Karl Elliot-Gough - The Seven Deadly Whites: Evolution to Devolution--The Rise of The Diseases Of Civilization

First published by Earth Books, 2016

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Text copyright: Karl Elliot-Gough 2015

ISBN: 978 1 78535 179 2

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015946049

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The rights of Karl Elliot-Gough as author have been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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Design: Stuart Davies

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Inspiration and motivation for this book has been a life long journey; from the friends, conversations, places visited, books read, music listened to, films watched and too much more, all has gone into the melting pot. For those who have helped me specifically with this book, Id like to thank Paul Kellett and John Nunn, for their faith, encouragement and patience, as well as of course all those at John Hunt Publishing. Lastly and always first, my wife Sara and our lovely children, Maya, Khymer, Wolfie and Aurora please accept my humblest apologies for sharing with you this most stressful path, as I weekly uncovered a never-ending trail of deceit and an incredible lack of ethics and morals amongst so many industries. I selfishly made you live the book, instead of you having the choice to read it when it was finished, sorry.

We may find in the long run, that tinned food is a deadlier weapon than the machine gun.

(George Orwell)

The seed for this book was initially planted over a quarter of a century ago, whilst on a field trip in Indonesia studying archaeology and anthropology. There I was, completely lost and disorientated, somewhere in the depths of the lush Indonesian rainforest. It had only been thirty seconds since my flip-flopped guide and his bare-footed young son had disappeared through the trees, walking silently, effortlessly and gracefully, as if floating just above the ground. I was admiring their natural physique, as well as being somewhat jealous of the way they blended into the environment as they slipped away; there was no question they and the forest were in unison. The same could not be said for myself, sweating, covered in bites and sores, I stuck out like the proverbial sore thumb. Bemused at my frailty, I asked myself a question that planted the seed, which has finally blossomed into this book: If the caveman or present day hunter-gatherers very rarely died from cancer or heart disease, why should we?

Today, well over 80% of deaths in the industrialised world are as a result of heart disease, cancer and iatrogeny. Iatrogeny is the third biggest individual killer in the developed world, only beaten by heart disease and cancer. Amazingly, the vast majority of the population have never even heard of this word and nor had I before researching this book. An illness or death caused by medical intervention, prescription or surgical, is known as an iatrogenic disease, where iatro means physician or medicine and genic means caused by. These three diseases (heart disease, cancer and iatrogeny), as well as diabetes, obesity, depression, Alzheimers, Parkinsons, Crohns, Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD), Attention Deficit Disorders (ADD) and many more, are all collectively known as diseases of civilization. A phrase that is unlikely to be brandished about by the BMA (British Medical Association) or the government. There is no way that these institutions would want to draw public attention to any potential association between these two words, disease and civilization, as it appears derogatory, implying that in some shape or form these diseases have been caused by, or have something to do with, civilization.

Which is indeed where the real root of the problem lurks and indeed where the answer resides for these diseases of civilization. The human organism is not at ease with civilization, it is at disease. This alone should start the alarm bells ringing. So why is it so quiet? Especially as there is something so seriously amiss with civilization that it now names the very diseases we are dying from.

We believe we are living in a privileged position, at the pinnacle of human evolution, with humans always purposefully striving to evolve, to ultimately become what we are today, supposed superior beings of the twenty first century. Undeniably, there have been many modern advancements; in science, space exploration, the study of atoms, medicine, surgery, computers and technology, all of which has given us the potential to guarantee health, wealth and longevity, far outstretching the dreams and aspirations of our great-grandparents a hundred years ago. So why are so few actualizing this potential? And if we are so advanced and evolved, why do so few people die from simply old age? The truth is, we in the industrialised world, are dying and falling sick from an ever-increasing list of diseases. With a society that is dysfunctional in youth, depressed in middle age, with dementia and uncared for in old age, whilst suffering a never-ending catalogue of illnesses throughout life. Is that civilized?

We are dying and being afflicted by all these diseases of civilization at an ever-increasing rate. These diseases are also afflicting a forever younger demographic, with little discrimination between race, class or age. Often death from cancer or heart disease is brushed aside, claimed to be simply a consequence of our modern lifestyle or we are living to a greater age today, although getting old, does not, and it most certainly should not equate, to immobility of the mind and body, whilst a degenerative disease strips all life away. This disparity in deaths between the present day hunter-gatherers and us, of the civilized world, rubs against the grain of evolution. Why would we have evolved as the species, Homo, over millions of years, just to have within each and every one of us a self-destruct button that can end life?

A button that is being switched on-and-off at an ever-increasing rate in the West.

The 7 Deadly Whites is a look at seven different variables to do with food and diet and any associations these may have with the diseases of civilization. The 7 Deadly Whites are a direct reference to the processed foods made from white flour, white sugar, white rice, milk, salt and fats/oils, with the seventh being white lies. The actual colour of the six deadly food whites is immaterial, although pallid white to grey does prevail. Termed white because they are all processed and as such contain considerably less nutritious content than their whole food compatriots, often providing only calories. A stupendous 80% of the modern diet is made from these six deadly food whites, by both weight and calorific content.

Supermarkets have a deliberately laid out floor plan, where the fresh produce (fruit and vegetables) is found at the front of store, greeting the customer, giving the impression of fresh whole foods being the norm from your shopping experience around the whole store, when in fact this fresh produce section is less than 5% of total shelf space; all those other food aisles, these are where the processed foods live, the vast majority of which are made from endless combinations of the six deadly food whites. There is reputedly somewhere in the region of five hundred million different varieties of processed food worldwide. Most of the processed food varieties were developed in the 1950s, achieving global dominance by the 1980s, with absolute supremacy by the 1990s. With the modern diet becoming overwhelmed in products, the very things food was supposed to deliver, those vitamins, minerals and amino acids, have been replaced with carbohydrates (calories) and very little else (apart from the whole heap of problems introduced throughout this book).