Salisbury served as a physician during the American Civil War, and became convinced that diarrhea suffered by the troops could be controlled with a diet of coffee and lean chopped beefsteak.
Salisbury conducted early investigations into the connection between diet and health. He posited that certain dietary choices could impact well-being.[2] He believed vegetables and starchy foods produced poisonous substances in the digestive system which were responsible for heart disease, tumors, mental illness and tuberculosis. He believed that human dentition demonstrated that humans were meant to eat meat, and sought to limit vegetables, fruit, starches, and fats to one-third of the diet.[3]
The Salisbury steak, his means of achieving this goal, is ground beef flavored with onion and seasoning and then broiled[4] and covered with gravy or brown sauce. It was introduced in 1888. Salisbury saw beef as an excellent defense against many different physical problems. He suggested that Salisbury steak should be eaten three times a day, with much hot water to cleanse the digestive system. He was an early American proponent of a low-carbohydrate diet for weight loss, and he promoted his diet for that purpose. His diet became known as the "Salisbury diet". It has been described as an early example of a fad diet.[5][6] The Salisbury diet was promoted by Elma Stuart in her book What Must I do to Get Well?, that went through at least 32 editions.[7]
Salisbury steak is similar to a number of other dishes made of ground beef. Its name caught on partly because World War I inspired a movement in English-speaking nations to avoid German-sounding terms such as "hamburger".
^Grimes, William. (2004). Eating Your Words: 2000 Words to Tease Your Taste Buds. Oxford University Press. p. 249. ISBN0-19-517406-2
^Veit, Helen Zoe. (2015). Modern Food, Moral Food: Self-Control, Science, and the Rise of Modern American Eating in the Early Twentieth Century. University of North Carolina Press. p. 51. ISBN978-1-4696-0770-2
^"Elma Stuart". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
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