Read our articles about Ephedra-free fat burning supplements

Ephedrine

Ephedrine is a great pretender. It mimics effects of the stress hormone adrenaline (epinephrine) which is released by adrenal glands into the bloodstream. Naturally, this is the body's response Tao danger: it triggers the "fight or flight" syndrome and targets many tissues of the body, including those of heart, muscles and fat mobilizing them to face and manage the danger. Ephedrine elicits pretty much the same set of bodily reactions, causing an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, heat production and fatburning.

One positive thing about ephedrine is that the body can adapt to its negative effects while continuing or even enhancing the fat-burning response. Because of its stimulating effect on muscle tissue, ephedrine also helps preserve muscle mass during weight loss on a calorie-restricted diet.

Since Ephedrine is so good a stress-mimicking drug (yes, drug!), people are trying to use it to heighten the metabolism. They are doing it for thousands of years, they did it even before knowing they were dealing with Ephedrine in the form of a herb. So it does work, isn't it? Yes it does. It does increase the metabolism. However, let us go through the facts step by step.

Ephedrine and ephedrine plus caffeine increase energy expenditure by increasing the amount of heat released after a meal. However, aspirin does not further increase this effect of ephedrine and caffeine. (2)

Is It Safe?

Manufacturers of herbal phen-fen, ma huang and other ephedra supplements claim their wares as "clinically proven fat burners" that will "increase your calorie-burning energy level." This may be true, but consumers need to keep in mind:

1. that herbal drugs are not subject to stringent FDA standards;
2. it's very difficult to control the exact dose of an herbal preparation in a non-standardized formula; and
3. increased dosages can lead to serious health problems, including heart attack, psychosis (3) and stroke. (The usual scenario is that after trying and failing on the recommended doses, people increase the intake up to dangerous, sometimes deadly ones.)

Side effects include headaches, heart rhythm abnormality (4), nervousness and insomnia.  Dieters overdosing on ephedrine may be at risk of developing kidney stones derived mainly from metabolites of ephedrine. They also maybe prone to drug or alcohol dependency. (5) Further, eating disorders and disorders of body image appeared to bee specially prevalent among ephedrine users. (3)

Researchers in the Department of Human Nutrition, Copenhagen, Denmark, investigated the effects of 20 mg ephedrine and 200 mg caffeine mixtures on fat burning and weight loss. They came to the following conclusion:
 

"We conclude that the ephedrine/caffeine combination is safe and effective in long-term treatment in improving and maintaining weightloss. The side effects are minor and transient and no clinically relevant withdrawal symptoms have been observed. The combination has shown superiorweight-reducing properties when compared with either ephedrine alone (20 mg) or caffeine alone (200 mg) three times a day." (1)

At Harvard Medical School, safety and efficacy of combination of ephedrine (75 to 150 mg), caffeine (150 mg) and aspirin (330 mg) was tested for eight weeks. During the study, an average weight loss of 3.2 kg was observed, compared to the 1.3 kg weight-loss average of the placebo group. After five months on ECA, average weight loss was 5.2 kg compared to 0.03 kg gained in the placebo group.

The authors concluded:
 

"No significant changes in heart rate, blood pressure, blood glucose, insulin and cholesterol levels; and no differences in the frequency of side effects were found. ECA in these doses is thus well tolerated in otherwise healthy obese subjects, and supports modest, sustained weightloss even without prescribed caloric restriction, and may be more effective in conjunction with restriction of energy intake.

"The combination of ephedrine and caffeine significantly improved endurance-prolonging exercise time to exhaustion, compared to placebo. Neither ephedrine nor caffeine treatments alone significantly changed time to exhaustion. The improved performance was attributed to increased central nervous system stimulation."

1. International Journal of Obesity & Related Metabolic Disorders, 17, S73-77
2. European Journal of Applied Physiology & Occupational Physiology77(5):427-33, 1998
3. British Medical Journal, 313(7059):756, 1996
4. Journal of Emergency Medicine, 17(2):289-91, 1999. A 21-year-oldmale presented to the emergency department with an initial blood pressureof  220/110 mmHg and heart rhythm abnormality after ingesting fourcapsules of herbalecstasy.
5. American Journal on Addictions, 7(4):256-61, 1998
 6. Journal of Emergency Medicine, 17(2):289-91, 1999.