posted July 25, 2000 10:36 PM            

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"Fear is the mind killer, it is the little death that causes total obliteration..."

posted July 25, 2000 11:06 PM            

You want to talk about a workout. Holy shit!

Used to do it all the time. Only downfall, you can blow a hole in your heart. No bullshit.

As far as being off the shelf, all depends on where you live. And don't buy ay of that poser pseudo-ephedrine. Waste of time.

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posted July 26, 2000 01:20 AM            

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Peace!Nate out.

posted July 26, 2000 04:40 PM            

I don't know where any of you got the idea that ephedrine is anti-catabolic. It is not.

Ephedrine-HCl is classified as a bronchiodiator, meaning it's FDA approved use is to help asthma patients open air passages to the lungs.

The reason for the energy boost is that some of the drug converts in body to epinephrine (adrenaline) and it's similarities to methamphetamines (it is a precursor to manufacturing meth).

There is plenty of information out on the drug. All the hype over the dangers of it, in my opinion, are simply that: hype. If taken as directed, there should be no problem. Most of the people suing the manufacturers had a pre-existing condition or decided to take the whole bottle at one serving. Not a good thing to do.

posted July 26, 2000 08:18 PM            

Bjaarki

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"'Til the weard of the world, stands, unforgotten,
high under Heaven, the hero's name." - Hrolf Krakki's Saga (Iceland)

posted July 26, 2000 08:27 PM         

Ephedrine is an alkaloid extracted from the ephedra plant. Ma Huang is a Chinese name for ephedra and is probably the most common ingredient in current moderately effective fat loss supplements. Ephedrine is classified as a sympathomimetic. As a sympathomimetic, ephedrine acts to stimulate the sympathetic nervous system. It does this by causing pre-synaptic nerve terminals to release noradrenaline (NA) into the synaptic space. It also has the effect of increasing circulating adrenaline (Adr), the body�s chief beta-2 agonist. Noradrenaline, once released into the synaptic space, interacts with adrenergic receptors on the surface of fat cells as well as many other cell types in the body including muscle. In fat, this initiates a sequence of events within the cells that increases lipolysis. In muscle it initiates a sequence of steps the increase protein synthesis and/or decreases protein break down.

The entire chain of events that occurs after administration of ephedrine goes as follows: 1) Ephedrine stimulates the release of NA from sympathetic nerve endings. 2) NA then binds to adrenergic receptors on the surface of all tissues that contain these receptors. Adipose tissue and skeletal muscle have abundant adrenoreceptors on their surface. 3) As NA binds to beta-adrenergic receptors, stimulatory guanine nucleotide regulatory proteins (Gs-proteins) within the cell membrane activate the enzyme adenylate cyclase. 4) Adenylate cyclase then converts ATP into 3'-5' cAMP. 5) cAMP then binds to the regulatory subunit of protein kinase A. 6) Once bound by cAMP, protein kinase A releases its catalytic subunit. 7) The catalytic subunit phosphorylates hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL), thus transforming it into the active form, HSL-P. 8) HSL-P then catalyzes a three step hydrolysis reaction to reduce triglycerides into glycerol and fatty acids. For a more detailed explanation of this process see "Pharmacological Approaches to Fat Loss: Targeting Beta-Adrenergic Receptors".

There has been a tremendous amount of research done on the effectiveness of ephedrine as a fat loss agent. The reason for this lies in the fact that researchers can not understand why such an effective weight loss drug isn�t more effectively utilized to combat America�s fat problem. They naively assume that if they put out enough scientific evidence that ephedrine is the most effective and safe fat loss agent we have, the medical community will take notice. Alas, they underestimate the power of drug companies and medical bureaucracies. Actually, most researchers fully understand why ephedrine isn�t being utilized, nevertheless, the can wash their hands of the whole greedy mess by doing their part to put out the research and let the responsibility lie in the hands of the FDA and AMA. Enough preaching. Now what about the research.

As many of you are aware, ephedrine is not nearly as effective unless combined with caffeine. This was demonstrated in a study looking at the effects of both compounds taken separately, combined, or as a placebo (Astrup 1992b)(Toubro 1993). In a randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind study, 180 obese patients were treated by a calorie restricted diet and either an ephedrine/caffeine combination (20mg/200mg), ephedrine (20 mg), caffeine (200 mg) or placebo three times a day for 24 weeks. Average weight loss was significantly greater with the combination than with placebo from week 8 to week 24. Weight loss in both the ephedrine only and the caffeine only groups was similar to that of the placebo group. These results clearly demonstrate the necessity of combining both ephedrine and caffeine when trying to effect fat loss. Not only is it necessary to combine ephedrine and caffeine to elicit a significant fat burning effect, but when taken together, caffeine and ephedrine exhibit synergistic effects in certain ratios. By comparing different ratios of ephedrine and caffeine, it was found that 20 mg of ephedrine and 200 mg of caffeine exhibited a synergistic effect while no other ratio did (Astrup 1991). This means that ephedrine and caffeine taken in a 1:10 ratio (20 mg ephedrine : 200 mg caffeine) creates effects greater than the sum of the two drugs added together. Don�t worry that most pure ephedrine is only available in 25 milligram tablets. This additional 5 milligrams will not significantly alter the synergistic effects of the combination.

