John Harvey Kellogg – The Man Who Invented Breakfast Cereal

05-16-23
Listen to "John Harvey Kellogg - The Man Who Invented Breakfast Cereal" on Spreaker.

Episode Transcription

Made by robots, for robots. Only read if you're weird.

Unknown Speaker Hey man, what's going on? Unknown Speaker Have you ever heard of John Harvey Kellogg? Speaker 1 Yeah. Yep, he's the he's he's the other guy in Talladega Nights with Will Ferrell Will Ferrell and John Harvey Kellogg. He's the guy who does the space. You know talking about he's that gift. The Yeah, what's Unknown Speaker his real name? Speaker 1 John Kelly. Kellogg. John Harvey Kellogg. Unknown Speaker Yeah, John Henry Kelly. Yeah, yeah, that's not his real name. I Unknown Speaker think it is somebody else I'm not here to get him a different Unknown Speaker Oh, are you want to talk about John C. Reilly? Unknown Speaker Yeah, thank you. Unknown Speaker We're gonna let it go. You're gonna Google it. Speaker 2 I was just shot you brought it out and my brain couldn't let it go. Alright, I've had to Unknown Speaker lose John Hardaway too much caffeine Unknown Speaker today. Speaker 1 I'm gonna slap you. There's a vibrating chair and also some weird stuff. We do a yogurt. I do agree with that, though. That captain crunch is responsible for the downfall of our society. Unknown Speaker Don't you dare, don't you not titled but to send you the principal's office. Unknown Speaker Things I Learned last night Speaker 1 All right, you've had I want you to know, just so you know. You had 200 milligrams of caffeine today. Yeah, baby. Yeah, that's what this does to you. So far today, I've had 550 milligrams of caffeine. Yeah. And I still have another 150 to take Unknown Speaker you have a problem and here's the deal. It's because of all this running, you're doing Speaker 2 it deal it's because I'll just write it. Okay. It's because last night I was on the phone with you at like 10pm And you're like, can we get up at five to go run a bunch? Unknown Speaker I do that. Yeah, Unknown Speaker I know. You do that and you don't have to brag about it on camera. Speaker 1 I didn't. I wanted me to you bring it up. You're the one who I was mentioning could you bring up naturally about the fact that I was reading this statute and I did though I did take a nap right before this. I feel pretty energized. Yeah, yeah. Took it Unknown Speaker out of the 500 milligrams of caffeine Speaker 1 combo I think powerpod to say I'm going to Yeah, it's a good it's a good nap and then just followed by a gallon of energy drinks Yeah, Speaker 3 that's what I have a new energy drink. That's zero milligrams of caffeine. It says on it works best after a full night's rest. Y'all energized with this and philanthropist works every time me too. Unknown Speaker John Harvey Kellogg, you might know him from Kellogg's Unknown Speaker cereal. Yeah. Hi, is this Speaker 1 gonna be like a bad thing about him? Because I might may or may not have like a brand partnership with them. Speaker 2 It's not about him. What's that about? Well, well, here's John Harvey Kellogg isn't Kellogg's. But he is Kellogg's, if that makes sense. Speaker 1 Okay. He's good. Sam. This may or may not ever see the light of day. It's the caffeine talk. And don't worry about Speaker 3 it. It's okay. Well, actually, it's funny you say that? Because today I actually did. Nick, another topic about another brand that you're working with because I said that's too. This is too bad. Unknown Speaker So we can talk about that. Unknown Speaker Pet stroller. Don't know what you're talking about. Unknown Speaker You're not gonna believe what they make. Unknown Speaker Another brand that I'm working with? Yeah, we'll Unknown Speaker talk about it the good. Okay, okay. Yeah. So Speaker 3 John Harvey Kellogg. So he's, he's the Kellogg guy, but not the one you're thinking of. So here's what he did. He was born 1852 Sure. And he was born and what are you testing right now? Unknown Speaker You're good. You're good. Keep going here. He was born and what year did your IQ Unknown Speaker 15 Do you want to put that Florida? Did bro Unknown Speaker Okay, okay. Sorry. Speaker 3 Born was born in 1980 finitude, Tyrone Michigan, okay. And he became a devout or his family was devout seventh day. Adventists. Do you know much about the Seventh Day Adventist Church? Speaker 1 Is that are they a sect of Mormonism or No, Speaker 3 no, no. They get they get I feel like they get confused with Mormonism a lot they do. They're a sect of Christianity. Very extremist. Unknown Speaker Super fundamentalist Yeah. Speaker 3 denomination. They believe, like, all of they believe your diet is really intertwined with your spirituality. They believe an unhealthy diet makes you sin, and sort of lead you to all sorts of other vices Vices if Unknown Speaker you live in sin. Speaker 3 Well, it's not the diet that sinful, the diet makes you sinful, is what they believe. Okay, so like, if you have too much red meat in your system, then it makes you want to murder somebody. That doesn't make sense. Yeah, it's like it's like I ate a lot. I added a lot of greens today. So I've been feeling like stealing. Speaker 2 merge with green beans. g green Pete's. Speaker 3 But they also are really big on the Sabbath. That's why they're named seven day event, right? I actually did a high school project about the seven day event. So I know a lot about quiz me real quick. Unknown Speaker How many days are in a week Speaker 2 six. But this is a special day. It's a bonus day. Don't count it. Six days. Okay. That's all I can tell you. Speaker 1 My days are six hours. Right? I wake up at 5am by 11am. The first day is over 11am I'm starting day two. By 6pm. I've lived two whole days and you're one okay. You multiply that over a week. I'm freaking Alright, sorry. Three weeks out. Are you sorry to the steroids? We're talking? Speaker 2 Yeah, you're like, like 49 then? Well, no, you're older than that. 130 Unknown Speaker Oh, I go on Martian time. Oh, okay. Yes. You're still 20. Souls maybe? Speaker 3 No. So in high school, we did this project on Saturday, Venice. I might. Speaker 1 What are you doing? Hey, guys, I just want to let you know real quick. I April 30. I'm doing a show in Bloomington, Indiana. Live right. I am also doing a show in Joplin, Missouri on May 7. Do you know better time? I just wanted you