Books by Karl Elliot-Gough

Please read the About page for how these books came about, because that's a story in itself.

The books themselves aren't sold through Shopify, so if you want to buy them, you'll be taken directly to the desired seller.

You may have come here to buy the powders, but it's always nice to know that the rationale and knowledge behind them were never intended as a business. They were always intended as a way to deliver nutrients — a role once fulfilled by food.

These two books cover weighty topics in as light a tone as possible.

In the briefest of terms: The Seven Deadly Whites exposes how the food chain has become a major risk factor in the diseases of civilisation — cancers, heart disease, iatrogeny, obesity, diabetes, depression, dementia, neurological dysfunctions and more — through an investigation of the seven deadly whites: sugar, milk, flour, fats/oils, salt, rice and lies.

Seven Plants to Save the World is a blueprint for the revolution as seen from the perspective of seven plants.

Both are groundbreaking and illuminating.

The Seven Deadly Whites: Evolution to Devolution and the Rise of the Diseases of Civilization

Earth Books, 2016

There has to be a reason why we are dying from diseases mostly absent from the world of our ancestors, so different, in fact, that our death today is most likely going to be caused by what are known as the diseases of civilisation. Which just doesn't sound right, does it? Civilisation is heralded as positive, evolved and refined, where science, medicine, knowledge and investigation have reached a pinnacle, and where the population all benefit from this exalted position. Have we? Do we? Whose benefited the most?

Not to repeat any other words from this website, let's just say it soon became clear that many of these diseases of civilisation could have been avoided if, as the world population rose stratospherically, the decrease in the nutritional content of food hadn't dropped in tandem.

The book is not claiming that it is exclusively just the Seven Deadly Whites causing all the diseases of civilisation; that would be a ridiculous claim, not least the fact that many of these deadly chemicals are intertwined within the monocultural agricultural complex.

What the book is claiming is that if the food chain had not become so demineralised, denatured and processed, then the risk factor of succumbing to a disease of civilisation would be significantly less, not least because science has clearly demonstrated that nutritious food, albeit the phytonutrients contained within plants, have significant preventative and curative abilities.

The Seven Deadly Whites then investigates what has happened to the food chain by uncovering what has happened to most of the food eaten today via the six main (vegetarian) food groups of sugar, milk, flour, fats/oils, salt and rice. This is then combined with the seventh deadly white of lies, where various scandals are exposed by way of an industrial white lie, said to protect a greater harm (to profits), and the other white lies we tell to ourselves. All is revealed, leaving the reader in little doubt that the Father of Western medicine, Hippocrates, was correct 2,500 years ago that food is our medicine. Sadly, he had no idea how bad that food was going to become, where today, paradoxically, it is more likely that food is your poison.

Reviews

Great book! Well worth a read and an ideal introduction to healthy eating — give it to people you would like to have around you in your old age and save haranguing them about their deadly mistakes, this book breaks it gently but convincingly.

~ Craig Sams (founder of Whole Earth, Green & Black's, Treasurer and then Chairman of The Soil Association)

An absolutely marvelous book, a must read. It is written in a way that compels you to read on. It wakes you up to what you have possibly known; thus helping you want to help you, help yourself look after your body to its highest functionality.

~ Angel

A must for everyone. Great read which has made me & my family change our lifestyles. Just by eliminating the 7 deadly whites I've dropped almost 1 stone in 3 weeks (in which I didn't need to) and I've never felt better.

~ Curtis

This is an essential read for anyone wishing to stay healthy into old age. It is fun and easy to read, with eye opening insight into the human diet and the affects of consumption of The Seven Deadly Whites. Everyone should read this great book, it will change your life.

~ Diane

Where to Buy

Buy from Earth Books   Buy on Amazon

Seven Plants to Save the World: The Rise of the Weeds and an End to the Diseases of Civilization

Aeon Books, 2025

An original and unique perspective looking at how civilisation and the systems holding it up can be reformed by looking for solutions from the perspective of the plants.

A book about plants like no other. A book about seven plants — nettle, dandelion, yarrow, plantain, cannabis, hawthorn and blackberry — and how they literally could save our world. You never could have imagined how fascinating a whole chapter on nettles could be, how incredible and forgotten all these plants have become, with one already very much on the rise again after a century of vilification.

A path-defining exploration of herbs which, using only seven key plants, provides an economically viable and fully costed guide on how we can support the planet and all humankind — just with seven plants. A complete reformation of the health, food, economic and industrial systems from just seven plants.

This book (along with The Seven Deadly Whites) is apocalyptic in the etymological sense: it lifts the veil of truth that has been blinding us culturally. This revolution is not going to take place in the way we've been misled; there will be no placards, harsh words, police batons and smashed bank windows. This revolution will be permacultural, sustainable and egalitarian, and it only takes enough people to say 'enough is enough' for it to take root.

This book will blow your mind, make you laugh and make you never see the plants around us in the same light again. Let's shine the light together.

Reviews

Karl Elliot-Gough's seven chosen plants are supremely beneficial to mankind, yet if noticed at all are condemned as weeds. He passionately makes the case for how they can (and should) spearhead a revolution in tackling the diseased foundations of civilization. I love the audacity of it, the blend of deep research and personal experience, the fearlessness in taking on any authority or dogma, the costed solutions. I have so enjoyed my wild ride with Seven Plants, and it leaps straight into my top ten list of all herbal books.

~ Matthew Seal, co-author of Hedgerow Medicine, Eat Your Weeds! and more

What an enthralling journey this book took me on. Outlining so much fascination about the seven plants. Here you will find solutions to a healthier soil, healthier humans and healthier society. This might be underground now but this book needs to become mainstream as soon as possible.

~ Paul Benhaim, Chairman at The Hemp Plastic Company, CEO at Elixinol. The OG Hempreneur

A prodigious labour of love and a remarkable polemic against global consumer capitalism told with enormous energy and wit.

~ Julian Barker, herbalist and author of Human Health and Its Maintenance and Physic

I can't recommend this book highly enough. Seven Plants to Save The World is a fascinating & generally uplifting read that examines the nature of the titular seven plants (nettle, dandelion, yarrow, plantain, cannabis, hawthorn, blackberry) which have been intimately entwined with human health throughout the existence of our species until very recently, and their potential — if restored to that position — to ameliorate many of our current ills and promote health and wellbeing for the future.

~ Corin

This is already one of my top five books about herbs. Can say that I have about 45-50 books about plants. Here you can find everything you want to know. Picture in library about the fantastic herbs. How to use them, how indigenous people used them, studies and facts from all around the world and much, much more. I just love this book!

~ Birgitta

Where to Buy

Use code SEVENPLANTS20 at Aeon Books for 20% off and free postage.

Buy from Aeon Books   Buy on Amazon