) C IdIJNLAPJ O A A V N """"""""""" H E A R T, ----------------------- H H C1DSA41C W V N ------------------------------- HEARTWWWW H H V H L L ) C O S W I D H I E V H l A Doctor’s @est to Understand, Treat, and D H I E Prevent Cardiovascular Disease ¥ T S I E V D H I E THOMAS 'COWAN, MD I E N $24.95 USD “This bookblew mymind. . . . I thought Iwas simplygoingto be readingan interesting memoir ofa good physician. Instead, I discovered the most ground— ‘ breaking,unorthodox,outside-the—boxtreatiseontheheartIhaveeverstumbledI upon. Ifyou have aheart andyouwant to live alongtime, you must, mustreadthisbook.” —BEN GREENFIELD,authoroftheNew York Timesbestseller, Beyona'Training;founderandowner,GreenfieldFitnessSystems - “WhathappenswhenthemedicalprofessionViewstheheartasamechanicalpump? Wegetghoulishsurgeries,medicationswithhorriblesideeffects,andsoullesslow- fatdiets.TomCowanasksustolookanewattheheart;firststepisthedemonstration . thatthebloodpumpstheheart,notviceversa.Fromthisobservationcomesaway oftreatingheart disease that is more effective, more gentle, more felicitate than conventional protocol. Part biography, part wisdom, part practical advice, HumanHeart, CosmicHeartwillchangethewayyoulookatthepro- cess ofhealingandthemiraculousworldofthehumanbody.” —SALLYFALLON MORELL,president,TheWestonA.PriceFoundation _ homasCowanwasatwenty—year-oldcollegegradwhenheencountered the groundbreaking ideas of Weston A. Price and Rudolf Steiner. Throughout medical school and as he established his practice, Dr. Cowanremainedfascinatedbythisworkand,inparticular,bySteiner’sprovoc- ativeclaimthattheheartisnotapump. IfSteinerwascorrect,whatthenisthe heart’strueroleinthebody? In this deeply personal, rigorous, and riveting account, Dr. Cowan shows thatnotonlywasSteinercorrect,butourunderstandingofheartdisease—With itsorigins inthebloodvessels—is completelywrong. Thismisunderstandingis the reason heart disease remains the most common cause ofdeathworldwide. Dr. Cowan offers a revolutionary newway ofunderstanding the body’s most centralorganandhowwecanbestcareforit—andourselves. CoverdesignbyPeteGarceau ISBN978-1—60358—619—1 CoverillustratlonbyNicolasHenriJacob 188N “5443035543134 52495 ChelseaGreenPublishing 85NorthMainStreet,Suite 120 WhiteRiverJunction,VT05001 (802)295—6300 M 9 781603 586191 WOF www.chelseagreen.com mmoomcmmmn lilJbiAPJ HEARI COSMIC HEART H U M A N """"""""" H E A R T, COSMIC """""""""" HEARTWWW A Doctor’s @est to Understand, Treat, and Prevent Cardiovascular Disease THOMAS COWAN, MD Chelsea Green Publishing White River Junction, Vermont green press Copyright©2016byThomasCowan. INITIATIVE Allrightsreserved. Chelsea Green Publishing is committed to preserving Nopartofthisbookmaybetransmittedor ancientforestsandnaturalresources.Weelectedtoprint reproducedinanyformbyanymeanswithout thistitle on lOO-percentpostconsumerrecycledpaper, processedchlorine-free.Asaresult,forthisprinting,we permissioninwritingfromthepublisher. havesaved: ProjectManager:AngelaBoyle 63"[i'ees(40'talland6-8"diameter) 29MillionBTUsofTotalEnergy DevelopmentalEditor:BrianneGoodspeed 5,444PoundsofGreenhouseGases CopyEditor:DeborahHeimann 29,527GallonsofWastewater Proofreader:BrianneBardusch 1,976PoundsofSolidWaste Indexer:LindaHallinger ChelseaGreenPublishingmadethispaperchoicebecause Designer:MelissaJacobson weandourprinter,Thomson-Shore,Inc.,aremembers of the Green Press Initiative, a nonprofit program PageLayout:AbrahGriggs dedicatedtosupportingauthors,publishers,andsuppliers in their efforts to reduce their use offiber obtained PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica. from endangered forests. Formore information, visit: www.greenpressinitiative.org. FirstprintingOctober,2016. 10987654321 1617181920 EnvironmentalimpactaimatesweremadeusingtheEnvironmentalDefensePaperCalculator. Formoreinformationvisit:www.mlculatormg. OurCommitmenttoGreenPublishing ChelseaGreenseespublishingasatoolforculturalchangeandecologicalstewardship. Westrivetoalignourbookmanufacturingpracticeswithoureditorialmissionandto reducetheimpactofourbusinessenterpriseintheenvironment.Weprintourbooks andcatalogsonchlorine—freerecycledpaper,usingvegetable—basedinkswheneverpossi— ble.Thisbookmaycostslightlymorebecause itwasprintedon paperthatcontains recycledfiber,andwehopeyou’llagreethatit’sworthit.ChelseaGreenisamemberof theGreenPressInitiative(www.greenpressinitiative.org),anonprofitcoalitionofpub- lishers,manufacturers,andauthorsworkingtoprotecttheworld'sendangeredforests andconservenaturalresources.HumanHeart,CosmicHeartwasprintedonpapersup— pliedbyThomson—Shorethatcontains100%postconsumerrecycledfiber. LibraryofCongressCataloging—in-PublicationData Names:Cowan,Thomas,1956—author. Title:Humanheart,cosmicheart:adoctor’s‘1uesttounderstand,treat,andPrevent cardiovasculardisease/ThomasCowan. Description:WhiteRiverJunction,Vermont:ChelseaGreenPublishing,[2016]I Includesindex. Identifiers:LCCN2016026012|ISBN9781603586191 (pbk.)