The Primal Podcast Ep 153 - Dr Cowan | #1 Cause of Heart Attacks & Strokes (EAT THIS Instead)
Mar 22, 2026
Dr. Tom Cowan, physician and bestselling author known for unconventional views on heart disease, challenges the clogged-artery story. He discusses collateral circulation, why angiograms can mislead, and the idea that heart crises stem from tissue energy failure and structured water. He also covers dietary and environmental factors that influence heart energy and tissue gels.
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Clogged Artery Theory Fails Clinical Tests
- The thrombogenic (clogged artery) theory of heart attacks is likely wrong because many hearts have collateral circulation that preserves flow.
- Tom Cowan cites autopsy and angiogram evidence showing most fatal heart attacks occur without a full coronary blockage and tests can miss collateral flow.
Patient With 95% Blockage Walked Uphill
- Cowan recounts patients told they had a 95% coronary blockage yet were asymptomatic walking uphill, exposing a logical inconsistency in blockage-based risk predictions.
- He uses this to question how a 5% residual flow could support exertion without causing immediate infarction.
Stents Have No Proven Mortality Benefit
- Randomized and blinded trials show stents and bypasses do not prolong life or prevent future heart attacks in stable disease.
- Cowan references the 2018 blinded trial where sham procedures matched stent outcomes and cites lack of mortality benefit.