prescribing arsenic and

leeches. And again by surgical

reputation, he was top tier. He'd

even trained some at the prestigious

clinic in the United Kingdom. He was a

classmate of Charlie Mayo. And Charlie Mayo, who was one

of the founders of the Mayo Clinic, noted that anytime he saw a

scar, he could tell it was Dr. Kellogg's work because it

was beautiful, small and complete.

In fact, Charlie Mayo said that Kellogg was the best

abdominal surgeon he had ever seen.

But like a vintage bottle of snake oil,

things got weird and fast.

Let's talk about colons and their

therapy now. Dr. Kellogg was a

Seventh Day Adventist, which had a great

influence on his thinking.

But Dr. Kellogg also believed that 90% of

all illnesses began in the colon. Constipation was

the root of all things evil. He was the

original gut health guy. But instead of probiotics and

kombucha, he pushed daily enemas.

Yogurt. Enemas, yes,

yogurt up the back, sometimes

followed by oral yogurt. That's right. He was a

two way street kind of a doc. He believed

flushing the bowel would rid the body of toxins,

increase virility, and his favorite, prevent

masturbation. That's right. His

war wasn't just against constipation,

it was against pleasure.

Kellogg wrote extensively, painfully

extensively, about the dangers of self

pleasure. According to him,

masturbation caused everything from epilepsy to

acne to poor digestion to early death.

All of it one hand in the pants, your

Soul was halfway to hell. So he waged a,

uh, culinary war on libido.

This came from his influence in the Seventh Day Adventist,

whose prophet, Mary Baker

Eddy, believed that meats inflamed the passions.

He believed bland foods could calm the passions. Which is

how he got his original invention. Cornflakes.

No sugar, no flavor, just

bland libido. Crushing cereal.

Imagine creating a food so boring, it

was meant to extinguish lust. That

was his brand. If you think Ozempic

is an appetite suppressant, try a bowl of the

Kellogg's original flakes. Your hunger,

desire and your will to live all

disappear by spoonful. 3.

Now let's enter his brother. His brother was

the younger figure, the bookkeeper of

the Kellogg Sanitarium. But

his brother was also business savvy and

kind of hungry. And his brother, W.K.

kellogg, saw potential in the cornflake.

But he wanted to sweeten the deal. Literally. What about

John Harvey Kellogg? Horrified because sugar was

sinful and flavor encouraged moral declay.

Well, WK Went rogue. Added sugar,

built an empire, and sued his brother to keep the

family name on the box. He won. And the

rest is breakfast history. Dr.

Kellogg's anti pleasure cereal became the sugary

staple of American mornings. Precisely the

opposite of what he intended. Irony,

thy name is Kellogg. So what does science

say? Now? Let's start with enemas.

Outside of, uh, prepping for colonoscopy or the occasional

medical necessity, you don't need one. Your

colon cleans itself. That's literally what we call

peristalsis is for daily enemas can

actually harm your gut. Microbiome and

yogurt better when it goes through the top.

Preferably with berries, not with tubing.

As for masturbation, perfectly normal, healthy, even

lowers stress, improves mood, and has absolutely zero

link to acne or digestive issues.

Unless you're really multitasking. Wrong.

And the idea is that certain foods can kill desire. Well,

that's more about Victorian era shame than

nutritional science.

So let's do myth versus the Kellogg

edition. Fiber prevents sexual

desire. Fiber helps you poop. Your

libido has nothing to do with your bowel movements. Unless you're on the first

date, your colon needs regular

cleansing. Fact, it is self

cleaning. You're not a human swifter,

Kellogg. Cornflakes were invented for help.

They were invented to make you less horrible. Morning.

John Harvey Kellogg was a complex man. A

brilliant surgeon, a health visionary, and frankly, a

zealot. He was obsessed with purity.

A body, a mind, a bowel

on a good side. He adopted a number of kids.

Apparently, he never consummated his own

marriage. And that obsession led to

ideas that were as bizarre as they were

influential. Today, we still live with a

part of his legacy. Every time someone drinks a

detox tea, swears off spices, or

thinks yogurt belongs in the butt, we're seeing a

little ghost of Dr. Kellogg float through the

wellness culture. So here's a lesson, dear listener.

Just because someone's a good doctor doesn't mean

all our ideas are good. Even the best

scalpel can be used to carve

out nonsense.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to Fork. You

leave us a five star review if you will, and tell your

colon we said hi. And remember, eat well,

think critically, and if anyone offers you a yogurt

enema, walk briskly in the other

direction. This episode was written and directed by

me, Dr. Terri Simpson. And while I am a board certified

physician, I am not your physician.

If you're going to make any nutritional changes, please talk with a

registered dietitian and a board certified physician.

Not a chiropractor and not some eastern train shame. And they haven't

cured anybody. All things

audio and distribution were by our friends at Simpler

media. And the pod got himself Mr.

Evotera. Until next time, I'm

Dr. Simpson. Stay sharp, stay skeptical,

and remember, yogurt belongs

to start in the mouth.

Hey Ivo, I'm kind of liking some

yogurt based smoothies, but

I drink them.

Oh, thank the gods you didn't make a quip about self

pleasure.