Ephedrine


Ephedrine (also known as ma huang) is a potent herb used in relieving the constriction and congestion associated with bronchial asthma. The stimulant, which is also the key ingredient in the illegal drug "speed", is found in many muscle building, energy boosting, and weight loss products including the popular Metabolife 356‘.

Between 1994 and 1997, the FDA investigated more than 800 reports of side effects from ephedrine such as heart attack, stroke, and seizure, including 44 deaths. However, a government report released in August 1999 says that the FDA does not have the evidence needed to put restrictions on ephedrine. The FDA had proposed limits on ephedrine levels in supplements and warning labels recommending ephedrine products be taken for no more than seven days.

While ephedrine products have not been recalled by the FDA, they have been banned by the NCAA and the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Thirty IHRSA clubs indicated on their survey that they currently sell some form of ephedrine, but some health clubs and stores have voluntarily pulled it from their shelves. Bread and Circus Whole Food Markets, a Massachusetts chain, stopped selling about 12 products containing ephedra around the time the FDA warned in 1996 that the product was an "amphetamine-like stimulant" that can damage the heart and nervous system.

"You have to realize these things are potent cardiac stimulants, and when you are exercising and lifting heavy weights, you are already taxing your cardiovascular system, and all this does is make it work harder," University of Arkansas pharmacologist Bill Gurley told CNN. Gurley has analyzed approximately 20 ephedra products and found great variability in the amount of active ingredient, not only between products but also within the same brand. "If a conventional pharmaceutical company had this kind of quality control, the FDA would shut them down in a heartbeat."

(c)Kathleen DesMaisons 2006. All rights reserved.