How an ephedra based diet pill works

Do you feel like you needed help to get the results you want? Ephedra diet pill may help.

After adding an ephedra based diet supplement to your diet-and-exercise regimen, you may find it easier to lose the abdominal fat that had plagued you for years. Use it as a thermogenic supplement primarily, and secondarily as an energy-booster to exercise.

Looking to burn calories more efficiently and quickly, many gradually increased their intake of her fat-burner of choice from the recommended dosage to two pills, two or three times a day.

Ephedra Diet Supplements

We know ephedra based fat burners do work in many cases for many people, but they certainly aren't without risk. If you choose to take these products, here's what you need to know about their effectiveness, the risks involved and how to minimize your probability of experiencing adverse reactions.

Ephedrine comes from a plant called ephedra, a perennial shrub with about 40 different species that grow in regions of Asia, Europe, North America and South America. Many of the Asian and European varieties contain active constituents called ephedrine alkaloids (EAs). Ephedrine is the major EA. Chinese ephedra plants are known as mahuang, meaning "yellow astringent." (Ephedrine also occurs in the heartleaf plant Sida cordifolia.) In his newsletter "The Dietary Supplement," Paul Thomas, EdD, RD, notes that the Chinese have used mahuang for more than 5,000 years to treat conditions including asthma, colds, fever and even malaria.

Ephedrine products, sometimes called thermogenics, are sold in pill, drink and even bar form. They're often combined with caffeine and/or aspirin, as well as a variety of other herbs touted to help burn fat.

Caffeine is often added or "stacked" to ephedra based supplements, as it enhances and prolongs ephedrine's effects; the herb guarana is also a source of caffeine. "Studies suggest that ephedra works better with caffeine [up to 240 mg/day] for weight loss," says Thomas. If you do take a product stacked with ephedrine and caffeine, be especially cognizant of your caffeine intake at other times of the day. "Those consuming large quantities of [caffeinated] coffee, tea and soft drinks are at greater risk of adverse effects," notes Cliff Morris, MD, medical director of cardiac rehabilitation at the John Randolph Medical Center in Hopewell, Virginia. Especially if you consume ephedrine, limit your caffeine intake to 300 mg/day; 6 ounces of regular brewed coffee contains 103 mg caffeine. Additionally, stay well hydrated, as caffeine has a diuretic effect. We don't recommend stacking the two if you're sensitive to ephedrine or you're a heavy caffeine user.

You might also find aspirin, caffeine and ephedrine (ECA) in what's called an ECA stack. Aspirin is often added to fat-burner products because it appears to reduce urinary excretion of ephedrine, thus keeping it in the blood longer and prolonging ephedrine's stimulating effects.