John Harvey Kellogg was born on February 26, 1852, and died on December 14, 1943. He was an American businessman, inventor, doctor, and supporter of the Progressive Movement. Kellogg worked as the director of the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan, which was founded by members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The sanitarium combined features of a European spa, a hydrotherapy center, a hospital, and a high-class hotel. He treated wealthy and famous individuals, as well as poor people who could not afford other hospitals. According to Encyclopædia Britannica, Kellogg’s development of dry breakfast cereals helped create the flaked-cereal industry and led to the founding of the global brand Kellogg's.

Kellogg was an early supporter of the germ theory of disease. He studied how bacteria in the intestines affected health and disease. The sanitarium used a whole-body approach to treatment, promoting vegetarianism, good nutrition, yogurt enemas to clean the intestines, exercise, sunbathing, hydrotherapy, and avoiding smoking, drinking alcohol, and sexual activity. For the last 30 years of his life, Kellogg supported eugenics and racial segregation. He was a key leader in health reform during the second phase of the clean living movement. Kellogg wrote many books about science and health. His ideas combined scientific knowledge with Adventist beliefs and the promotion of health and temperance. Many vegetarian foods he created for patients were sold to the public. His brother, Will Keith Kellogg, is best known for inventing corn flakes.

Kellogg had religious beliefs that were different from mainstream Christianity. He believed human reason was more important than traditional religious teachings. He rejected ideas like original sin, human weakness, and the belief that Jesus’ death was necessary for salvation. Instead, he saw Jesus’ life as an example. Kellogg was a Seventh-day Adventist, but as the church moved toward Trinitarianism in the 1890s, his beliefs were seen as too different. Adventists considered his views unorthodox and pantheistic. This led to a major disagreement, and in 1907, Kellogg was removed from the church. However, he continued to support many Adventist beliefs and ran the sanitarium until his death. Kellogg helped start the American Medical Missionary College in 1895. Some people incorrectly credit him with inventions or events that were not his.

Early life

John Harvey Kellogg was born on February 26, 1852, in Tyrone, Michigan, to John Preston Kellogg (1806–1881) and his second wife, Ann Janette Stanley (1824–1893). John Preston Kellogg was born in Hadley, Massachusetts, and his family history includes ancestors who lived in Hadley during its early years. A great-grandfather of John Preston Kellogg ran a ferry business. The Kellogg family moved to Michigan in 1834. After the death of his first wife and his remarriage in 1842, John Preston Kellogg and his new wife moved to a farm in Tyrone Township. He had six children from his first marriage and 11 children with Ann Janette Stanley, including John Harvey and his younger brother, Will Keith Kellogg.

John Preston Kellogg was part of several religious groups, including the Baptists, the Congregationalist Church, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He helped raise money to encourage Ellen G. White and her husband, James Springer White, to move to Battle Creek, Michigan, with their publishing business in 1855. He also persuaded a Seventh-day Adventist couple, Daniel H. Kress and Lauretta E. Kress, to become doctors in Michigan. These individuals were among the first to help establish what later became Washington Adventist Hospital. In 1856, the Kellogg family moved to Battle Creek to be near other members of their religious group. There, John Preston Kellogg started a broom factory. The Kelloggs believed the return of Jesus Christ was near and thought formal education was unnecessary for their children.

John Harvey Kellogg was born sickly and attended Battle Creek public schools briefly, from ages 9 to 11. He then worked sorting brooms in his father’s factory. Despite leaving school early, he read widely and gained knowledge mostly on his own. At age 12, he was offered a job by Ellen G. White and her husband. He became one of their mentees, starting as an errand boy and later working as a printer’s assistant, proofreader, and editor. He helped prepare articles for publications like Health, or How to Live and The Health Reformer, learning about Ellen G. White’s health theories, such as eating a vegetarian diet. Ellen White described her relationship with John Harvey Kellogg as closer than with her own children.

