You probably know Salisbury Steak as the rubbery, gravy-covered puck found in a frozen TV dinner, but its origins are far stranger than you could ever imagine. This video uncovers the bizarre true history of Dr. James H. Salisbury, a Civil War physician and early germ theory pioneer who believed that vegetables were poison and that the path to perfect health lay in eating exclusively chopped beef. We dive deep into 19th-century medical history to reveal how this iconic cafeteria staple began as a revolutionary health food and "cure-all" designed to treat soldiers suffering from dysentery and disease during the American Civil War. Discover the grueling medical experiments behind the Salisbury Diet, where human test subjects were forced to survive on nothing but baked beans, only to be "saved" by a strict regimen of lean ground beef and piping hot water. We explore the rise of this proto-carnivore diet (decades before Keto or Paleo became trendy) and meet Elma Stuart, the obsessive follower who turned Dr. Salisbury’s prescription into a global fad diet craze. From his theories on "meat teeth" vs. vegetable teeth to the demonization of connective tissue, learn why Victorian society became obsessed with the idea that the only safe food was a meticulously processed beef patty made with an antique meat chopper. Finally, I trace the tragic devolution of the Salisbury Steak from a premium health product to the industrial processed meat we recognize today. See how World War I anti-German sentiment, USDA regulations, and the rise of Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP) transformed a doctor's dream into a symbol of cheap, frozen food. I break down the shocking legal definitions that allow modern Swanson and Banquet meals to contain fillers and pork, explaining how corporate loopholes destroyed the legacy of America’s first famous superfood.