BOOK AND MEDIA REVIEWSLITERATIM

John Harvey Kelloggand the Pursuit of WellnessHoward Markel, MD, PhD

IN 1888, THE POWERFUL MICHIGAN CENTRAL RAILWAY

erected a Romanesque train station in a remote ham-let in southwestern Michigan called Battle Creek. Itwas built to accommodate the multitude of health-

seeking pilgrims flocking from all over the United Statesand Europe to “take the cure” at the town’s luxurioussanitarium.1

Passing under the station’s arches of rough-hewn graygranite and Lake Superior brick between 1870 and wellinto the Great Depression were such luminaries as John D.Rockefeller Jr, fleeing from the disastrous events in hisfamily’s coal mines at Ludlow, Colorado; Thomas Edisonand Henry Ford, whenever they were in need of a tune-upor recharge from the stresses of industrial gigantism;Amelia Earhart, before her important flights; Warren G.Harding, before embarking on his presidential run; andBooker T. Washington and Sojourner Truth, nursingwounds fresh from fighting the war against racism.

Unlike the warm mineral baths at Wiesbaden or thesaintly waters at Lourdes, the Battle Creek Sanitarium(affectionately known as “the San”) possessed no naturalphysical charms for restoring health. Instead, it became aworld-renowned destination of health and healing thanksto the charismatic ministering of its director, John HarveyKellogg, MD. A medical celebrity, best-selling author,magazine editor, skilled surgeon, public health expert,popular speaker, and Seventh-day Adventist Christianmissionary, Kellogg was a most impressive man. At 5 feet4 inches tall, rotund yet athletic, and dressed entirely inwhite, the bespectacled, pointy-bearded physician pro-claimed that God had chosen him to make the world ahealthier place.2,3

During his storied career, hundreds of thousands ofpersons with serious illnesses ranging from cancer andcardiac disease to gastric ulcers and debilitating digestivedisorders demanded Kellogg’s treatments, which com-bined modern medicine, surgery, and bacteriology withan eclectic blend of hydropathy, vegetarianism, exercise,and spiritual uplift. Every day, hundreds of sickly passen-gers stepped off the train platforms for a long line ofcoaches operated by liveried horsemen. Welcoming themat the stately portico of the San was a veritable army of

more than a thousand health soldiers. Included in thisnumber were dozens of attentive physicians and manyhundreds of nurses, masseuses, bakers, waiters, cooks,bellhops, orderlies, and attendants—all under the com-mand of the good Doctor Kellogg, who examined everypatient and prescribed to each an individualized treat-ment plan guaranteed to save the body, mind, and soul.

Many hundreds of thousands more, who today mightbe called the “wealthy and worried well,” came to BattleCreek as day visitors. Once there, they sat and learned atthe master’s feet about the myriad ways they couldimprove their diets, bodily functions, and mental well-being. Cynical journalists mocked Kellogg’s followers as“Battle Freaks.” Such jibes hardly mattered. Whether hewas lecturing in his tinny, flat Midwestern accent tostanding room–only audiences, treating patients in hisclinic and operating room, or communicating in exuber-ant prose to millions of readers, Kellogg was withoutquestion one of the most famous physicians in the UnitedStates.4-6

The San’s luxurious lobby, richly adorned with thickPersian rugs, brightly lit crystal-and-brass chandeliers,and the finest walnut and oak furniture, was the size of afootball field. Attached to this welcoming hall was a lushindoor palm garden with 20-foot banana trees providingfresh fruit daily for its visitors. Throughout the facilitywere 5 acres of indestructible marble flooring in which,bragged the colorful advertising brochures, “germs andvermin can never find a lodging.”7

Looming above the main entrance was a 15-story towerhousing more than 1200 well-appointed bedrooms, doz-ens of hygienically perfect operating suites, and a modernclinic for medical examinations. Alongside this building wasa massive power plant that provided the raw energy re-quired for the Sanitarium’s insatiable central heating and cool-ing, refrigeration, cooking, maintenance, laundry, bathing,electric, and lighting needs.

In a separate but connected structure were 8 white-tiled indoor pools and hundreds of baths that would havemade the ancient Romans jealous. Down the hall fromthe bathrooms was Kellogg’s sanctum sanctorum, theenema room, stuffed with gleaming “enema machines”

Corresponding Author: Howard Markel, MD, PhD, Center for the History of Medi-cine, University of Michigan Medical School, 100 Simpson Memorial Institute, Box0725, 102 Observatory, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0725 (howard@umich.edu).