John Harvey Kellogg wanted to be a teacher and taught a school in Hastings, Michigan, at age 16. By age 20, he enrolled in a teacher training program at Michigan State Normal School. However, the Kelloggs and the Whites convinced him to join his half-brother Merritt, Edson White, William C. White, and Jennie Trembley in a six-month medical course at Russell Trall’s Hygieo-Therapeutic College in New Jersey. Their goal was to train doctors for the Adventist-inspired Western Health Reform Institute in Battle Creek. With the support of the Whites, John Harvey Kellogg studied medicine at the University of Michigan and Bellevue Hospital Medical College in New York City. He earned his medical degree in 1875. In October 1876, he became director of the Western Health Reform Institute. In 1877, he renamed it the Battle Creek Medical Surgical Sanitarium, creating the word “sanitarium” to emphasize both medical care and the importance of cleanliness and health. Kellogg led the institution until his death in 1943.

Theological views

Kellogg was raised in the Seventh-day Adventist Church from a young age. He was chosen as a mentee of the Whites and trained as a doctor. Kellogg played an important role as a speaker at church meetings. Throughout his life, Kellogg faced challenges from both science and religion because of his religious beliefs.

At the Seventeenth Annual Session of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists on October 4, 1878, the following decision was made:

Kellogg did not support strict religious beliefs and instead promoted more modern religious ideas. He disagreed with many traditional Christian beliefs, believing that Jesus’ example of living a good life on Earth was more important than his death on the Cross. Kellogg criticized the ideas of original sin and the belief that humans are naturally bad. He once joked that the idea of "total depravity" was often just "total indigestion." Historian Brian C. Wilson wrote:

Kellogg believed that science and the Bible could work together throughout his career. However, this was a time when science and medicine were becoming more secular. White and others in the Adventist church were worried that Kellogg’s students and staff might lose their religious beliefs. Kellogg felt that many church leaders did not recognize his medical skills or the importance of his work. There were conflicts between his role as a doctor and the authority of church leaders. Kellogg tried to show that science, medicine, and religion could coexist, arguing that God is present in the natural world.

He explained these ideas in his book The Living Temple (1903):

At the same time that Kellogg defended the idea that God is present in nature, some of his religious colleagues believed his descriptions showed a belief that everything is part of God (panentheism). Kellogg disagreed, explaining that his views were simply a way to describe God’s presence everywhere, not pantheism.

Kellogg’s religious ideas did not match many traditional Christian beliefs. As Seventh-day Adventist beliefs changed to support more traditional religious ideas in the 1890s, some members of the church found Kellogg’s ideas too different. They saw his beliefs as unorthodox and pantheistic. This conflict, known as the "Pantheism Crisis" of 1903, was a major event in the church’s history. Kellogg’s religious views were not the only issue: the management of the Battle Creek Sanitarium was also a problem. The sanitarium, originally owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church but run by Kellogg, was destroyed by fire on February 18, 1902. Most guests escaped safely, but the damage was estimated at $300,000 to $400,000, about twice the insured value.

Ellen G. White, who had warned about the church becoming too focused on worldly matters, opposed rebuilding the large institution. Although she wrote a document against rebuilding in 1902, it was not sent to Kellogg at that time, and Kellogg did not ask her about his plans. With support from the board of directors, he rebuilt the sanitarium and made it twice as large. The new building, designed by architect Frank Mills Andrews of Ohio, opened on May 31, 1903. It was fireproof, six stories tall, and had an elegant front that was 550 feet long. It included features like a solarium and palm court, and cost more than $700,000.

Kellogg used money from his book The Living Temple to help pay for the rebuilding. The book was criticized by a commission of the General Council of the Adventists after one member, W. W. Prescott, argued it was heretical. When Kellogg arranged to print the book privately, a fire destroyed the printing location on December 30, 1902. When the book was finally published in 1903, Ellen G. White strongly criticized it for what she saw as its pantheistic ideas. Over the next few years, conflicts grew between Kellogg, General Conference President A. G. Daniells, and others. In 1907, Kellogg was "disfellowshipped" as part of a church split. Kellogg kept control of the Battle Creek Sanitarium and the American Medical Missionary College, continuing to promote Adventist health ideas at those institutions.

