AMEN ON OREXIN, ENERGY & ALERTNESS

I am often asked why I appear so energetic and alert, especially during the mid-day period when the vitality of everyone around me is visibly waning and they wearily labor to make their minds and bodies hearken to their unheeded harangues. Commonly, such queries come from those who are informed that I fast for 23+ hours each day and do not dine until around the witching hour (i.e. near midnight). Assuredly the short answer to the incredulous inquiry is the Amen Regimen. But to those with a mechanistic or molecular bent, it might be more meaningful to understand the underlying actions that ensue when one subjects oneself to the ascetic discipline that encompasses Amenism. Of course, this is annunciated (‘usque ad nauseam’ the light of mind might say) in the encyclopedic pages of AIR. But the beauty of the Architekton’s ‘Octology’ (that is, the 8-Volume AIR Opus) is that its depth and breath allow ample opportunities to integrate accreting information and insights. Often these insights are not entirely new to the AIR edifice; rather, they simply refine our understanding of an intervention or phenomenon that is already entrenched or operative in our System. Such is the case with findings on the effects of intermittent fasting on the hypothalamic hormone hypocretin/orexin and the association of the later with alertness.

The central study the Author wishes to highlight herein is one of several interesting investigations that employ the Ramadan ritual as a rough rendition of rigorous, authentic cyclic fasting.* Summarily, subjects observing the ritual (entailing abstaining from eating from sunrise to sunset) exhibited increases in the hypothalamic hormone, orexin—a molecule known to mediate alertness in multiple animal models. Similar to our discussion of the gut-hormone, ghrelin, I call to the Reader’s attention the intuitive evolutionary adaptiveness of alertness and mental acuity under conditions of food deprivation: animals must be inclined to focus attention in order to find food when their hunger is heightened, often to remember the location of such food, and to energetically acquire sustenance through foraging if herbivores such as simians (including Man) are in question. The actions of orexin accord with this reasoning. Further, it fits with the Circadian Order that is apparent in Amenism—that is, the abundance of energy to execute life’s demands during the day, the tranquilizing calm experienced after evening exercise, the pleasurable feeling of salubrious satiety promoted by our Holy Nocturnal Repast, and the restful, restorative slumber that we enjoy when we repose for the night, secure in the righteous reflection that we have wisely accounted for our time and energy.

Evidence relating to orexin appears in the Eighth Volume of the AIR Octology. Though the Author cannot confidently say when this shall be complete, Readers are rewarded with regular revelations regarding the unrivaled merits of the Amen Regimen along with mounting material extant in the Tractates of Volumes I through III. For now, admirable Adherents, this must suffice....

Dr. Nun Sava-Siva Amen-Ra, Dr.PH, MA, MSW
Ascetic, Educator & AIR Architekton
18 February MMXVIII

[*Note, Neophytes, that a Ramadan fast may mean merely abstaining from feeding for 8 hours whilst awake. It is routine for observers of Ramadan to dine directly after sunset, rouse themselves for a nighttime meal and arise early before sunrise for Suhur proper—the predawn meal. Without minimizing the merits of such observance, it does not demand the same discipline as the Amen Fast. Still, the physiological improvements in several health indices owing to Ramadan replicated in study settings is impressive and underscores the benefits derivable from intermittent fasting, even of the attenuated variety.]