to know that please. Please think about Unknown Speaker don't go to his shows. Vacate Unknown Speaker here you Oh, sorry. Unknown Speaker Just inappropriate times to advertise. Speaker 3 Is that what you were trying to do earlier? Yeah. Gosh, I hate you. I hate your guts. Speaker 1 Yeah, like six more to do though. So this is gonna be a long episode. Speaker 3 No, in high school. I might go, here's what here's what happened. We had a project we had to write about the seventh day of Venice and yeah, presentation, as everyone got a different denomination, okay. And it was a group project as me and for my friends. And the we chose to make a video, like explaining you how to explain the foundation of the denomination like how it started. Where is it? And and so we made a 15 minute video. And maybe one minute, there was a speech I did in Asana, about why I wanted to start the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and it barely touched on why the guy who started the Seventh Day Adventist Church actually didn't start it barely touched on it. But we got to be plus, because the guy was like, honestly, our teacher was like, honestly, you did not complete the assignment. But it was entertaining. So I'll give you a B plus. Speaker 1 There was a day in my history class where we were supposed to do presentations. Yeah. And presentations, were instructions are pretty clear. You got to cover certain topics and all this stuff. And there's about three minutes long. Yeah, one kid in the class misheard that. Because he thought that it was supposed to be 30 minutes long. So he shows up, he's got like costumes, then he's got like, he's got your whole, like, set prepared. He's trying to get an A on this project. Right. And he's in the back of the room. Someone goes up presents three minutes wrong. And the teacher goes, thank you so much. I was great. And you can see him start to go. What he's like, after the third kid I try he's in the back and he's like, freaking like, he's trying to hide all of his props and stuff. And he's like, free to tear in pages out of his script. You know, like he is editing on the fly. Yeah, he went up still 15 minutes long. Afterward the teacher went Unknown Speaker okay. It was a good day for all of us, was it you know, I'm not an idiot. Unknown Speaker But uh, I do have that I have that video on a DVD. We there's a lot Speaker 1 DVD, there's a lot of music, I wouldn't even know where to put a DVD. Speaker 3 I can, I can figure it out. But I'll get I'll get a release from everybody else in the video and see if we can put it on Patreon. We can put it public because it's the we we'd have to get the rights to a lot of music. Okay, we broke a lot of rules. So Unknown Speaker what does that have to do with anything at all? Speaker 3 Oh, this Saturday Venice. So he this guy. He was a devout seventh day of Venice. Speaker 1 Was he in a sauna? And did he start to seventh day Venice? Or did you just want to tell a story? Speaker 3 Well, no, I just I was like, oh, yeah, the Seventh Day Adventist. Okay. So he was a devout Seventh Day Adventist. And he wanted to become a get out of here with that. I don't Hey, guys, Unknown Speaker I am April 3. There's no no show April 30. Speaker 3 No, he's not. He doesn't even like Bloomington. He doesn't know how to spell it. Yeah, he can. Yeah, he can wait, but Speaker 1 that's not important. Okay. He's gonna do this doesn't even come out. Unknown Speaker He's gonna be in the middle of the show. Speaker 1 That actually is a good time to do. I've been speeding a lot lately. I've been trying to get pulled over. Cuz I want to do an inappropriate times to advertise. I just didn't like the first take. I did. Speaker 3 Yeah, you're gonna like that one a lot less? Oh, no, that's all I gotta Whatever, man, Unknown Speaker I might have the true dama redo it again. Unknown Speaker I'm gonna take my shirt off the next time. Unknown Speaker Is that promise? So I wasn't listening. Go ahead. Speaker 3 So he was at about 17 minutes. Yeah. And instead of going and being like a missionary and like teaching people stuff, or whatever about seventh day, Adventists are what they do. Instead, what he did was he was like, I'll become a doctor. And I'll trick everyone into thinking this is medicine. And so that's what he did. And so he became a doctor. And then he started what was called the sanitarium. Which sounds a lot like sounds Unknown Speaker not a great place, Speaker 3 like what it is. It was a weird cross between a like mental institution and a resort. So it was a place where you could go, and there would be this variety of treatments, you could receive that were supposed to make you more healthy, like electric Unknown Speaker shock. They didn't have any electric shocks. Speaker 3 But they had so they they did have a chair that could shake you 60 times per second. 60 times per second. So it was just a little wooden chair, not a massage chair. Not a comfortable massage chair like 60 seconds. 60 times per second. It's just like yeah, speed that up. I guess shakes shaking you real fast. Speaker 1 There's a vibrating chair. Yeah, yeah, I wouldn't say shake I would say vibrate pavement sir. And what? What pace? Is it not shaking anymore? And it's just vibrating. Speaker 3 I mean, I think at any pace, it's also vibrating vibrate and shake is no sending Wrong. Wrong vibrate and shake is our cinnamon All right, another another treatment. Speaker 1 Synonym and cinnamon are synonyms. cinnamons m&ms, you're an idiot. Go ahead. Speaker 3 So they had the light treatments. And so they were like the showers that you would get in and they just had a bunch of light bulbs. And so you would soak in all the light. Weird. They had they had this one treatment where you would eat half a pint of yogurt. And then you would get the other pint and a mud. No, yeah. And that was supposed to because you're going both ways it would clean you out real well. Speaker 1 You're going both ways. Never say that again. Never in your life Say that again. To talk people into this like you're a doctor you know got like your lab coat on. So the Welcome to the resort. There's a vibrating chair and also some weird stuff we do with yogurt Unknown Speaker this is I'm pulling up real quick. Speaker 1 Oh, I'm sorry. I ordered two pints. I know this is only one I know you'll get the other one was the