In his later years, Kellogg spoke positively about Seventh-day Adventists and Ellen G. White’s prophetic work, even though they had disagreements. In 1941, he told critic E. S. Ballenger that Ballenger’s negative comments about Mrs. White were not appropriate.

Battle Creek Sanitarium

Kellogg was a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church until middle age. He became famous as the chief medical officer of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, which was owned and run by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The sanitarium followed the church’s health beliefs, such as eating a vegetarian diet, avoiding alcohol and tobacco, and exercising regularly. Kellogg practiced these beliefs himself. He is remembered for supporting vegetarianism and writing about its benefits, even after he left the Adventist Church. In the late 1800s, he encouraged people to eat less meat, but not strongly. He created a bland diet partly because the Adventist Church wanted to reduce certain urges.

Kellogg strongly supported eating nuts, believing they could help feed people as food supplies decreased. Though he is best known today for creating corn flakes, he also invented a method to make peanut butter and developed healthy "granose biscuits" that became popular in countries like Australia and England.

The Battle Creek Sanitarium had an experimental kitchen where Ella Eaton Kellogg helped create vegetarian foods. She taught a cooking school for homemakers and published a cookbook called Science in the Kitchen. The book included hundreds of recipes and explained nutrition and diet management. Some recipes used foods made at the sanitarium, such as Nuttolene (a meat-like paste made from peanuts), Protose (a mix of nuts and grains), and different types of nut butters.

Kellogg believed that most diseases could be helped by changing the bacteria in the intestines. He said that harmful bacteria in the intestines produce toxins when digesting protein, which can poison the blood. A poor diet helps harmful bacteria grow and spread to other parts of the body. A balanced vegetarian diet with low protein, high fiber, and foods that help digestion can improve the intestinal bacteria, he claimed. He suggested eating specific foods to treat certain health problems.

Kellogg also believed that using enemas with water and good bacteria could speed up natural changes in intestinal bacteria. He recommended using an enema machine to clean the bowel with several gallons of water. After the enema, people would eat a pint of yogurt—half was eaten, and the other half was given as an enema. He said this would replace harmful bacteria in the intestines and create a very clean digestive system.

Visitors to the sanitarium practiced breathing exercises and walked during meals to help digestion. Kellogg strongly supported using artificial sunbaths, a type of light therapy. He was also a skilled surgeon who often provided free medical care to poor patients.

Kellogg treated many famous people, including former president William Howard Taft, composer Percy Grainger, explorers Vilhjalmur Stefansson and Roald Amundsen, travelers Richard Halliburton and Lowell Thomas, aviator Amelia Earhart, economist Irving Fisher, Nobel Prize-winning playwright George Bernard Shaw, actor Johnny Weissmuller, carmaker Henry Ford, inventor Thomas Edison, activist Sojourner Truth, and actress Sarah Bernhardt.

Patents and inventions

John Harvey Kellogg created and sold many types of vegetarian foods. These foods were designed for people who needed special diets, such as those with health issues. They were made to be easy to chew and digest. Starchy foods like grains were ground into powder and baked to help convert starch into dextrin. Nuts were also ground and boiled or steamed.

Many of Kellogg’s foods were not very flavorful. This was based on the ideas of Ellen G. White and Sylvester Graham, who believed that bland foods helped reduce excitement, sexual feelings, and behaviors like masturbation.