1814 JAMA, May 4, 2011—Vol 305, No. 17 ©2011 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.

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that could pointedly deliver 15 quarts of water perminute into a human colon. Kellogg ordered his patientsto produce 4 or more bowel movements a day, just likethe healthy apes he had once observed while on a safariin Africa. The son of a broom manufacturer, Kellogg wasobsessed with bodily cleanliness, both external and inter-nal. If the water enemas were not enough, he ordered hispatients to consume a pint of yogurt each day, followedby a yogurt enema.8

High colonics aside, Kellogg understood the importanceof rest and relaxation for his patients and treated them tothe finest entertainments and diversions. He constructed atheater and lecture hall to present morality plays, lanternslide shows, and health dialogues; he staffed his ballroomswith a full-time orchestra and choir for nightly dances andmusicales; elsewhere on the vast campus were stables hous-ing teams of horses, carriages, and sleighs; an army of bi-cycles at the ready for rides through the San’s labyrinth ofwooded trails; a deer park; and manicured fields for all kindsof sporting games.

Throughout his career, Kellogg warned that consumingmeat was the gastronomic equivalent of a death wish. A veg-etarian long before the term was coined, Kellogg devel-oped his dietetic theories in protest against that era’s stan-dard fare of fatty, salted meats and fried foods.

Every meal served in Kellogg’s fabled dining room con-sisted of his own culinary creations: a version of peanutbutter, nut-based meat substitutes, vegetable- and wholegrain–based dishes, artificial coffee made with toastedchicory, and—his most famous contribution to the din-ing table—corn flakes. He commanded that every bite ofthese meals be chewed at least 40 times so that a person’ssaliva would thoroughly mix with the food, thus initiat-ing a healthy process of digestion and preventing over-taxing the stomach and bowels. He also required hispatients to drink 8 or more glasses of water each day.Many of his well-heeled, well-intentioned patients simplycould not commit to such a dietary regimen. Hence, theflourishing business at a little joint down the road called

the Red Onion Tavern, where the incurables inhaledCuban cigars, chewed sirloin steaks drowned in gravyand onions, and drank tumblers of malt whisky beforerunning back to the San to make the 11 PM curfew.

In keeping with his philosophy of wellness and diseaseprevention—or, as he called it, “biological living”—Kellogg insisted on daily, vigorous exercise; plenty of freshair; and complete abstinence from sex, alcohol, caffeine, andtobacco. One of Kellogg’s most popular books, Tobacco-ism, was published in 1922 and is considered by many medi-cal historians to be the first popular text alerting Ameri-cans to the dangers of tobacco smoking.9

Although in recent years journalists, novelists, and screen-writers have lampooned his life and somewhat unconven-tional theories, John Harvey Kellogg helped give the na-tion a thorough cleansing from the grime and sickness thatcharacterized the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era.10 Ec-centric, perhaps; but just as his Michigan peers Henry Fordand Thomas Edison ruled over their vast empires of auto-mobiles and electricity, in his day Kellogg was the indus-trial king of wellness.

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: The author has completed and submitted the ICMJEForm for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest and none were reported.

REFERENCES

1. Whorton JC. Crusaders for Fitness: The History of American Health Reformers.Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; 1982.2. Schwarz RW. John Harvey Kellogg: Pioneering Health Reformer. Hagerstown,MD: Review & Herald Publishing; 2006.3. Numbers RL. Prophetess of Health: A Study of Ellen G. White. 3rd ed. GrandRapids, MI: W Eerdmans Co; 2008.4. Kellogg JH. Plain Facts for Old and Young: Embracing the Natural History andHygiene of Organic Life. Burlington, Iowa: IF Segner; 1886.5. Kellogg JH. The Itinerary of a Breakfast. Battle Creek, MI: Good Health Pub-lishing Co; 1918.6. Kellogg JH. Man, the Masterpiece. Battle Creek, MI: Good Health PublishingCo; 1891.7. Kellogg JH. The Battle Creek Sanitarium: Origin, Purpose, Methods. Battle Creek,MI: Good Health Publishing Co; 1924.8. Green H. Fit for America: Health, Fitness, Sport. New York, NY: Pantheon Books;1986.9. Kellogg JH. Tobaccoism. Battle Creek, MI: Good Health Publishing Co; 1922.10. Carson G. Cornflake Crusade: From the Pulpit to the Breakfast Table. NewYork, NY: Rinehart & Co; 1957.

LITERATIM

©2011 American Medical Association. All rights reserved. JAMA, May 4, 2011—Vol 305, No. 17 1815

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