egg? Speaker 3 Yeah, they this. This was like a parfait Unknown Speaker shop Unknown Speaker Oh Okay. I mean, this this, this was, what year is Unknown Speaker this? This is like the Speaker 3 1910s when people die when they were 14, bro, no, no, no, we do stuff like this now. It's just this is the same stuff that you see like Hollywood actresses and actors do they're like it's this new like treatment that like sounds all this stuff like it's the same concept is just they make it sound a little bit more believable now than they did back then. Like instead of saying it's yogurt, they're like, Oh, it's this, this steroid cream or something like that, like they they changed what they call that it made it sound more medical, but it's yes. Thanks for checking out this episode. If you like it, make sure you subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes. Speaking of future episodes, we have a ton of past episodes. We have a back catalogue of well over 100 episodes. So check those out. My current favorite is Nelly Bly, she was a journalist from the early 1900s, who totally changed the industry, especially for women in the industry. Super cool story, but also kind of crazy. Some of the things that she did, we had a lot of fun in that episode. So check that out. Don't forget to subscribe, but ultimately just thanks for being here Unknown Speaker but but they their their their patients Speaker 1 can either say, Oh, it's a steroid cream, please. Speaker 3 Thank you. They had presidents and athletes and like looking through their notable patients, Thomas Edison, Amelia Earhart, Henry Ford, the what's the I know I heard this in a different list. They're not in this list the the rail yard people Unknown Speaker talking about tugboat people, Speaker 2 people, workers, no, not rail workers, the Rockefellers. So like they had they had a Speaker 1 notable list of people had like the 1900 influencers. Yeah, Speaker 3 the really wealthy people will come and they would spend a weekend here, and they would get all their treatments. Well, I almost forgot my most favorite treatment. They had a slapping machine, which is exactly what it sounds like. It was just a piece of leather, that would just slap you in the face over and over again, like but it was a machine. What's the Speaker 1 idea behind these things, I get the blood flowing. But this is this isn't like an like this is this is like a luxury. Speaker 3 They were it was supposed to be holistic treatments. So here's I've got some pictures I'll show you. So here's, here's the grounds of a class that they're doing. This is like a yoga class or something. And they're teaching them whole body health. And that was that was his thing is he thought that a lot of what like physical health was at the time was just garbage. And so he taught a lot of like aerobics class type stuff, and then diet stuff. And then weird, random things that were like your natural medicine that was not proved and didn't really do anything. But he said, cured everything. Unknown Speaker These are breathing exercises. Unknown Speaker So he built this massive campus. It's just where's this hat? This was in let me double check. Battle Creek, Michigan. Speaker 1 So this doesn't exist there anymore. No, yeah. This has been before they turn to the mall. Well, Speaker 3 there actually is a couple. I think that back building that back tower is still in there. But this whole part was torn it down and like they used it for something else for years. And then they tore it down and now it's gone. That's a huge building. But anytime you could see John Harvey Kellogg, just riding around the property on his bicycle. Speaker 1 That's John Harvey Kellogg. Yeah, okay. He would ride around. He's a cross between Colonel Sanders and the guy who's Jurassic Park. Like the perfect balance of those two characters, he's not one way or the other. He has. He's He's Colonel Sanders. Unknown Speaker He's right on the line. And Speaker 1 what's his face? Yeah. Jurassic Park, man, Jurassic Park guy. Speaker 3 But yeah, you could just find him at any time. Oh, riding his bicycle around the around the campus. And Unknown Speaker well, I'm a bike. Unknown Speaker You also accidentally started a call. Speaker 1 I did extra sort of what do you do? You know, like if you find yourself being the leader of a cult. Unknown Speaker I can't give you advice for that. I've never been there. Anyway. Speaker 1 Say with me guys. Jared. Ally is my Speaker 3 mind might Sorry, sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Put it away. Don't put Speaker 1 so yeah, excellent. Started a cold. Okay, so he's just riding around. So yeah, he writes up the bicycle if I was if I was to make this place, yeah, I'd be like, I don't have a slot machine. My whole job. So there's enough revenue coming in to build this giant place though. Speaker 3 Oh, yeah. He's making bank any celebrities and stuff? At the weekend? It Speaker 1 would be so fun to just be like, I don't really slap a machine. I'm gonna slap you like to convince someone that slapping them is good for them. That itself is is terrorism. You know that is that is so sketchy. It is but it's like that, man. Yeah, gaslighting everybody how many people were like, dude, no one lived there. Speaker 3 I mean, there might have been people who had like residences there like because they weren't, Speaker 1 but it was it was meant to be like a common state. Yeah, you stayed there Speaker 3 for a weekend, got all your services, people viewed it like like a spa. Like, I'm gonna go get my treatment. They're gonna do the stuff and then I'm gonna head back to my to my wife in Michigan. Yeah, in Michigan, rolled out to Battle Creek, Michigan. But yeah, you could see him running around on his bicycle and he would go up to where people were getting the treatments. And he would this is my favorite part about him is he would ride around and his little brother William would be on foot following him on his bike taking notes like writing down the notes that he would alright to him. And so he'd be writing his cycle. Speaker 1 Notes are terrible, because he I don't know. Have you ever tried to walk and write something to save time? I mean, illegible you know, say like, it was so bad. Because I don't know what you meant by cinnamon synonym and Speaker 3 in them. That's why they got it. That's why they ended