Around 1877, John H. Kellogg began testing ways to make a soft breakfast food that was easy to chew. He mixed wheat, oats, and corn to make dough. The dough was baked at high heat for a long time to break down starch molecules into dextrin. After cooling, the bread was broken into small pieces. This product was first called "Granula," but legal issues with James Caleb Jackson, who already sold a similar cereal, forced Kellogg to rename it "Granola" in 1881. The cereal was first used by patients at a health facility and later became popular among former patients. In 1890, John founded the Sanitas Food Company to create and sell food products.

The Kelloggs are most famous for inventing corn flakes. The development of flaked cereal in 1894 involved several family members, but there is disagreement about who contributed what. Some say Ella Eaton Kellogg suggested rolling dough into thin sheets, while others claim John had the idea in a dream and used kitchen equipment to test it. It is agreed that John left a batch of wheat dough behind one night, and when he returned, he used rollers to make thin flakes. Will Keith Kellogg was asked to recreate the process. Ella and Will often disagreed about their roles in the discovery. The technique John used, called tempering, became a key method in the flaked cereal industry.

A patent for "Flaked Cereals and Process of Preparing Same" was filed on May 31, 1895, and granted on April 14, 1896, to John Harvey Kellogg as Patent No. 558,393. The patent covered many types of grains, not just wheat. John was the only person named on the patent. Will later claimed he worked with John and believed he deserved more credit for the discovery.

In their first year of production, the Kelloggs sold tens of thousands of pounds of flaked cereal, calling it "Granose." They experimented with rice and corn, and in 1898 released the first batch of Sanitas Toasted Corn Flakes. A version with a longer shelf life was released in 1902. By then, "Granose Biscuits" and "Granose Flakes" were available.

Will Kellogg continued to develop and sell flaked cereal. When he suggested adding sugar to the flakes, John refused. In 1906, Will started his own company, the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company. This began a long disagreement between the brothers. Will’s company eventually became the Kellogg Company, while John was not allowed to use the Kellogg name for his cereals.

Other competitors included C. W. Post. Post stayed at the Battle Creek Sanitarium in 1891 and later opened his own health facility, LaVita Inn, and founded Post Holdings. He sold Postum coffee substitute in 1895 and introduced Grape-Nuts cereal in 1898. In 1906, he released "Elijah’s Manna," later renamed Post Toasties Double-Crisp Corn Flakes, to compete with Kellogg’s Corn Flakes.

John Harvey Kellogg was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006 for discovering tempering and inventing the first dry flaked breakfast cereal, which changed the typical American breakfast.

John H. Kellogg is among those credited with inventing peanut butter. Rose Davis of New York made a peanut spread as early as 1840, and Marcellus Gilmore Edson of Montreal obtained a patent for a peanut candy in 1884. George A. Bayle of St. Louis sold a peanut and cheese snack in 1894. George Washington Carver is often credited for his work with peanuts and promoting their use. Carver and Kellogg discussed peanuts and sweet potatoes in the 1920s and 1930s.

Nut butter, likely made with peanuts, was served to patients at the Battle Creek Sanitarium before 1895. Kellogg wrote to Ellen White that nut-based foods had replaced butter. Kellogg did not patent peanut butter explicitly, but he applied for two patents related to "nut butters" in 1895.

On November 4, 1895, John H. Kellogg applied for two patents about producing nut butter. Patent No. 567901, granted in 1896, described a "Food Compound" made from digested starch, vegetable oil, and finely divided nut proteins. The process involved boiling nuts, crushing them, and separating nutmeal from a paste.

The second patent, No. 604493, granted in 1898, detailed a "Process of Producing Alimentary Products" using peanuts. The process included boiling or roasting peanuts, then heating the final product in sealed cans to create a cheese-like consistency.

By 1898, the Kelloggs were selling many nut-based foods through the Sanitas Nut Food Company. They promoted nut butters as a nutritious protein source for people who had trouble chewing solid food. Peanuts became the most popular nut for nut butter because they were the least expensive.

Joseph Lambert, who worked for Kellogg at the sanitarium, later began selling a hand-operated peanut butter product.

