Episode 84

The Steak That Tried to Cure Everything

Published on: 10th July, 2025

Who Was Dr. Salisbury?

First, let’s meet the man behind the meat.

Dr. James Henry Salisbury was a doctor during the American Civil War. He worked hard to understand why so many soldiers got sick. He noticed that stomach problems like diarrhea and dysentery were everywhere in the army camps.

Because of this, he believed the problem came from food. But instead of looking at germs, he blamed vegetables.

That’s right—he thought vegetables caused disease. To children everywhere, he became a hero. To science? Not so much.

What Did He Believe?

Dr. Salisbury believed that vegetables and starchy foods rotted in the gut. He said they caused inflammation and sickness. He thought the best way to stop disease was to eat meat—and only meat.

So, he created a special food: the Salisbury steak.

This steak wasn’t fancy. He ground up lean beef, shaped it into a patty, and told people to eat it three times a day. With it, they could drink only hot water or black coffee.

No fruit.

Absolutely no sugar.

No grains.

And definitely no vegetables.

Why Did It Seem to Work?

At first, some people felt better on the Salisbury diet. But why?

Here’s the real reason: it wasn’t the meat. It was the boiling.

Back then, most water carried bacteria. That bacteria caused all kinds of sickness. When soldiers boiled coffee, they accidentally killed the germs in the water. When they ate fully cooked meat, they avoided raw, dirty food.

So yes, people improved. But not because vegetables were bad.

They got better because boiled water and cooked meat killed bacteria.

What Did He Get Wrong?

Now, let’s talk about what he missed.

  • ❌ He didn’t understand germs or bacteria
  • ❌ He thought fiber was dangerous
  • ❌ He blamed plants, even though they weren’t the problem
  • ❌ He didn’t test his ideas—he just believed them

He meant well, but he built a health plan on the wrong cause.

Instead of fixing the real issue, he created a food myth that lasted for years.

Why Does This Still Matter?

Even though Dr. Salisbury lived over 150 years ago, his ideas are back—on TikTok.

Some people today say meat is the only healthy food. They avoid fruits, grains, and vegetables. They blame plants for everything from bloating to brain fog.

Sound familiar?

They’re repeating Salisbury’s mistake. They’re trusting old beliefs instead of new science.


What Science Says Now

Let’s be clear. Science today tells a different story.

  • ✅ Vegetables help your gut, heart, and brain
  • ✅ Fiber feeds healthy gut bacteria
  • ✅ A variety of foods lowers your risk of disease
  • ❌ Eating only meat can cause nutrient problems and long-term risks

Instead of eating like it’s 1863, you can follow a plan that supports your body and your taste buds.

The best example? The Mediterranean diet—with healthy fats, lean protein, vegetables, fruits, and yes… even a little red wine.


In Summary

Dr. Salisbury had a strong idea—but he missed the mark.

He didn’t know about bacteria. He thought vegetables were the enemy. He gave us Salisbury steak, but also gave us a lasting food myth.

So next time someone says vegetables cause disease, just smile and say:

“We’ve been down that road. It was dusty, undercooked, and came with black coffee.”

Transcript
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>> Dr. Terry Simpson: There was a time not long ago when

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vegetables were accused of everything short of

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witchcraft. They were blamed for arthritis,

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brain fog and moral decay. And

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the man leading that charge wore a white coat.

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On, uh, today's Fork U, we're introducing you to Dr.

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James Henry Salisbury, a Civil War

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physician, amateur chemist, and the patron

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saint of, uh, meat based diets.

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I'm your Chief Medical Explanationist, Dr. Terry

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Simpson. And this is Fork U

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Fork University, where we bust myths,

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explain medicine, and occasionally resurrect the

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ghost of a doctor who thought toast and beef

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patties were the path to human salvation.

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Dr. James Henry Salisbury wasn't some fringe

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quack. He was well educated, well

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intentioned, man of medicine in the 19th century,

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a time when microscopes were new, anesthesia

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was optional, and science was often built

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on bold certainty rather than pesky

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evidence. During the Civil War, Salisbury

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noticed a problem. Soldiers were

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constantly sick. Diarrhea,

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dysentery, fevers, and chronic gut issues

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ran rampant through the ranks. More

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soldiers died from illness than the

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battlefield. His diagnosis? The

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vegetables did it. To the delight of children

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across the nation, Salisbury believed that starches

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and plant matter rotted in the gut, created

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internal decay and disease. And

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so he set out to eliminate them

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with a vengeance. Salisbury's solution was

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simple minced beef shaped into a

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patty, cooked thoroughly and eaten

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three times a day. This, he believed, was the

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most digestible and pure form of nourishment.

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He paired this with hot water or boiled coffee. And

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a little else. No fruit, no sugar,

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no grains, and certainly

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no vegetables. What he served was basically

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a carnivore diet with battlefield flair. A

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meal plan for the man who thinks ketchup is too spicy.

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This meat patty would, of course, become the now legendary

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Salisbury steak, a, uh, staple of TV dinners and

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hospital trades for decades to come.