up with the stuff that they had, like the slapping machine was just the his team's attempt to read the handwriting. Like slapping. Yeah, Speaker 1 he shows up on a bike. What? Because what is this? It's the slapping, vibrating. Unknown Speaker No, it's no It's shaky. Oh, supposed to vibrate. Unknown Speaker You're putting the yogurt where Speaker 2 that's not even close to what I said. That's not even close. Speaker 1 But it's already people are paying for it or paying for it. So you can't walk it back. Like, you make the Rockefellers look stupid to their boss. You can't be wrong. Unknown Speaker Sorry, that was a clerical error. Speaker 1 stuck with it? Over clarify, do not try this at home. Is that a thing? Oh, no. So he started reading books Speaker 3 about like Seventh Day Adventist stuff, and how the health world relates to it. And the Seventh Day Adventists started reading his books and the like, organization of the church was like, Hey, this isn't right. We don't like this. Like we don't like that you're writing this stuff. And so he ended up Speaker 1 getting who but he got I'm not writing it. Willie, if you don't Speaker 3 like William, you're fine with me. Williams the problem. Speaker 1 He's still on his bike. He's just riding conference room. He's just riding around the table of the car. He's like that kid and Breaking Bad. Everybody's just like, okay, and he's like, it's not it's not big enough for his bike either. Like he's bumping into the wall. He's got herself off his you know, Speaker 2 ringing the bell. Like if someone doesn't think he doesn't like he raised Unknown Speaker sorry, excuse me. Just sorry. Speaker 2 Could you slip up? Yeah, he just looked a little tired. It looks sick. Yeah, there's a middle fight the germs and steel so Speaker 3 he got it. He fellowshipped Oh, okay. Well, I kicked Speaker 1 him out that bad bad, huh? Yeah, they kicked him out into they disagree with the yogurt. Well, Speaker 3 I think I think it started with them being like, that's weird. Everything you're doing is weird. Yeah, I think that's where it started. And then he got into a little he dabbled in some pantheism stuff. And that's what I like. And they were like, no, they're like, Get out of here. And so yeah, he got he got disfellowshipped and then after that he got really interested in food. And so he's like, he's like, I wonder if I can make food. Like I make health services at the sanitarium? Okay, started a little Sanitarium bakery. And he started experimenting. And so he had like a little kitchen, like an industrial kitchen and on the grounds and we'll experiment with stuff. So we started making peanut butter substitutes. And that that got successfully started having that on the grounds. He started making meat substitutes even impossible burgers that they actually revived that that was something No, but he was making some meat substitutes similar kind except with like, different remedies. So let's try to figure out Yeah, yeah. And then one day he was making this is one of the weird things that he believed it was very, very passionate about. Yeah, was that the more the stronger the flavor profile of a food that you eat, the more it triggers things in your body that are going to lead you to sin. So you need to eat bland. He said your food needs to be bland to make you more bland also, Speaker 1 you're saying that this is the this is like Kellogg's cereal Kellogg though? Like this eventually becomes like catalog. Unknown Speaker I mean, eventually. Speaker 1 Yeah. I'm saying he would lose his mind if he knew the captain crunch. He's a good yeah, because that's way too many flavors. Unknown Speaker Yeah, there's a lot of flavors in there. And he's Speaker 1 okay. I do agree with that though. The captain crunch is responsible for the downfall of our society. And he did to us like he's like, I want to experiment with flavors, and I want to be bad. Speaker 3 Yeah. And so he started making this like, this was also happening at a time in the country where there was this this condition that was going on. I'm gonna double check this and make sure I get this right. dyspepsia. Have you heard of this? Speaker 1 Yeah, that's what that's when restaurants only have coke. Unknown Speaker What is this dyspepsia? I'm limited. Speaker 1 Pepsi in society. Yeah, to dyspepsia novel. It's just the normal life it's just it's very boring. The only thing is that Pepsi was never created all right. So there's no Pepsi man to save the world from getting freakin demolished you know? Where would you get jet World World Without Pepsi? Unknown Speaker Yeah, he would never get to school on time, you will never make it. So Unknown Speaker Pepsi were disposed. Unknown Speaker This was a Speaker 3 common issue in this era, because it was one of the it was the first era really in human history where jobs became stationary. Okay, and so people were starting to work jobs where they were seated or whether they were standing in one spot all day Sugar Factory and for the average person throughout history breakfast was something that either they didn't do Unknown Speaker did us brush past was dyspepsia actually is Speaker 3 well, I'm getting to it okay to breakfast was was that is something you didn't do? Or it was leftovers from the night before? Yeah. Or you woke up really early and made like these grains. Would you eat for breakfast? Unknown Speaker And you're a kid when I was a kid? Yeah. Speaker 3 I think I mean, it depends on what time frame you look at. Cereal was very common. Okay. eggs and toast is very. Unknown Speaker I don't remember eating a lot of cereal growing up. To be honest. Unknown Speaker I had a lot of cereal. Yeah, Speaker 1 I had a lot of cereal when I got to college law through college, a lot of Toaster Strudels through circles. Speaker 3 I did love me some types of shows Pop Tarts, big streets guy shoots. Those many waffles where they were like a waffles. Yeah, Eggo waffles in general. Speaker 1 When I got into high school, my breakfast was a pack of ramen noodles. This is not a joke. You're gonna sit back Oh, yeah, we were all eating. Yeah. All right, guys. Guys, we're all eating cigarettes. No, I would eat ramen noodles, but I let go by Barbaro, but I wouldn't cook them. I need to dry noodles. Yeah, yeah, you did that before? No. Oh, dude. I would like crush up the whole bag. And then you open