Views on health

John Kellogg combined his Adventist beliefs with his knowledge of science and medicine to develop the idea of "biologic living." This idea stated that proper diet, physical activity, and recreation were necessary to keep the body, mind, and soul healthy. The Battle Creek Sanitarium followed these principles, such as encouraging vegetarianism and drinking 8–10 glasses of water daily. Kellogg believed so strongly in the benefits of biologic living that he refused to get vaccinated against smallpox.

Kellogg shared his philosophy in seven textbooks written for Adventist schools and colleges. These books emphasized the importance of fresh air, exercise, and sunlight, while warning about the dangers of alcohol and tobacco. His approach to health was similar to the methods used by Christian physiologists, which included avoiding drugs, practicing sexual restraint, and eating a vegetarian diet.

Kellogg was a strong supporter of efforts to stop tobacco use. He argued that tobacco caused harm to the body, mind, and society, calling it "one of the most deadly of all poisonous plants." His views aligned with those of the Seventh-day Adventists, who were among the leading groups fighting against tobacco. In his 1922 book Tobaccoism, or How Tobacco Kills, Kellogg cited research showing the harmful effects of smoking. He also noted that women lived longer than men, partly because they used tobacco less.

Kellogg held leadership roles in anti-smoking groups, including serving as president of the Michigan Anti-Cigarette Society. After World War I, he joined the Committee of Fifty to Study the Tobacco Problem, which included notable figures like Henry Ford and John Burroughs. This group created one of the first educational films about the dangers of smoking. Kellogg’s work influenced a 1929 bill introduced by Utah Senator Reed Smoot to regulate tobacco under the Pure Food and Drug Act, though the bill did not pass.

During Kellogg’s time, alcohol was often used as a medicine, but he strongly opposed its use. He claimed alcohol was harmful, calling its use "an evil of stupendous proportions." Kellogg argued that alcohol reduced vital body functions and acted as a poison, harming the brain, digestive system, and liver. He also believed alcohol led to mental and moral decline, stating it was "one of the devil's most efficient agents for destroying happiness."

Kellogg opposed tea and coffee because of their caffeine content. He considered caffeine a poison and warned that it caused physical and developmental problems, as well as moral weaknesses. He believed people drank these beverages because of alcohol restrictions and aggressive marketing by their producers. Kellogg argued that natural water and fruit juices provided all the nourishment needed.

As early as the 1880s, Kellogg created charts and lectures about the dangers of tobacco and alcohol, which were used by teachers promoting temperance. In 1878, Kellogg, along with Ellen G. White and others, founded the American Health and Temperance Association. This group aimed to raise awareness about the harms of tobacco, alcohol, tea, and coffee. Kellogg led the organization for 15 years.

Hydropathy

Kellogg said that the different ways hydropathy is used are results of water's many properties. In his 1876 book, The Uses of Water in Health & Disease, he explained both the chemical makeup and physical traits of water. Hydrogen and oxygen, when separate, are two "colorless, transparent, and tasteless" gases that can be explosive when mixed. More importantly, water has the highest specific heat of any compound (although in reality, this is not true). Because of this, more heat and energy are needed to raise water's temperature than for other substances like mercury. Kellogg discussed how water can absorb large amounts of energy when it changes from one state to another, such as from liquid to solid or gas. He also noted that water's most useful property is its ability to dissolve many other substances.

