The Warming Power of RNA

If you have a consistently low body temperature below 98.6°, you may need the warming miracle of RNA (ribonucleic acid). Many of us aren’t aware that paying attention to our body temperature is one of the most important things we can do to help resolve numerous health issues.

A person with a consistent low body temperature may commonly experience several of the following health problems:

• Fatigue
• Arthritis
• Abnormal weight gain
• Abnormal weight loss
• Cancer
• Asthma
• Depression
• Hypothyroidism
• Anxiety
• Dry skin
• Poor memory
• Cold hands
• Cold feet
• Constant colds
• Immune system issues
• Insomnia

Generally, when an infection, virus, or bacteria enters the body, a specific type of blood cell identifies them as foreign invaders. These are known as T-cells, and they alert a region of the brain known as the hypothalamus. One of the functions of the hypothalamus is to help maintain body temperature. When it’s alerted by the T-cells, the brain boosts the metabolic process to increase body temperature. This generates heat, which begins to kill off the invaders.

Enter Dr. Benjamin Frank, MD, and his book Dr. Frank’s No Aging Diet.

Before I tell you more about Dr. Frank, allow me to make an important disclaimer on some of the foods he recommends. His book was published in 1976, well before the dietary recommendations of Dr. Weston A. Price became widely available through the Weston A. Price Foundation. Since that time, we now recognize the folly of foods such as unfermented soy, skim milk, and low fat cottage cheese. Dr. Frank is right on about the power of RNA, and his chart outlining foods high in RNA is an excellent resource. But he’s dead wrong about cholesterol and healthy fats. Ironically, his book does recommend unfermented soy products, but it does not recommend healthful saturated fats such as lard, coconut oil, goose fat, raw butter, and other warming, nutrient-rich foods that we’ve been told are bad for our health. Fortunately, we’re now discovering that these warming foods are energy-producing packets of good health! So please, in addition to adding Standard Process RNA supplementation to your diet, follow the normal ancestral diet advocated by Sally Fallon Morrell.

Dr. Frank notes that RNA has a number of profound effects:

• Anti-aging (reduces skin wrinkling and increases skin elasticity)
• Energizing
• Anti-anoxia (oxygen sparing)
• Anti-low body temperature (helps raise body temp back to a normal, healthy 98.6°)
• Antiviral
• Cognitive enhancing

One of Dr. Frank’s more interesting patients was a 78-year-old licensed pilot who had become bald and arthritic. He suffered from failing eyesight, a painful case of diverticulitis, and chronic fatigue. Five years later, after following a diet rich in nucleic acid, specific vitamins, and ribonucleic acid, he tarred the roof of his workshop (where he upholstered antique automobiles). He walked with an almost military snap, spoke crisply and to the point, and looked like a vigorous man in his mid-50s. No aspirin or pain killers, no hormones, no drugs!

The first benefit commonly noted by Dr. Frank’s patients was increased tolerance for exercise and decreased shortness of breath, as well as the disappearance of heart pains (angina). His patients usually reported these effects within two weeks of following the diet and supplementation.

Dr. Frank claims that cancer cells have a generally lower level of energy than normal cells and a predominantly anaerobic metabolism. Therefore, formulations that promote significant Krebs cycle metabolism in both tumors (and the host) can cause tumor regression. He goes on to say that RNA, histidine (found in brewer’s yeast), and carnosine (beef, poultry, pork) are very potent antitumor compounds.

According to Dr. Frank, the marked oxygen-sparing (anti-anoxia) effects of nucleic acids play a very important role in the therapy of those who suffer from crippling respiratory disorders. After several weeks on this regimen, bronchodilators can often be reduced or eliminated, and once the anti-anoxia effect had been established, the dosage of RNA can be reduced to a maintenance level—or roughly half the initial dose required.

Dr. Frank’s Recommended High RNA Diet

1. Small sardines (3–4 oz. can) four days a week.
2. Salmon (canned or fresh) as a main course 1 day a week.
3. Shrimp, lobster, squid, clams, or oysters as a main course on still another day.
4. Any other kind of fish as a main course on the remaining day.
5. Calves’ liver once a week.
6. Beets, beet juice beet kvass, or borscht once or twice a week.
7. A side dish of lentils, peas, lima beans, or pinto beans once or twice a week.
8. At least one of the following: asparagus, radishes, onions, scallions, mushrooms, spinach, cauliflower, or celery each day.
9. One strong, therapeutic strength multivitamin after any meal each day (I recommend only food-based supplements).
10. Two glasses of milk each day (I recommend fresh raw milk).
11. A glass of fruit or vegetable juice each day.
12. At least four glasses of water—more in the summer to replace perspiration—each day.

Important: You can fall off the diet once in a while with no great harm, but never neglect items 10, 11, or 12. This is the only strict part of the diet. If you don’t get these fluids, your urine may become acid. This can cause complications if you’re one of the small numbers of people who have high blood uric-acid levels, which is associated with gout.

In other words, you must consume seafood seven times a week. Eat sardines (from non-BPA cans) four days a week, salmon one day, non-vertebrate seafood one day, and any other kind of fish one day.