|ISBN 9781603586207(ebook) Subjects:IMESH:CardiologyIHeartDiseasesIPhilosophy,MedicalIPersonal Narratives Classification:LCCRC685.C6INLMWG21 IDDC616.1/2-—dc23 LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/201602601 ChelseaGreenPublishing 85NorthMainStreet,Suite120 MIX WhiteRiverJunction,VT05001 ‘802)295—6300 EEE. mFmsncsP.alpb0elr0ef1rs3oomu.r3ce3s www.chelseagreen.com This bookis dedicated to mycurrent (Ben, Sam, Amiya) andfuturegrandchildren with thewish thatsomedaytheylive inaworld fueledbyjoy, honesty, andfreedom. “PeoplemaysayIamcrazy. Perhapstheyareright. Inthis case, itisnotsomuchimportantifthereisonefoolmore orlessintheworld. ButincasethatIamrightandscience iswrong,LordhavemercyonMankind.” —VIKTOR SCHAUBERGER “Tearscomefromtheheartandnotfromthebrain.” —LEONARDO DA VINCI 1. DoubtingThomas 1 2. Circulation 7 3. TheMiseryIndex 21 4. The Geometryofthe Heart 29 5. Definingthe erestions 41 6. WhatDoesn’t Cause HeartAttacks 47 7. WhatDoes Cause HeartAttacks 55 8. SteppingForth 65 9. Treatingthe Heart 75 10. The Cosmic Heart 87 11. AHeartofGold 95 12. What’s Love Gotto Dowith It? 111 Afterword 117 APPENDIXA: TheCowanHeartDiet 121 APPENDIXB: PreventingandTreatingAngina, UnstableAngina,andHeartAttacks 133 APPENDIX C: CholesterolandHowtoRead aLipidProfile 137 Notes 141 RecommendedReading 151 Index 153 Doubting Thomas can see myselfat sixteen years old, exhausted and slumped I on the locker room bench. My teammates have long since showered and gone home. Eventually Coach Callaway stickshisheadinandbarks,“Can’ttakeallday,Cowan! Haveto lockuphere.” I’mnotscared,justcurious. Withintensebasketballpractice fivedaysaweek, Ican’tfig— ureoutwhyInevergetintoshape.Ourteamwasrankedamong Michigan’stopten,evenagainsttheurbanschoolsthatregularly sent players to top colleges or occasionally the NBA, and our practices were grueling. Coach Callaway, whose ambitions lay beyondhighschoolcoaching,madeusrunlapsifIfailedtosink ten consecutive foul shots. Our style, and our strategy, was to runtheotherteamintotheground. And yet, even long after we finished practice, my heart races—jumping suddenly from 72 beats per minute to 200— andIcan’tdoanythingaboutitexceptwaitforittopass. Inever HUMAN HEART, COSMIC HEART tell anyone,embarrassedabout mypoorconditioningandwor— ried that Iwilllosevaluableplayingtime ifI let on howtired I feel.Onceitcalmsdown,Itrudgehomethroughthedarktoour houseinsuburbanDetroit. My earliest clear memory is ofhiding in my bedroom closet furious with the world and yet hoping someone (mostly my mother)wouldcome,offerakindword,andrescuemefrommy misery.Idon’trememberwhatprovokedthisparticularepisode, but I do remember that it happened somewhat frequently and that,evenfromanearlyage,Ilikedtoplayaloneandrarelytook up the chance to play with other children. I rarely spoke, and whenIdid,itwaswithaterriblestutterandspeechimpediment thatpreventedmefrompronouncingmyL’s. When Iwas six, myworriedparents tookme to achildpsy— chiatrist,whotoldthemthatIjustthoughtalotandthatsomeday ImightdecidetosharewhatIwasthinking.Therewerenomore visits, there was no therapy, no intervention at all—something I’veremainedprofoundlygratefulfortothisday,especiallyduring patientvisitswithyoungchildrenandtheirconcernedparents. I did have speech therapy at school to correct the impedi- ment, andIstoppedstutteringaroundthetimeIwasseven. My speech teacher commented that Iwas the onlystudent shehad had who successfully, and totally, corrected a speech impedi- ment. Itwasbecause,iftherewasonethingIwasgood'at,itwas practicing things to perfection, especially things I could do myselfthat didn’t requireme toparticipatewith others. I spent hours in front ofthe mirror making my tongue do the right movementasIrepeatedwordsthatbeganwithL. Inthis sameway, Ipracticedaa’infinitum everyotherphysi- cal skill I was exposed to. By age three, I could catch a ball as high as my father could throw it. Later, I set up a basketball court in my bedroom, wearing the rug down to the wood