posted April 29, 2000 04:38 PM            

DNP was used as a fat loss diet drug in the 1930's. There was a 1% incidence of users developing cataracts though and since DNP was not listed as one of the ingredients in these dieting drugs, they were pulled from the market.

The thing that makes DNP so alluring to most bodybuilders is that it will boost your metabolism like no other drug out there. With even a low dosage, in the area of 3-5 mg/kg of bodyweight a day, it will rate your metabolic rate 30%. If this dosage is continued daily, it will raise your metabolism by 50%. At this rate you can burn about 1 lb. of fat a day. This product is very dangerous to use though. An overdose of only 4 times the recommended one will kill you. As far as this product raising your body temperature, it can raise it indefinitely as well. You can die or suffer brain damage after your body temperature goes over 104 degrees. DNP can raise your temperature much higher than that as well. If brain damage and death are not bad enough side effects to you, you can also suffer irreversible liver damage and/or kidney damage as well without even an overdose while using this product if you stay on it for too long.

DNP is known for cutting down on T4 to T3 conversion in the liver. For a person that is highly active and on a calorie restricted diet, DNP will deplete ATP within a matter of days. When this happens your body temperature will go back to normal. The only thing you can do at this point is supplement with Cytomel (see that page on more information) in the dosage area of about 150 mcg/day.

Keep in mind though that a dosage of 4 times this will kill you about 50% of the time. This is a very high, only 4 times the recommended dosage. This makes DNP a very deadly substance to Probably the most deadly thing a bodybuilder can take.

EPHEDRINE Ephedrine belongs to the group of sympathomimetics. Although it is not a hormone compound, we would still like to describe it briefly since it offers the athlete three interesting effects. First, ephedrine has clear fatburning characteristics. On the one hand, this occurs since ephedrine produces heat in the body (thermogenesis). Simplified, ephedrine slightly increases the body temperature so that the body burns more calories than usual. On the other hand, ephedrine stimulates the thyroid gland to transform the weaker LT-4 (L-thyroxine) into the stronger LT-3 (liothyronine), thus accelerating the metabolism. The fatburning effect, with the additional intake of both methylzanthine caffeine and aspirin, can almost be doubled. Scientific research has shown that the combination of 25 mg ephedrine, 200 mg caffeine, and 300 mg aspirin is ideal to produce a synergetic effect. Those who apply this combination three times daily, approximately 30 minutes prior to a meal, will significantly burn fat. Competing bodybuilders have appreciated this for quite some time. Second, ephedrine has anticatabolic characteristics. Thus if is especially useful for maintaining the muscle system while dieting. Finally, athletes often use ephedrine as a "training booster." Since it has a mild amphetamine-like effect on the central nervous system (CNS) it improves the concentration, vigilance, and the interplay of nerves and muscles. For this purpose, 25-50 mg ephedrine are taken approximately one hour before a workout. The athlete feels an immediate boost in energy which during workout can manifest itself in a 5-10% increase in strength. Again, also in this case, the effect can be improved by taking caffeine and aspirin (s.a.). It is important to note that ephedrine, administered for this purpose, is not to be taken more than three times a week; otherwise, the body gets accustomed to it and the "boost effect" decreases, and much higher dosages are needed.

Side effects can manifest themselves in the form of more rapid heart beat, insomnia, tremors (light trembling of the fingers),

headaches, dizziness, high blood pressure, and lack of appetite. The last characteristic, however, is much appreciated by athletes on a diet. Ephedrine must not be taken when high blood pressure, a severe hyperfunction of the thyroid gland, irregular heart rhythm, or a recent myocardiac infarction are present. In Europe ephedrine is a prescription drug which is mostly available in combination with other substances. Such a combination compound, for example, is the German drug Perspiran N, which contains an additional 25 mg ephedrine hydrochloride and 125 mg theophylline per tablet. Theophylline increases the effect of ephedrine. The Spanish Efedrina Level of Laboratorio Level S.A. Company can be found on the black market. A 50 mg tablet usually costs $ 10. The tablets are indented, with "EFEDRINX stamped on the back. Twenty-four tablets are packaged in a small white plastic box with a pull-off label. It is interesting to note that in the U.S. the substance ephedrine hydrochloride is not a prescription drug and is freely available while other stimulants and medicines used in sports are either unavailable or available only at high risk on the black market. In special magazines for bodybuilders one can always find ads freely offering Ephedrine. Until the time that this condition changes, Ephedrine is of no importance on the black market.