Unfortunately, fear of consuming mercury has caused people to be wary of eating seafood. In a Q&A with Sally Fallon Morrell, she addresses this topic:

Question: My kids love seafood, but how much seafood can they eat without getting affected with mercury levels?

Answer: If you have good gut flora, you are protected from mercury in fish. I would not stop eating fish, but be sure to get some lacto-fermented foods in their diet.

Following are all the categories of foods high in nucleic acid content from Dr. Frank’s No Aging Diet, along with values for each.

Category 1: Organ Meats

Chicken livers 402

Beef liver 268

Pork liver 259

Chicken heart 187

Beef kidney 134

Category 2: Fresh Seafood

Sardines 343

Anchovies 341

Salmon 289

Category 3: Canned Seafood

Sardines 590

Oysters 239

Mackerel 122

Herring 82

Clams 4­4

Category 4: Dried Legumes

Pinto beans 485

Lentils 484

Garbanzo beans 356

Black-eyed peas 306

Small white beans 305

Large lima beans 293

Great northern beans 284

Cranberry beans 248

Baby lima beans 190

Split peas 173

Red beans 140

Category 5: Bone and Fish Broth, Vegetables and Nuts

Dr. Frank doesn’t list specific RNA values for this category, but these foods are all particularly high in naturally occurring RNA:

• Fish, beef, pork, chicken, and other bone broth or meat extracts recommended in Nourishing Broth
• Nuts, properly prepared (see Cook Your Way to Wellness)
• Spinach (Sally suggests boiling or steaming spinach for at least 15 minutes)
• Oatmeal, properly soaked and prepared (Nourishing Traditions, p. 455)
• Wheat germ bran
• Asparagus
• Mushrooms
• Radishes
• Onions
• Beets (see note below)

A note on beets: Although beets, like most vegetables, are not high in nucleic acids, they’re still an important part of Dr. Frank’s diet. Beets contain an amino acid the body uses to create its own nucleic acid, plus they have another nutrient important to brain function. I recommend beet kvass as the best way to get this nutritional powerhouse into your diet. You can learn how to make great beet kvass in Cook Your Way to Wellness.

Category 6: Supplementation

Standard Process introduced a classic RNA supplement at the time Dr. Frank wrote his book, and it’s the best way to ensure your system gets sufficient RNA to correct any issues caused by its deficiency. Please don’t purchase this product online. To be sure it hasn’t been kept in a hot warehouse and hasn’t expired, I recommend you go to your local chiropractor, ND, or other Standard Process professional.

Category 7: Two More Body-Warming Suggestions from the Traditional Cook

Coconut oil: Unlike other fats, the medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil go directly to the liver. Here they are preferentially used as a source of fuel rather than packed away in lipoproteins or stored as body fat. This burst of energy stimulates the metabolism and causes a rise in body temperature.

Fermented cod liver oil: Sally Fallon Morrell calls this the number one super-food! It’s loaded with nutrition, and it’s a high-quality vitamin supplement. Green Pasture is the only company at this time that supplies fermented cod liver oil and high-vitamin butter oil. You can also get a butter oil/cod liver oil blend.

Two RNA-Rich Sardine Recipes

A nice fresh sardine sandwich, with or without bread, and a bowl of pinto beans or lentils with lots of fresh chopped onions both make super-charged RNA meals. You can also try Briana Nervig’s tender, flaky Portuguese-Style Marinated Sardines. Keep in mind that a child without a winter cold is probably a child with high RNA meals like these.

Sardine Sandwich

With bread: One or two thin slices of whole grain or coconut flour bread, one slice of sweet onion, and one can of drained sardines, whole or mashed, along with raw whole milk.

Without bread: Drain the oil or water from the sardines. Chop up some small red onions. Mix onions with sardines and fresh cream cheese (Nourishing Traditions, p. 87). Place in a lettuce wrap and enjoy.

Sardine Pizza

Ingredients
2 English muffins
½ cup spaghetti sauce (homemade)
2 tablespoons or more grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1 BPA-free can sardines (I suggest Wild Planet)
Garlic powder to taste
Oregano, fresh or dried, to taste

Instructions

1. Split the muffins and cover evenly with spaghetti sauce.
2. Layer with cheese, mashed sardines, and more spaghetti sauce on top. Add garlic powder and oregano to taste. If desired, sprinkle with more cheese.
3. Broil or bake till the cheese is melted and muffins are warm. Eat pizza with a glass of beet kvass.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

To choose your organically grown and fresh ingredients wisely, use the following criteria:

• chemical- and hormone-free meat
• wild-caught fish
• pasture-raised, organic eggs
• whole, unrefined grains
• virgin, unrefined, first-press organic oils
• whole-food, unrefined sweeteners
• pure, clean, spring water
• sea salt
• raw and/or cultured milk and cream products

Maria Atwood, CNHP

Maria Atwood is a semiretired Certified Natural Health Professional and Weston A. Price Chapter Leader in Colorado Springs, CO. Visit her website at TraditionalCook.com. Also check out Maria’s Cook Your Way to Wellness DVD (also available as an e-learning course) and be sure to follow her Tips from the Traditional Cook blog.
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