Ephedra is an over-the-counter weight-loss supplement. While originally a traditional Chinese herbal remedy, ephedra-based products entered the mainstream fitness and sport performance supplement market in the 1980s. Despite their ability to increase energy and decrease appetite, ephedra's adverse side effects, which include death, led to its ban in in the U.S. in 2004.
History
Ephedra use began in China in 3,000 B.C. The first century A.D. text on Chinese herbalism by Shen Nong lists ephedra as a remedy for water retention, hay fever and bronchial restriction. The early Mormon settlers, who abstained from coffee and tea, drank an ephedra-based beverage, explains Wes Larsen, in a 1994 article featured in the "Journal of the Grand Canyon River Guides." During the mining era, this tea, which acted as a tonic, was the drink of choice in the waiting rooms at houses of ill-repute. Ephedra's active constituent, ephedrine, was isolated from the product in 1887. In 1924, physicians began using it as a bronchodilator and a decongestant. An ephedra-based product called Zoom entered the fitness supplement market during the 1980s. Other companies soon manufactured ephedra weight loss supplements.
Function
Ephedra is a central nervous system stimulant, explains specialists on the Sloan-Kettering website. This stimulation property contributes to ephedra's ability to suppress appetite. Its thermogenic qualities increase your metabolic rate, which may account for its success as a weight loss supplement.
Effects
Ephedra's success as a weight loss supplement does not come without a price. Side effects may include dizziness, headache, gastrointestinal disorders, irregular heartbeat and high blood pressure. A 2005 report published in the "American Journal of Psychiatry" linked ephedra use to psychiatric illnesses such as agitation, mania, hallucinations and suicide.
Types
Before the Food and Drug Administration ban, ephedra came in forms such as herbal powder, Ma Huang and Ma Huang extract and Chinese ephedra. Some sport performance enhancement drinks also contained ephedra. A "legal" form of ephedra weight loss supplements contains ephedra extracts, with the ephedrine, the dangerous substance, removed. Bill J. Gurley, Ph.D., a professor of pharmaceutical sciences in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, in an interview featured in the March, 2010 edition of "Consumer Reports" magazine, reports that these supplements are less harmful but ineffective for weight loss.
Warning
Death may be an additional negative side effect of ephedra weight loss supplements. In 1999, a personal trainer at Crunch Fitness suggested ephedra weight loss supplements to a client, which caused her to suffer a fatal stroke. Ephedra supplementation was linked to the death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler. Dr. David Badesch, Professor of Medicine in the Divisions of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine and Cardiology, and Clinical Director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Center at the University of Colorado at Denver, links ephedra weight loss supplementation to pulmonary hypertension, a disease characterized by high blood pressure in the lungs.
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