it. And you've put the powder in there and you shake it up. vibrated up. at it. You just eat the dust covered dry news. Speaker 3 I've seen that I've seen that. I never did that. I was never a huge fan of ramen. Okay, but it has to rich for that Unknown Speaker well, not all of us had screen doors do sorry. It was class. It was locked all the time to four. Unknown Speaker there to be a weird Speaker 1 person who locks his like screen door and his door door. Unknown Speaker Yeah, why not double layer? Speaker 1 Because no one's breaking into your home. They saw your car dude. They didn't they were like there's nothing valuable in your house. Unknown Speaker I took a picture with my Honda Civic today. Unknown Speaker Why? Why did you do that? Unknown Speaker Is it on a timer? Got down at like Unknown Speaker okay, you should put that on some missing posters for 2002 Unknown Speaker do the three legged very well. Oh man. Speaker 3 Thanks for checking out our show. If you like it and you want to support it be a part of what we're doing. You can do that by becoming a patron. What happens there is you get to be in the community, we have a discord with our hosts and producers, we have a lot of fun. We're super active in there every day you get access to add free content a week before everybody else. And we have a zoom every month with our patrons. We hang out, we eat pizza, we get to know you a little bit better. It's a blast. And there's a ton of other different benefits like merch discounts, birthday messages, things like that, that are super cool. If you want to be in that you can just text HiLine to 66866. And that'll get you right in there. If not, we're just super glad that you're here. And thanks for watching our show. Speaker 3 No, but dyspepsia. What people had was honestly a very heavy breakfast is what people were eating at the time because it was stuff from the night before our grains like heavy grains. And then they would go to physical labor all day, and so their body would be able to break it down. Well then when people transition to stationary jobs, their bodies weren't breaking down their breakfasts like they used to. Okay, so people were having the same diet, but then they were having this severe abdominal pain, belching, bloating, heartburn, nausea and vomiting. That's the list I just read. Got it. So people were burping on the job a lot. And everyone was really, it was just Speaker 1 what you do every day. It's just your life you have. Speaker 3 But it became it became like this epidemic that people were concerned like what's happening with our bodies? Like why are we all of a sudden, all like, stomach sick all the time. And it was because their breakfasts were too heavy. But nobody had quite put words to that yet. But there was a community in medicine that was starting to realize that's what was going on. Sure. And Kellogg was like, oh, that's what I'm trying been trying to tell everybody. But you even say this for years, you eat like a bunch of animals. And that's why you behave like a bunch of animals. And it's like so and so if you eat Speaker 1 from a judgmental low in a very loving way, you eat like Googles and therefore you behave like Google. Come to my resort Speaker 3 garbage in garbage out. And so he started making this this patty. That was just like a grain patty. Was all it was was it was just some grains that was hardened into a patty. And it was disgusting, right? It was what it wasn't rice. It was closer to like a chunk of granola but it was so hard. Oh girl, that it was like impossible to eat or to you're just stuck on Speaker 1 it. Yeah, people but you can't even break it. So this granola bar, stick it out your mouth like a cigar. Speaker 3 I'm just waiting for it to melt. Well, that was one thing that he was really passionate about too, was chewing. And he actually shouldn't have to do that. He actually had a song that will play in this cafeteria. That was a rhythm for chewing. And so you are supposed to chew 40 Choose before you Speaker 1 swallow. Turns out it's staying alive. How how fast. It's the same thing for CPR. Speaker 3 Yeah, so he was really big on chewing so he's like, that's okay. Like if this is really hard, because you're supposed to chew a lot. It kind of encourages you to chew things already juice. Yeah. Isn't that crazy? Speaker 2 Right, you'd run up on his bike, and then he'd see you at 39 and he'd stop anyway. Speaker 1 I'm trying to do 40 Right now it is taking so long to even get to 15 He's Speaker 3 like you. You only to 38 times before that swab. You're counting. Unknown Speaker William was taking a tally behind me 40 times. What are you eating that needs to be chewed. 40 Speaker 3 He wanted his He said your your food no matter what it is. Should be a paste before you swallow. And that's the word he used to use the word paste. So I don't like that. So he was making these these patties and everybody hated them. They were like, they're like, hey, like we get like, this is like probably good for you. But it's gross. And he was like, let me try to make it a little bit better. So he crunched it up into granola. And that's where it all kind of started. And then some other people were like, hey, what if we made this not suck and that's how granola happened. But he kept making Unknown Speaker yogurt. Why he didn't know the yogurt Unknown Speaker not the one you want Unknown Speaker okay, so Speaker 3 he was making a batch of these one day Sure. And they got away from him and He left a batch out on the counter. And Unknown Speaker that got away from me just crawled away. Well, Speaker 3 the day got away from Okay, so something happened he got to walk away left a batch I'm gonna do right Speaker 1 aways. Oh, he's in the kitchen like Unknown Speaker rolling things out on this bike. His balance was crazy Speaker 1 you doing these, like BMX things on the back yeah, he's core was insane. He was ripped. Unknown Speaker Yeah. And that was because of his diet. Not the Speaker 1 all eats or what he calls grain patties. I call it grain paddies. Maca like you're not good at marketing. Speaker 3 So he he made his granola out, or they get burnt out overnight. On the counter came came overnight oats and they were so fermented. And he was like, that's weird. But he was like, I'm gonna try it anyways, it's sure the batch is probably fine. And so he cooked