[1] 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.

[3] He believed vegetables and starchy foods produced poisonous substances in the digestive system which were responsible for heart disease, tumors, mental illness and tuberculosis.

[4] The Salisbury steak, his means of achieving this goal, is ground beef flavored with onion and seasoning and then broiled[5] and covered with gravy or brown sauce.

Its name caught on partly because World War I inspired a movement in English-speaking nations to avoid German-sounding terms such as "hamburger".

Salisbury died aged 81 at his country home in Dobbs Ferry, New York[9] and was buried at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio.