Most Ephedra Diet Pills Do Not Contain Ephedrine. How Can You Tell?
By FitScientist | Posted under Ephedra Diet Pills | 14 CommentsEphedra Diet Pills: What is on the Label?
Look very carefully at how the key ingredient from a popular ephedra diet pill product appears on the supplement facts label:
Ephedra extract (25 mg)
This has become a common way for this ingredient to be listed ever since the FDA got involved in regulating the availability of ephedrine. However, this ingredient does not tell you whether it contains ephedrine. Otherwise it would clearly state how much the product actually contains in milligrams. In fact, an ingredient listed this way almost certainly contains no ephedrine at all. The ephedra extract is probably from a species that does not contain actual ephedrine.
The main reason that this is so misleading is that ephedra is a botanical name for about 40 different species of plants. They naturally produce a specific class of natural products called alkaloids. Most of them contain very low levels of alkaloids and little or no ephedrine. This includes all American species.
How to Tell Whether a Product Contains Ephedrine
Of course, one way is to see the amount alkaloid itself, listed in milligrams.
Another way is to see the correct species name, Ephedra sinica, on the ingredients label. This is Chinese ephedra, which is also known as ma huang. Just the word ephedra by itself is not informative.
You may also see Pakastani ephedra (Ephedra gerardiana), which also contains ephedrine. For comparison, the concentration in ma huang can range from 7,300 to more than 16,000 ppm in the green tissues, whereas Pakastani ephedra may get as high as 7,000 ppm.
These data are summarized in the Phytochemical Database by James Duke at the USDA. If you visit his site, you will also notice that Ephedra nevadensis, which is an American species, contains no detectable amount of ephedrine.
How Much Ephedrine Are You Getting?
Aside from the products that contain none, how can you tell the amount of active ingredient in the real thing? The best products will state the amount clearly. If not, then you can estimate the natural concentration. Green tissue (no such thing as typical leaves) will contain about 0.8 percent alkaloids by dry weight. Ephedrine can be as much as 90 percent of the total alkaloids.
As an example, one product states that it contains 167 mg of the aerial parts of Ephedra sinica per capsule. The total alkaloid content would be about 0.8 percent of 167 mg, or 1.34 mg, of which 1.20 mg would be ephedrine itself. The label on this particular product also states that each dose is standardized to contain 10 mg of ephedrine, which is clearly incorrect.
What About Weight Loss Results?
Clinical studies typically used 72 mg or more of total ephedra alkaloids (meaning as much as 65 mg of ephedrine) to induce significant weight loss. Currently it is almost impossible to get such high dosages in the U.S. For this reason, weight loss products offer additional ingredients for increasing metabolism.
The most common metabolism booster is caffeine, which works fine. However, when green tea extract is the source, it offers the added benefit of a compound called EGCG. Research shows that EGCG is a highly active antioxidant that is better for reducing weight than the caffeine itself.
And the Bottom Line Is…
People have successfully used a wide variety of ephedra-containing products for weight reduction. Some of them contain ephedrine and some do not. This just means that no general recommendation will be the best for everyone. Although this may seem unsatisfying, the best advice is simply to experiment to find what works for you.
All the best with ephedra weight loss,
FitScientist
by Sal
Well Dr where can I find these types of pills are you selling them please email me back
by adminpfr
No, I do not sell them. Take a look at supplementstogo.com … they have just about everything that you can imagine.
All the best,
Dennis
by Christine
Dr.,
If a pill says it contain ephedrine from ephedra extract or from ma huang extract, does it mean it doesn’t contain real ephedrine?
by adminpfr
Hi, Christine:
Well, if a label is so bold as to say it contains ephedrine, then it is supposed to contain ephedrine. The truly misleading labels say something about ephedra alkaloids from different species than Ephedra sinensis (true Ma Huang), although ephedrine isn’t among them. Thanks for the great question!
All the best,
FitScientist
(Dennis)
by Bob
I looked on supplements to go and frankly I don’t see ephedrine… All I see is the same come-on bs that everyone else peddles and it’s very hard to seperate the ephedra products from the real ephedrine.
If they have a real ephedrine product suitable for bodybuilders please tell us exactly what it is or link us to it.
by FitScientist
Thanks for adding your point, Bob. That is exactly what my message is. The whole issue is pretty stinky. What I would suggest is to do a search for ‘ephredine 10 mg’ or something like that, since that is the dosage limit that is still approved. Suppliers are so skittish about this topic that they come and go too frequently for me to recommend one to you. It should be easy to find one, though. Otherwise, you might want to take your chances with an offshore supplier such as pharmacyescrow.com. They are pretty reliable.
All the best,
Dennis
by SCOTT
LOOKING FOR REAL EPHREDINE! PLEASE CONTACT ME SUPERIORCLEANING1983@YAHOO.COM
by FitScientist
Hi, Scott…a quick search on Google yielded this at the top of the page:
http://www.netnutri.com/browse.cfm/2,263.html
See what you think. I do not carry ephedrine products.
All the best,
Dennis
by Brandon
okay well I took your advice and searched “ephedrine 10mg” and i found a product with a lable looking like this
Active Ingredients Amount Per Serving
Ma Huang Extract (10mg ephedrine group alkaloids) 167 mg
Guarana Seed Extract (Standardized for 100mg caffeine) 455 mg
L-Camitine 50 mg
Chromium 50 mg
just wondering if this looked like what you were talking about i figure it is, since they are bold enough to say 10 mg of ephedirne on the active ingredients
by Ally
Dr.
I found “Pure Mu Haung Capsules”
It says they contain “Ephedra sinica extract-Ariel parts 833mg”
Does this sound like a good ephedrine diet pill?
Thank you- Ally
by FitScientist
Way to be persistent, Brandon. This is exactly what I was talking about.
by FitScientist
Pure Ma Huang should be the real thing. Too bad they didn’t clearly state how much ephedrine, though. It does occur in the arial parts (i.e., the green photosynthetic tissue)>
by kristine
Does this have real ephedra?
Supplement Facts
120 capsules
Nutrition Information
Serving Size: 2 Caps
Servings per Container: 60
Active Ingredients Amount Per Serving
Ephedra Extract 27 mg
Bitter Orange (from Citrus Aurantium) 170 mg
Synephrine Extract 30%
Phenylethylamine HCL 150 mg
Acacia Rigidula (95%) 150 mg
Theobroma CoCoa 100 mg
Green Tea Extract 120 mg
45% Epigallocatechin Gallate (ECGC)
Naringen 30 mg
Pure White Willow Bark Extract 300 mg
Evodiamine (98%) 10mg
Proprietary TriENRG (Researched blend of pure, natural caffeines yielding 200mg – total caffeine):
Kola Nut Extract
Yerba Mate
Guarana Extract 300 mg
Proprietary YohimatrixT (Synergistic combination of three dfferent chemical preparations of the energy herb -Yohimbe):
Yohimbine HCL
11-Hydroxy Yohimbine
Alpha-Yohimbine 10 mg
Other Ingredients:
Microcrystalline Cellulose, dextrose, sodium starch glucolate, magnesium stearate, stearic acid, silica and FD&C Green #3
by FitScientist
Hi, Kristine:
It does not clearly state the ephedrine content – just ‘Ephedra Extract’ – so I’d suspect that it contains no ephedrine at all.
All the best,
Dennis