export_ofoct.com_Audio Denoise

[00:00.18] It was the early 1800s, and Presbyterian minister Sylvester Graham believed Americans had a big problem— not just with their bodies, but with their souls.

[00:12.70] He argued that overindulgence was fueling their baser desires, making them immoral and oversexed.

[00:21.72] To curb this corruption, Graham and fellow puritanical reformers advocated for food they thought could curb a variety of appetites.

[00:32.61] Following the American Revolution, things like excess alcohol use were increasingly perceived as blights on social order and civic virtue in a budding nation.

[00:44.30] The 19th century Christian Temperance movement encouraged abstinence from alcohol, eventually leading to federal Prohibition.

[00:52.80] But some branches of the movement promoted even more extreme restraint across the board.

[00:58.91] These reformers had some special areas of interest, including the bedroom.

[01:04.76] According to Graham, even divinely ordained marital sex could fall into harmfully excessive territory if it happened more than once a month.

[01:15.91] And like certain Enlightenment philosophers a century before him, Graham considered the so-called solitary vice of masturbation even more hazardous.

[01:26.27] He claimed it inflamed the brain and depleted the body's energy, causing everything from nervous disorders to stunted growth.

[01:34.50] To address this issue and others, Graham recommended measures including plenty of sleep— on hard mattresses; regular bathing—with cold water; and fresh air— even in frigid temperatures.

[01:49.64] But one of his major points of focus was diet.

[01:54.96] He thought Americans were consuming decadent, flavorful food and drink that threw their bodies out of balance, weakened their self-control, and aroused un-Christian passions.

[02:05.58] So to suppress their supposedly hyperactive libidos, Graham advocated for a vegetarian diet of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.

[02:16.21] And it needed to be bland— no pleasure-inciting spices to speak of.

[02:22.05] His signature contribution was Graham bread, the precursor to the Graham cracker, made from coarse, whole wheat Graham flour.

[02:31.08] He shared the recipe at no cost, encouraging everyone to bake their own.

[02:36.13] It was simple: just add water or milk, yeast, and perhaps a pinch of salt— nothing that might overstimulate the senses.

[02:44.91] Positioning himself as a public health advocate, Graham wrote books and held public lectures, alleging his diet would even help people survive a cholera outbreak.

[02:56.33] However, not everyone was so keen on his moralizing message and tasteless fare— including angry bakers who protested outside his talks.

[03:07.49] And Transcendentalist scholar Ralph Waldo Emerson cast doubt on the fanaticism of Graham’s movement.

[03:15.19] One newspaper reporter is said to have mockingly dubbed Graham a “philosopher of sawdust pudding.”

[03:21.86] And an outraged critic of the Graham diet said it consisted of, “swill, starch slosh” and “dishwater.”

[03:29.29] But Graham also inspired ardent followers, who became known as Grahamites.

[03:35.66] Meanwhile, Graham’s focus on digestive health appealed to figures like nutritionist James Jackson, who ran a health spa in upstate New York.

[03:46.29] Around 1863, Jackson began baking crumbled, granulated Graham flour cakes into a cereal he called Granula.

[03:55.05] And, in the 1890s, John Harvey Kellogg, head of another health spa, developed corn flakes by steaming, rolling, and baking corn into a similarly flavorless food.

[04:07.01] While Jackson was primarily concerned with preventing illness through diet, Kellogg continued Graham’s crusade against masturbation.

[04:16.30] He called it “self-abuse,” Implicated it in all manner of ailments, and similarly promoted a dull diet to temper overactive sexual appetites.

[04:27.46] But the foods these men popularized would shapeshift far beyond their original forms.

[04:33.83] Granola and Corn Flakes underwent a series of saccharine and frosted reinventions.

[04:40.47] And decades after Graham’s death, the National Biscuit Company began mass-producing Graham crackers with lighter flours and stimulating sweeteners.

[04:51.10] By 1927, people had started sandwiching toasted marshmallows and chocolate between Graham crackers, which the Girl Scouts christened “Some Mores,” and the s’more was born.

[05:04.92] The decadent dessert was essentially the antithesis of Graham’s vision— and perhaps the ultimate ironic twist to his legacy.