Ephedra?

[milkman21]

JP's post in the caffeine discussion caught me by surprise...

I will never forgive the government for banning ephedra. That was the secret ingredient that, when combined with caffiene and aspirin, crippled your body's ability to store fat. But hey, a couple of idiot athletes died... Someone had to get all self righteous and pat himself on the back for stopping sales of such a dangerous substance.


I had always assumed ephedra was a very risky substance. Granted, this assumption was formed by the hysteria caused by mass media coverage, and entrenched by my time at the MH forums. I've never read any real research on the topic... but what's the story here? Dangerous?

[Jean-Paul]

Anything is dangerous if you don't follow directions. I don't necessarily think that everyone should be on ephedra, but I am mostly pissed that a bunch of fat ass hypocrites rush laws like this through congress when cigarettes kill over 300,000 per year.

[Jean-Paul]

Pulling the other topic over here, trans fats and HFCS have created a health epidemic, but those are fiercely protected by rabid lobbyists and their stooges in congress. Ephedra had some risks if you didn't follow the warnings and contributed to one famous dumbass who went into baseball summer training out of condition, dehydrated, and on some stupid hollywood diet and he's taking about 3 times the dosage, which he shouldn't have been taking any under his circumstances. He croaks and its suddenly a national crisis. I personally think he should have been nominated for the Darwin Awards.

It reminds me of shark attacks. The way they covered them a couple of summers ago you would have thought it was the year of the shark, that they were about to start coming up on land and attacking our children. Mass hysteria ensued, people stayed out of the water out of fear. Statistically shark attacks are actually much lower now than they were over a decade ago.

Congress doesn't want to tip the gravy boat, so they hop on any cause-celebre they can so they can look like they're earning their keep. Right now the big bipartisan hubbub is over violence in video games. *sigh*

[LunchboxMan]

could you elaborate on the actual mechanism that ephedra uses in preventing fat storage? i was under impression that the reason it *worked* was because it boosted your resting heart rate which in turn led to your BMR speeding up, etc. but preventing fat storage altogether? i've never thought of trying it because i am doing a marathon training program now with a lot of endurance running and this seemed like it would've been an overallkill on my system, but am i overanalyzing/being too paranoid here?

[Jean-Paul]

If I remember correctly, there are a couple of receptor sites that play the most important roles in fat storage or conversion of the fat cells contents into glucose. They combination of those three compounds shut down the one that stockpiles. It didn't necessarily speed up the ones that converted the cells contents, but since they are the only ones able to function, they really outshine in performance.

Incidentally, that is why no fat burner has really been able to work effectively since ephedra was taken off the market.

There were some risks involved. For example, you could take too much for too long without a break and suffer adrenal burnout. It does also trigger a fight-or-flight mechanism in the brain (whereby you release norepinephrine in high doses). This really jacked up the CNS, and it is also why people took it were about 14% stronger on it than without it.

More intense and heavy workouts also have a positive effect on your test levels, so it was pretty good for that as well. But once your body adapts to it, the effect lessens, which is why many people who took it sensibly would cycle it.

[Kevin Larrabee]

There is still an Ephedrine + Caffeine stack. I know its nothing like Ephadra based products, but its better than most. Hopefully we will see some companies come out with new ephedra products now that the ban is up. There are a few like F-edra on bulk nutrition and Lipodrine but they both use a diffrent form of ephedra than was previously used.

[Lost Dog]

I think mixing caffeine and ephedrine is the same thing. It's the same drug. It was never banned as a decongestant, so you could always get it (in Contac, for instance).

Some products contain psuedoephedrine, which is also a decongestant. But it is the worst thing you could take for burning fat. These products get lumped into the same category, due to the name. They are restricted from a "mass purchase" perspective in California, for instance.

[Brian A.]

I thought I heard Ephedra was comming back on the market, or was that just a rumor?

[Frank.S]

Although it made me loose alot of weight. Ephedrine HCl gave me a few side effects. I stacked it with Caffine btw.

I had no libido what so ever. Not right for a 19 year old male. My girlfriend was wondering what the hell was going on.

Also I could never sleep. But I guess thats just because it was effective.

I was back to normal 3 days after using it. So its not a big deal.

Next time I do it im going to be single though!!

[Kevin Larrabee]

Originally Posted by Frank.S

Although it made me loose alot of weight. Ephedrine HCl gave me a few side effects. I stacked it with Caffine btw.

I had no libido what so ever. Not right for a 19 year old male. My girlfriend was wondering what the hell was going on.

Also I could never sleep. But I guess thats just because it was effective.

I was back to normal 3 days after using it. So its not a big deal.

Next time I do it im going to be single though!!

Ya I had the same thing happen, now on HR extreme I am the complete opposite!!

[Kevin Larrabee]

I forgot to mention the reason why that happens to the men that take EC stack. The stack causes vaso-constriction. Basically your blood does not travel as fast as it usually would, causing soreness in your legs and overall slugishness.

[Lisa~]

That same vaso-contriction also causes a rise in blood pressure. In a healthy person this is nothing to worry about, but if you have a family history of high blood pressure then this is not the supplement for you.

Ephedra can be safe and is certainly the best fat burner supplement out there, but be smart about making the decision to use it.

Lisa

[Lisa~]

I know this is gonna date me, but does anybody else remember Ultimate Orange? I think that might have been the first ephedra product on the market. Wow, that stuff was soooooo awesome! I was in love with it! I called it my "herbal uppers" and that's what it was too. You felt GREAT, had super powered workouts and the feeling lasted for hours.

Until I realized my bp was sky high and it was probably stupid for me to be using it.

Lisa

[Buzz]

Originally Posted by Lisa~

I know this is gonna date me, but does anybody else remember Ultimate Orange? I think that might have been the first ephedra product on the market. Wow, that stuff was soooooo awesome! I was in love with it! I called it my "herbal uppers" and that's what it was too. You felt GREAT, had super powered workouts and the feeling lasted for hours.

Until I realized my bp was sky high and it was probably stupid for me to be using it.

Lisa

Wow! Another Ultimate Orange fan? I used that stuff to fuel all of my workouts. Really got the motor going.

[Lisa~]

Originally Posted by Buzz

Wow! Another Ultimate Orange fan? I used that stuff to fuel all of my workouts. Really got the motor going.

Yeah, it was pretty drug-like in it's effect. Not recommending it now, just want to be clear, lol, but those were good times.

Lisa

[Buzz]

Originally Posted by Lisa~

Yeah, it was pretty drug-like in it's effect. Not recommending it now, just want to be clear, lol, but those were good times.

Lisa

Are they still making this stuff?? I thought it was pulled from shelves?

[Lisa~]

No, no they're not, didn't mean to imply that.

[Buzz]

Originally Posted by Lisa~

No, no they're not, didn't mean to imply that.

Aha!! Found it!!

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/next/ult.html

I swore this stuff was banned?