it anyways, and it came out. flaky and weird. And but he was like, but this is much easier to chew and swallow than what I had before was cornflakes. And then he he subbed out the wheat for corn and corn flakes were born. Wow. And people at the sanitarium loved them. And he marketed them. As he said, This is a bland enough breakfast item. And he called it cereal. This is what it was. So this is a bland enough, like breakfast cereal, where if you eat it, it'll help you maintain your chastity. That's how he marketed it. Unknown Speaker What he said, he Speaker 3 said, if it's he said his plan enough where you're gonna go the whole day. And you're gonna be Speaker 1 maintaining your chastity. He said that will protect you from sin. Did he say maintaining your chances? Yeah, he's specified. Speaker 3 Yes, yes. Yes. And which was something he was very passionate about? He just me. Yeah, he strongly believed that. Even if you were married, procreation was the only reason. And so he was he was very adamant about it on the grounds. Like they had some strict rules. So he made Speaker 1 at a forum, he had a cereal that he was Speaker 3 like, yeah, yeah. So he was marketing it that way. And the sanitarium? His brother, on the other hand, sure. His brother has been with him this whole time, William. And William, though, is a pretty smart business mind. Well, yeah. Was been kind of the engine behind running the business for for John, this whole thing was evangelism. He's like, I'm helping save the world from their sins. For wheeling, Speaker 1 I made a cereal that makes you not it's so bland. So boring. It's so just cereal. Like, I can't imagine eating something that's like, No, I'm good. You know, I don't understand. Speaker 3 Yeah, yeah. Yeah. That's the God set. William the whole time. He was the business mind behind that. He's like, I gotta give this as a public. So John, John was working on on the sanitarium. stasher. And William was like, I will make it profitable. I will make it yeah, I'll market it. I'll make it grow. But they had a they had a rough relationship because William didn't market things. Yeah, he also is like, Can I get a bike? Yeah, he's like, how are you going to take notes if you're riding a bike? Yeah. What do you Unknown Speaker know William William wanted to make things more marketable a Unknown Speaker unicycle and he Speaker 2 show up to the spa. Colonel Sanders rides out on a bicycle, followed by a guy on a unicycle. Let me show you what his brother Speaker 1 is. Get him aside. His brother looks like a villain. Because brother looks like a frickin Batman villain. You know, I'm saying he does. He looks like pig but this guy looks like he wants a cereal that goes the other thing. You know? Like he's like, Yeah, give that to the public. That's a bad picture of Joseph or John Kellogg. Unknown Speaker Was it is? Yeah. Speaker 1 his moustache statue in that picture. Yeah, yeah. And his clothes are drawn on. That ties a little suspect. No, that's a real picture. Okay, Speaker 3 is is it anyways, so his brother, his brother was like we could make this more marketable this there's something to this. There's this dis Pepsi thing going around. And he's like, he's like, he's like, we can take this to the market and sell it outside of the sanitarium. And he's like, I guarantee you we can make a killing off of it. And John was like, no I'm not he Speaker 1 has it like in stores not like out front Sanitarium lemonade stand. Okay, I'm with ya good. We can take this when he sells outside the gates. It's the roaring 20s getting into trouble, right? We got cereal, take your kids personality stretch either like cereal and they're boring as heck Speaker 3 well what he said was he said he said we could take this public, there's something here. This dyspepsia thing is a huge deal. Everybody's looking for better things to eat for breakfast that are good for them. You just made it. And you did it. And he's like, so we need to take it to market. We'll make railings in it. John says no, I'm not in it to make money. I'm in it to save the world. And he's like, Well, we can save. Save the world. And he's like, he's like, William was like, okay, but one thing now, what has to change? And he was like, it kind of sucks. Like, it's not good to eat. And so people are not going to eat it because it kind of was sugar and it's like, well, we got put some sugar in it. John Unknown Speaker lost his mind. Yeah, he was like he was like he's like that defeats Unknown Speaker the sugar will make people the opposite Unknown Speaker of chested. Yeah, got chastised. Speaker 3 He's like the sugar will send them down the wrong direction. You can't you can't put that into people's system. Because it'll it'll that's that's what's wrong. Or what you're saying Speaker 1 is John Kellogg created a cereal. That was like, designed to save society from itself. Yeah, his brother put sugar in it. And that's how we get the 60s. Am I understanding you correctly? We're pretty. Pretty much it. Unknown Speaker You're pretty close to right. Yeah. So Speaker 3 his brother broke off. Yeah. And he started doing anyway. Yeah, he started Battle Creek battle. Speaker 1 Were there other cereals that existed or is this this is cereal? This was the beginning of Speaker 3 cereal. A bunch of copycats came out. Sure after this. But yeah, he started I can't even remember what it was called. Is it Battle Creek, like bakery or something like that. And they started making Kellogg's cereal. And the cornflakes they added cereal to it and added sugar to John. They added sugar to it. And John disowned them. John was so mad, and they actually got into a fierce legal battle. He's like, I bet you work on the seventh day too. I would never do that. Unknown Speaker I would never do that brother. I just put sugar in the cereal. He's like, he's like I had to get another brother to take. Unknown Speaker It's a slippery slope. Well, they got another brother. Unknown Speaker He's like, gotta get it. Yeah, they Speaker 3 got a lot of brothers. This is the 1910s Okay, sorry. Is it gotta get this guy gotta get Jeremiah to take this guy. Speaker 1 That's how close they were as a family to get this guy Speaker 2 Jeremiah to take notes for me and he can't keep up. He's he's he's too far from me. He can't read. He's like he's like he's like you know what you came up with with