There is an excellent study that demonstrated not only the fat burning effects of ephedrine and caffeine but also it�s muscle sparing properties. Fourteen subjects were treated with a ~1000 kcal diet and either E + C (20mg E + 200mg C) or placebo three times per day for 8 weeks in a double-blind study. The total weight-lost was not different between groups, but the E + C group lost ~10 lbs. more body fat and ~6 pounds less fat-free mass (Astrup, 1992). I don�t know about you, but that is more than significant in my book! This anti-catabolic/anabolic effect of ephedrine may even manifest itself when calories are not restricted. In my own experience I have been able to significantly reduce the amount of weight gained as fat during a good six week mass binge. The only problem I have experienced with this is the difficulty in eating a lot with no appetite. Oh, if that were the worst of my worries.

One final note about ephedrine and its effects during ketogenic diets. It has been my experience that while using ephedrine during ketogenic diets, you seldom enter true ketosis. This has been a major frustration of many clients. Realize that ephedrine not only increases fat mobilization, but it also greatly increases gluconeogenesis. In other words, as you cut out your carbs, ephedrine puts your liver into overdrive making more sugar from scratch (i.e. from amino acids). During blood glucose tests, readings seldom drop below 75 while taking at least 75 milligrams ephedrine and 600 milligrams caffeine per day, regardless of how low your carbohydrate intake. All I can say is don�t forget the real reason for trying a ketogenic diet in the first place. It is not a contest to see how long you can go without carbs or how deep you can go into ketosis without losing consciousness, it is simply a strategy to lose as much fat as possible in as little time as possible. Although ephedrine/caffeine seems to prevent deep ketosis, it also enhances fat loss and preserves muscle. I consider it an extremely valuable tool during any kind of diet including low/no carb diets.

Summary of Ephedrine

Compound:
Ephedrine

Reported Benefit:
Increase fat loss, decrease muscle loss.

Have controlled studies been performed?
Yes

Mechanism of action:
Ephedrine is an alkaloid that acts as a sympathomimetic and has thermogenic and anorectic properties

Interaction with other nutrients?
No

NOTE: Ephedrine�s effects are inhibited by insulin. Using ephedrine on high carb diets may be less effective at mobilizing fat stores. It�s anorectic effects seem to remain intact.

Effective dose:
75 milligrams per day taken in divided doses.

NOTE: Ephedrine�s effects can be greatly enhanced when combined with caffeine in a 10:1 ratio. For example, 200 milligrams caffeine with 20 milligrams ephedrine.

Proper dosing schedule:
Take 20-25 milligrams every four hours beginning one half hour before breakfast.

Toxicity?
Minimal in very high doses.

As with any drug, abuse may lead to detrimental side effects or reactions.

Conditions where may be effective:
Ephedrine is an effective fat loss agent under virtually all conditions.

NOTE: May people try combining ephedrine with clenbuterol. This is not effective nor is it recommended. The two compounds act through the same receptors. Clenbuterol simply speeds up receptor down regulation, greatly limiting the length of time either drug is effective.

Selected references:

Astrup A, Buemann B, Christensen NJ, Toubro S, et al. The effect of ephedrine/caffeine mixture on energy expenditure and body composition in obese women. Metabolism 1992 Jul;41(7):686-688

(b)Astrup A, Breum L, Toubro S, Hein P, Quaade F, The effect and safety of an ephedrine/caffeine compound compared to ephedrine, caffeine and placebo in obese subjects on an energy restricted diet. A double blind trial. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1992 Apr;16(4):269-277

Toubro S, Astrup AV, Breum L, Quaade F. Safety and efficacy of long-term treatment with ephedrine, caffeine and an ephedrine/caffeine mixture. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1993 Feb;17 Suppl 1:S69-S72

Astrup A, Toubro S, Cannon S, Hein P, Madsen J. Thermogenic synergism between ephedrine and caffeine in healthy volunteers: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Metabolism 1991 Mar;40(3):323-329