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Now, here's where Dr. Salisbury did something rather

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profound, albeit by accident. He

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observed that when soldiers drank boiled coffee, their

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symptoms often improved. He also noticed

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fewer gut problems when they avoided raw produce.

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But instead of discovering the germ theory, which was

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still in its infancy, he blamed plants and

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starches. What actually worked was the

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boiling. Boiled coffee sterilized the

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contaminated water. Cooked meat killed

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waterborne pathogens. And he didn't cure

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dysentery with beef. He cured it with

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heat. But rather than realize this, he doubled

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down and declared vegetables were the enemy of public health.

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Again, to the absolute joy of school children

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everywhere. Let's give credit where it's due.

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Salisbury was observing patterns. He believed in diet

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as a form of treatment, and he emphasized sanitation

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long before it was popular. But like many

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before and after him, he mistook correlation

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for causation. And armed with the microscope and

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moral certainty, he went to nutritional war.

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He never discovered bacteria, never recognized

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fiber, and never questioned why so many of his

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patients were living in filthy conditions. In

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short, he mistook the symptom for the sin

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and prescribed salvation in a stake.

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Though Salisbury himself eventually faded from

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memory, his ideas live on. Sliced,

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grilled and hashtagged. The Atkins diet,

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the carnivore crowd, TikTok, uh, nutritionist eating

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raw liver by the pound. They all echo his

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distrust of, uh, plants, his glorification of meats,

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and his overconfidence in a single

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macronutrient salvation.

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Salisbury thought he found the universal cure in a

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beef patty. His modern followers think they've

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evolved. They haven't. They've just added

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branding and a ring light.

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We know now that fiber is essential to gut health, that

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vegetables reduce the risk of cancer, cardiovascular

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disease, and cognitive decline, that high consumption

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of red and processed meat is linked to colon cancer and

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heart disease, and that diets based on

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diversity, not dogma, uh, are

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consistently the most effective. So if

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you still think vegetables are poison and steak is the cure,

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you're not on the cutting edge. You're just eating like

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it's 1863 with none of the

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context and all of the constipation.

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This episode was written and researched by me, Dr.

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Terry Simpson. More on this and other

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dietary myths can be found on the blog associated with

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this, uh, @yourdoctorsorders.com and

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forcu.com and while I am

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a board certified physician, I am not your

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physician. If you're thinking about going full

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carnivore or living off the Salisbury steak in

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boiled water, please consult with your doctor

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and your registered dietitian. Not a

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chiropractor, not a Civil War reenactor,

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and not some guy who grills spleens on Instagram.

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All things audio and distribution were handled by my friends at

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Simpler media and the pod God himself,

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Mr. Evotera. Have a good week,

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everybody.

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Hey, Evo, do you think Salisbury would

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have lasted a day on TikTok before getting roasted by the

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vegan influencers?

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>> Speaker B: I'm pretty sure that in the 1860s, anybody calling themselves

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a vegan influencer would have been burned at the stake.

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Lights. Uh, not the steak, the Salisbury steak, but the steak

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that you put. You know what I mean? Yeah.

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About the Podcast

Fork U with Dr. Terry Simpson
Learn more about what you put in your mouth.
Fork U(niversity)
Not everything you put in your mouth is good for you.

There’s a lot of medical information thrown around out there. How are you to know what information you can trust, and what’s just plain old quackery? You can’t rely on your own “google fu”. You can’t count on quality medical advice from Facebook. You need a doctor in your corner.

On each episode of Your Doctor’s Orders, Dr. Terry Simpson will cut through the clutter and noise that always seems to follow the latest medical news. He has the unique perspective of a surgeon who has spent years doing molecular virology research and as a skeptic with academic credentials. He’ll help you develop the critical thinking skills so you can recognize evidence-based medicine, busting myths along the way.

The most common medical myths are often disguised as seemingly harmless “food as medicine”. By offering their own brand of medicine via foods, These hucksters are trying to practice medicine without a license. And though they’ll claim “nutrition is not taught in medical schools”, it turns out that’s a myth too. In fact, there’s an entire medical subspecialty called Culinary Medicine, and Dr. Simpson is certified as a Culinary Medicine Specialist.

Where today's nutritional advice is the realm of hucksters, Dr. Simpson is taking it back to the realm of science.

About your host

Profile picture for Terry Simpson

Terry Simpson

Dr. Terry Simpson received his undergraduate, graduate, and medical degrees from the University of Chicago where he spent several years in the Kovler Viral Oncology laboratories doing genetic engineering. Until he found he liked people more than petri dishes. Dr. Simpson, a weight loss surgeon is an advocate of culinary medicine, he believes teaching people to improve their health through their food and in their kitchen. On the other side of the world, he has been a leading advocate of changing health care to make it more "relationship based," and his efforts awarded his team the Malcolm Baldrige award for healthcare in 2018 and 2011 for the NUKA system of care in Alaska and in 2013 Dr Simpson won the National Indian Health Board Area Impact Award. A frequent contributor to media outlets discussing health related topics and advances in medicine, he is also a proud dad, husband, author, cook, and surgeon “in that order.”