These cereals are served for breakfast all over the world. But did you know that their inventor, John Harvey Kellogg, a devout believer, created them to fight masturbation?
The cereals you eat for breakfast hide a secret that you are probably far from imagining. Cornflakes, corn petals, were created by an American doctor who wanted to fight against masturbation.
In 1898, John Harvey Kellogg made cornflakes with his brother. These corn kernels are steamed, then flattened between two rolls. The doctor will decide to include them in the diet of his patients at the sanatorium of Battle Creek in Michigan. For this doctor, a healthy diet makes it possible to fight against multiple phenomena, of which the masturbation which he condemns. This would, for him, be the cause of many diseases, such as uterine cancer and urinary diseases, but also impotence and epilepsy.
A detestation of masturbation linked to religion
John Harvey Kellogg was a staunch believer in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He championed the “healthy living movement,” which advocated for the importance of hygiene, cleanliness and purity. Among the struggles of his supporters, the fight against sex in all its forms. As proof, Dr. Kellogg has never had sexual relations with his wife. He made a book of his convictions Plain Facts for Old and Young: Embracing the Natural History and Hygiene of Organic Life (Simple Facts for Old and Young: Understanding the Natural History and Hygiene of Organic Life).
It includes advice for people obsessed with masturbation, also called onanism. According to this doctor, too fatty and too spicy food could be the cause of the need for masturbation. He therefore recommended having a very simple diet to reduce them. Cornflakes were a complete part of this kind of healthier diet.
Sometimes violent methods
For his fight against masturbation, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg has developed other methods. He recommended applying carbolic acid to a woman’s clitoris to prevent unusual arousal, and using circumcision as a remedy for male masturbation. During the 18th and 19th centuries onanism was widely condemned, Dr Kellogg was not the only one who invented systems to prevent it. Some doctors suggested flogging the women, or even burning them with a hot iron. Sometimes women were made to wear camisoles-corsets and men had cock rings.
Masturbation has long been condemned, even though it has virtues. It would make it possible to live a more fulfilling sexuality. American researchers have even shown that it would help reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer.
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