According to Kellogg, water helps with health partly because of vital resistance and partly because of its physical traits. For Kellogg, the medical uses of water begin with its role as a refrigerant, which helps lower body heat by removing heat from the body and through direct contact. "There is not a drug in the whole materia medica that will reduce the body's temperature as quickly and effectively as water." Water can also act as a sedative. While other substances work as sedatives by harming the heart and nerves, water is a gentler and more effective sedative without harmful side effects. Kellogg said that a cold bath can often lower a person's pulse by 20 to 40 beats per minute quickly, within a few minutes. Additionally, water can function as a tonic, increasing both the speed of blood circulation and the body's overall temperature. A hot bath can raise a person's pulse from 70 to 150 beats per minute in 15 minutes. Water is also useful as an anodyne, as it can reduce nervous sensitivity and ease pain when applied as hot fomentation. Kellogg argued that this method often provides relief where other drugs fail. He also believed that no other treatment could work as well as an antispasmodic, reducing infantile convulsions and cramps, as water could. Water can be an effective astringent, as when applied cold, it can stop bleeding. It can also help produce bowel movements. Unlike purgatives, which cause "violent and unpleasant symptoms," water does not. Although it had little competition as an emetic at the time, Kellogg believed that no other substance could induce vomiting as effectively as water did. Returning to one of Kellogg's most admired qualities of water, it can act as a "most perfect eliminative." Water can dissolve waste and foreign matter from the blood. These many uses of water led Kellogg to believe that "the aim of the faithful physician should be to accomplish for his patient the greatest amount of good at the least expense of vitality; and it is an indisputable fact that in a large number of cases water is just the agent with which this desirable end can be obtained."

Although Kellogg praised hydropathy for its many uses, he acknowledged its limits. "In nearly all cases, sunlight, pure air, rest, exercise, proper food, and other hygienic agencies are just as important as water. Electricity, too, is a remedy that should not be ignored; and skillful surgery is absolutely necessary in not a small number of cases." With this belief, he criticized many medical figures who misused or overestimated hydropathy in treating disease. Among these, he criticized what he called "Cold-Water Doctors," who would recommend the same remedy regardless of the type of illness or the patient's condition. These doctors would prescribe ice-cold baths in unwarmed rooms even during the harshest winters. In his opinion, this harmful approach turned hydropathy into a more extreme type of treatment, where many became overly focused on taking baths in ice-cold water. He described the negative consequences of this "infatuation," including tuberculosis and other diseases. This dangerous habit was worsened by physicians who used hydropathy excessively. Kellogg recounted an instance where a patient with a low typhus fever was treated with 35 cold packs while in a weak state, and, as Kellogg expected, the patient died. Kellogg argued that this excessive and dangerous use of hydropathy was a return to the "violent processes" of bloodletting, antimony, mercury, and purgatives. Kellogg also criticized the ignorance of "Hydropathic Quacks" and Preissnitz, the founder of modern hydropathy. He stated that these individuals overestimated hydropathy as a "cure-all" remedy without understanding the true nature of disease.

Later life

John Kellogg lived for more than 60 years after writing Plain Facts. He kept working on advice about healthy eating and managed the sanitarium, but the sanitarium was affected by the Great Depression and had to be sold. He later ran another institute in Florida, which remained popular for the rest of his life, though it was not as successful as his earlier institute in Battle Creek.

In 1937, Kellogg received an honorary degree as a Doctor of Public Service from Oglethorpe University.

Will Durant, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian who became a vegetarian at 18, called Dr. Kellogg "his old mentor" and said that Dr. Kellogg had the greatest influence on his life since high school.

Kellogg became the editor of the Health Reformer journal in 1874. The journal changed its name to Good Health in 1879, and Kellogg kept his editorial position until his death. Good Health had more than 20,000 subscribers and was published until 1955.

Kellogg often spoke about his views on race and supported racial segregation, even though he raised several Black children as foster parents. In 1906, he helped start the Race Betterment Foundation with Irving Fisher and Charles Davenport. This group became an important part of the eugenics movement in the United States. Kellogg believed that racial segregation was necessary and that immigrants and non-white people could harm the genetic quality of the white population.

Kellogg co-founded the Race Betterment Foundation, organized several National Conferences on Race Betterment, and tried to create a "eugenics registry." He opposed "racial mixing" and supported sterilizing people with mental disabilities, promoting eugenics ideas while working on the Michigan Board of Health. During his time there, he helped pass laws that allowed the sterilization of people labeled as "mentally defective."

