Ephedra-based Weight Loss Products

About 5,000 years ago, the Chinese discovered a medicinal plant called ma huang, which they used to treat respiratory disorders. The plant, explains the "Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide," contains ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, which are stimulants that constrict blood vessels. The stimulating effects of ephedra-based weight loss products increase your energy and curb your appetite, but not without significant risks to your health.

Appetite Control

Most ephedra-based weight loss supplements also contain guarana, a form of caffeine. These combined ingredients may stimulate a 2.1-pound-per-month weight loss, reports the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements. The combined stimulants suppress your appetite, but the reduced hunger often results from the nausea and dizziness that often occurs after consuming large doses of caffeine, reports the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. Adding ephedra to the caffeine mix may increase your nausea.

Aerobic Performance

The combination of the two ingredients may enhance your aerobic exercise performance for up to six hours after intake, says Dr. Gregory A. Brown, of the human performance laboratory at the University of Nebraska. Dr. Brown speculates that the caffeine in ephedra weight loss products lowers the perceived exertion rating you experience during aerobic exercise performance. A lowered perceived exertion rating may cause you to work harder and longer, thereby burning additional calories, but lowering your perceived exertion comes with significant problems. Your perceived exertion protects you from working beyond your target heart rate.

Ephedra-Related Deaths

The death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler in 2003 caused the Food and Drug Administration to take a careful look at this so-called miracle weight loss drug. Bechler, who had been taking ephedra supplements, suffered a fatal heart attack. Other ephedra-related deaths among athletes include those of Florida State University linebacker Devaughn Darling, Northwestern University football player Rashid Wheeler and New York State University (SUNY) at Albany football player Peter Schlendor, reports the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention. Professional and amateur athletes were not the only victims. Anne Capati, age 37, thought that she could trust her personal trainer at Crunch in New York, when he advised her to take ephedra for her weight problem. Capati, who was also taking prescription medicine for hypertension, suffered a fatal stroke.

Other Side Effects

Ephedra products potentially cause heat stroke, explains Neal L. Benowitz of the University of California at San Francisco. Benowitz told The New York Times that the supplement speeds up metabolism and creates extra heat, while constricting the blood vessels responsible for cooling. This poses specific dangers for people who are out of shape or significantly dehydrated. Other problems include kidney damage and psychosis. Pulmonary hypertension, which is high blood pressure in the lungs, is one of the more insidious ephedra side effects, says 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.