Health Comparison Post Civil War and 1950-2000

Insist on yourself; never imitate... Every great man is unique”- Emerson



Great men and women constantly change the world that we live in today, whether they are politicians, scientists, religious leaders, musicians, engineers, or even celebrities. Likewise, brilliant minds created the modern world, by shaping the past with their ideas and their actions. The heroes of the past drastically altered the era that they lived in using their unique ideas to create theories, machines, algorithms, and even diets. Two extremely influential men came about during two different time periods, one in the late 1800’s and the other in the latter half of the 1900’s. Both of these men harbored extraordinary ideas in their heads about nutrition and diet, which eventually shaped the pop cultures of the day. Dr John Harvey Kellogg and Dr Robert C. Atkins were two extremely significant nutritionists in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries who shaped the dieting and health food cultures that they lived in through their original ideas and practices.

John Harvey Kellogg was born on February 26, 1852, in Tyrone, Michigan and was immediately thrust into the “healthy lifestyle”, advocated by his church. After attending medical school in New York, Kellogg became the chief physician at the Battle Creek Sanitarium (The San). The Battle Creek Sanitarium became Kellogg\'s laboratory for developing and promulgating his \"Battle Creek Idea\"   that good health and fitness were the result of good diet, exercise, correct posture, fresh air and proper rest. He engaged in questionable medical practices. The San offered hydrotherapy, mechanotherapy, electrotherapy and radium cures.   For a time, Kellogg promoted \"Fletcherizing\" or chewing food until it slithered down the throat. However he later revoked the idea when he discovered it destroyed fibre content. He was the inventor of peanut butter, granola, and the cereal giant Kellogg’s. The San became a spa-like place, where people...