your bad handwriting. You can't wait to see what he came up with with his bad writing and his inability to hear me he's too far away. Got his fears legal battle Speaker 3 sure on is still making his cornflakes and selling them at the sanitarium. And they're very Speaker 2 I see that look in your eye. I don't you dare, don't you titled to send me the principal's office? Well, I Speaker 2 just say to me, I don't know I just needed to up the ante and let you know how the Speaker 1 principal's office. What are you talking about? Speaking of that, though, Ray's been substitute teaching and she's grading a test. She sent me a picture of this test today. Where it was like you know, Carlos is doing this on a camping trip. Describe what he might need to whenever it's like I write a paragraph is teaching kids how to write paragraphs this kid wrote now there's too much that was his answer he submitted that he submitted nah this too much. He did use the correct with two O's though you know saying hey, I love that that's too much Nah, it's too much Unknown Speaker whatever film your your promo or whatever man for me literally not doing Speaker 1 I'm texting right now. I was I was just texting I got a grade zero idea you will you assume and stuff dude? Speaker 3 I whatever bro. Whatever, bro. Okay, so all right. Speaker 1 Hey guys, I am not even filming on my phone now. Go ahead. Speaker 3 So He started a company and Kellogg's was in the name he was selling the studio with Kellogg in the name. The Sanitarium is the Kellogg Sanitarium. The Kellogg is also selling cornflakes, but their names are both Kellogg their brothers. So they're both called Kellogg and they're selling a very similar comp product. Kellogg? Yeah, one one leads to salvation. Yeah. And so it becomes this decade long legal battle to find out who gets to use the name Kellogg, okay. Which was an interesting situation because they were both Kellogg Kellogg, when when William went and started the cereal company, Kellogg became a household name really quickly because it was like a massive success and everybody was eating Kellogg's cereal. However, John was using the name Kellogg for decades before that with the sanitarium. And he created the cereal, but he didn't patent it or anything. Yep. What ended up happening is the the courts eventually ruled in favor of William because William had greater notoriety even though he was second to the game. He had greater notoriety so he got to keep the name Kellogg's and they Yeah, renamed the brand Kellogg's. And he started making all kinds of cereals and built an empire selling the sinful cereals. And that's what led to society being the way it is today. So the cereal with all this sugar, it's destroying us on the inside. And it goes against everything that John Harvey Kellogg ever wanted, which is probably a good thing because he was a pretty bad person. Great. No, yeah, John, John Harvey Kellogg ended up being like, after this, he went down a spiral. His the sanitarium eventually closed in the 30s got shut down without his brother there to run the business side of things. They went steeply in debt, and then the President hit and then they went even deeper in debt. Sure. He started a couple other foundations that were deeply problematic, dealing with like eugenics type things. And so he ended up really really tarnishing his reputation, while William built up a great reputation for himself. That is really the reason why breakfast looks the way it is today. Him and a battle with the dairy and pork industry basically, is the reason why breakfast is what it is. They all kind of got. Yeah, because bacon bacon. Yeah. And so in Kellogg, and then those two industries got into this battle, because in the dyspepsia era, everybody was like, fighting to be the solution for breakfast. And so everybody was was finding these people to help write these medical journals and reasons why this is the best thing to eat during breakfast. He ended up patenting or not patenting but trademarking and using in his advertising the phrase that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And it's been in our vocabulary ever since. And he'd kind of, I don't want to say won the battle, because obviously, like, bacon and eggs are still a staple and breakfast. Sure, but I mean, cereal didn't exist before him. And now it's something that is in Yeah, you wake up every breakfast. Yeah, so that war was a big deal. He actually hired Sigmund Freud's brother to help run his marketing. Okay. And his brother, I might do an episode on him. Actually, his brother was a marketing genius, because he just tricked everybody psychology. Oh, sure. He knew how people's brains worked. And he he manipulated them. Yeah. So that can be an interesting one. But yeah, so John Harvey Kellogg, pretty bad person at the end of the day, good person through at the start of the day. Unknown Speaker His motives were just really, Speaker 3 yeah, they were skewed. Yeah. And then Unknown Speaker his brother took the, Speaker 3 you know, took the concept and built a pretty good, good company out of it. Yeah. Kellogg's Unknown Speaker like they own Speaker 3 like, a lot. Yeah, they they own Pringles. Yeah, they're a modern Empire. They own a lot of stuff. Pringles were the same thing. They left it on the table for three days. And that curd Yeah, yeah, just a whole potato. That was it was actually the seventh day it was the seventh day and it's Speaker 1 what they used to do was they were like you know, hands lead to since we gotta get rid of those tubes over there are really it was like, I could put some potato chips in those, you know. Unknown Speaker It's like you can see a lot better if you have Hey guys, I Speaker 1 letting you know that in the end of May. I will be fiddling off the devil in Georgia. So just want to give you guys a heads up about our Speaker 3 things either last night is a production of space Tim medium produced by Christian Taylor audio by Alex Garnett video by Connor Betts, our graphics and our logo by Caleb Goldberg and our social media is run by Caleb Walker. Our hosts are Jeremiah As in Tim stone follow us on your favorite social media platform at tilam podcast is Ti ll en podcast remember to tell all your friends about us and we'll see you next Tuesday for another episode of things I learned last night Transcribed by https://otter.ai