Kellogg had a long disagreement with his brother over legal battles about cereal recipes. The Foundation for Economic Education reported that J.H. Kellogg, who was in his 90s, wrote a letter asking to restart their relationship. His secretary decided not to send the letter, believing it made him look unbecoming. His younger brother did not see the letter until after Kellogg died.

Personal life

John Harvey Kellogg married Ella Ervilla Eaton of Alfred Center, New York, on February 22, 1879. The couple had separate bedrooms and did not have any children of their own. However, they took care of 42 children, legally adopting 8 of them, before Ella passed away in 1920. The adopted children included Agnes Grace, Elizabeth Ella, Harriett Eleanor, John William, Ivaline Maud, Paul Alfred, Robert Mofatt, and Newell Carey.

Death

Kellogg died on December 14, 1943, in Battle Creek, Michigan. He was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Battle Creek. In his will, Kellogg left his entire estate to the Race Betterment Foundation.

In popular culture

In the 1994 film The Road to Wellville, directed by Alan Parker, British actor Anthony Hopkins portrays Dr. J.H. Kellogg. The movie shows the burning of a sanitarium building and ends with Dr. Kellogg dying of a heart attack years later while diving from a high board.

Some common misunderstandings incorrectly link Dr. Kellogg to certain cultural practices, inventions, and events. One widely believed but false idea is that he started and popularized routine infant circumcision in the United States and other English-speaking countries. While Dr. Kellogg supported circumcision without anesthesia as a treatment for masturbation, he did not cause the practice to become widespread. Earlier, in 1870, Dr. Lewis Sayre had already introduced circumcision as a cure for various illnesses.

In early versions of his book Plain Facts for Old and Young, Dr. Kellogg wrote:

"A treatment that often works for young boys is circumcision, especially if they have tight foreskin. The surgery should be done by a surgeon without pain medicine, as the short pain during the procedure may help the child’s mind, especially if it is seen as a form of punishment. The soreness that lasts for weeks can stop the habit, and if the habit was not too strong before, it might be forgotten and not return."

Later editions of the book softened this view. Dr. Kellogg acknowledged that while circumcision could help with cleanliness, it also caused harm, such as a condition called meatal stenosis in Jewish boys.

Selected publications

• 1877 Plain Facts for Old and Young. Self Abuse … After learning about the causes and effects of this serious problem, the next question is: How can it be treated? When a person has suffered harm due to ignorance or weakness, how can they find relief if recovery is possible? Most of the rest of this book will focus on answering these questions. Before describing treatment methods, a short discussion about preventing this habit will be included.
• 1888 Treatment for Self-Abuse and Its Effects.
• 1893 Ladies Guide in Health and Disease.
• 1880, 1886, 1899 The Home Hand-Book of Domestic Hygiene and Rational Medicine.
• 1903 Rational Hydrotherapy.
• 1910 Light Therapeutics.
• 1914 Needed – A New Human Race Official Proceedings: Volume I, Proceedings of the First National Conference on Race Betterment. Battle Creek, MI: Race Betterment Foundation, 431–450.
• 1915 "Health and Efficiency" Macmillan M. V. O'Shea and J. H. Kellogg (The Health Series of Physiology and Hygiene).
• 1915 The Eugenics Registry Official Proceedings: Volume II, Proceedings of the Second National Conference on Race Betterment. Battle Creek, MI: Race Betterment Foundation.
• 1918 "The Itinerary of a Breakfast" Funk & Wagnalls Company: New York and London.
• 1922 Autointoxication or Intestinal Toxemia.
• 1923 Tobaccoism or How Tobacco Kills.
• 1923 The Natural Diet of Man.
• 1927 New Dietetics: A Guide to Scientific Feeding in Health and Disease.
• 1929 Art of Massage: A Practical Manual for the Nurse, the Student and the Practitioner.