Do you start your day with a bowl of cereal? If so, you have John Harvey Kellogg to thank. Kellogg was a physician, health advocate, and inventor who played a pivotal role in the development of breakfast cereal. But Kellogg’s impact on the world went far beyond breakfast. In this blog post, we’ll explore the life and legacy of John Harvey Kellogg and how his ideas about health and wellness continue to shape our world today.

Early Life and Career

John Harvey Kellogg was born in 1852 in Tyrone, Michigan. His parents were both Seventh-day Adventists, a religious group that strongly emphasized health and wellness. Kellogg grew up on a farm and was homeschooled until he was 12 years old. He then attended local schools and later enrolled at the University of Michigan, where he studied medicine.

After completing his medical degree in 1875, Kellogg returned to Battle Creek, Michigan, where he worked at the Western Health Reform Institute, a health resort run by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Kellogg quickly became interested in health and wellness and began experimenting with different diets, exercise programs, and other healthy habits.

In 1876, Kellogg’s younger brother Will joined him at the Western Health Reform Institute. Together, the brothers began developing new health treatments and procedures, and they eventually took over the institute, renaming it the Battle Creek Sanitarium.

The Invention of Breakfast Cereal At the Battle Creek Sanitarium

Kellogg and his brother developed a new type of breakfast food that would revolutionize the food industry: Corn Flakes. Kellogg had been experimenting with different grains and preparation methods and eventually stumbled upon the recipe for Corn Flakes by accident. While trying to create a new type of bread dough, he accidentally left a pot of boiled grain sitting out overnight. The next morning, he discovered that the grain had dried and hardened, and he decided to try baking it.

The resulting product was Corn Flakes, a crunchy, nutritious breakfast food that quickly became popular among the guests at the Battle Creek Sanitarium. Kellogg began selling the flakes to other health resorts and eventually to the public, and he quickly became a wealthy man.

Kellogg’s Views on Health and Wellness

Kellogg’s interest in health and wellness went far beyond breakfast cereal. He vocally advocated vegetarianism, exercise, and other healthy habits. He believed that clean living and natural remedies could cure most illnesses, and he opposed many traditional medical treatments, such as surgery and medication.

Kellogg also held some more controversial views on health and wellness. He advocated eugenics, believing that selective breeding could improve human beings.

Legacy and Impact

Kellogg’s ideas about health and wellness continue to influence the modern discourse on these topics. His advocacy for vegetarianism, exercise, and natural remedies laid the groundwork for many modern health movements, and his invention of breakfast cereal helped to shape the modern food industry. However, his more controversial ideas, such as his support for eugenics, have been widely criticized and rejected.

In conclusion, John Harvey Kellogg was a complex and fascinating figure whose impact on the world cannot be overstated. From breakfast cereal to health and wellness, Kellogg’s ideas and inventions continue to shape our world today. Whether you’re a fan of Corn Flakes or a proponent of vegetarianism, Kellogg’s legacy is a reminder of the power of ideas to change the world.


Things I Learned Last Night is an educational comedy podcast where best friends Jaron Myers and Tim Stone talk about random topics and have fun all along the way. If you like learning and laughing a lot while you do, you’ll love TILLN. Watch or listen to this episode right now!

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Sources

John Harvey Kellogg – Wikipedia


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