A mystery shrouded in darkness. This is what they say about the most effective energy and fat burner - Ephedrine. Find out if this drug is worth using or not? Many people know that Ephedrine is considered the most powerful fat burner today. At the same time, ephedra is considered an unknown nutritional supplement for most people. You can find many articles about synthetic Ephedrine, but in terms of its effect on the body, it is significantly inferior to natural Ephedra. Today you will find out the whole truth about the use of Ephedra in bodybuilding.
What is Ephedra and what is it used for?
Ephedra is by far the most popular thermogenic supplement. This substance is obtained from the mahuang plant that grows in Europe, America and Asia.
Synthetic Ephedrine is also derived from plant materials and is used in traditional medicine as a beta-2 agonist. The latest studies of Ephedrine have shown that the substance is also capable of acting on beta-3 receptors located in the white fibers of adipose tissues. Drugs that target beta-2 beta-3 receptors are considered the best fat burners.
Ephedra contains five alkaloids, and the most studied of them today is pseudoephedrine. This substance is included in a huge number of weight loss drugs. Mahuang contains norephedrine, methylephedrine, ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and norpseudoephedrine. Ephedra supplements contain 6 to 8 percent alkaloids.
Key differences between Ephedra and Ephedrine
The free sale of synthetic Ephedrine is prohibited in many countries, while the sale of herbal preparations is permitted. Since natural and synthetic substances consist of the same alkaloids, it is necessary to find out what the differences are between them.
Mahuang is the main source for obtaining active substances in the northern part of the American continent. As in the case of other active substances, in order to fully understand the mechanism of their concentration in the body, one should know about the concept of "half-life".
This is a period of time during which the body processes half of the received substance. If you have heard that a substance has a half-life of one day, then after this period the concentration of the substance will be half of that taken earlier. When five such time periods have passed, the substance will be completely removed from the body.
Synthetic Ephedrine is produced in tablet form and has a half-life of 5.7 hours. More recently, scientists have also determined the half-life of plant ephedra. For this, an experiment was carried out, during which the subjects received four capsules with 19.4 milligrams of ephedra.
This dosage of the herbal substance was not chosen by chance. When the half-life of a synthetic alkaloid was determined, its dosage was 20 milligrams. As a result, it was found that Ephedra has a half-life of 5.2 hours. Also very interesting are the results of the second study, in which scientists determined the effect of a single dose of Ephedra on the heart rate and blood pressure. In parallel with this, the half-life and the maximum concentration of the substance in the body were also studied.
Each capsule the subjects received contained a mixture of 100 milligrams of caffeine with 10 milligrams of ephedra. The second group took a similar mixture, but in a different proportion: 23.7 milligrams of ephedra and 175 milligrams of caffeine.
As a result, it was found that the mixture had a half-life of 6.06 hours, while ephedra had this figure 40 minutes longer than caffeine. Thus, we can say that plant and synthetic alkaloids have approximately the same characteristics.
Also, three time intervals were established, at which an increase in blood pressure was recorded. This phenomenon cannot be called clinical, since diastolic pressure practically did not change at this time.
Research on Ephedra and Caffeine Blend: Experiments and Results
Studies of the effect on the body of a combination of caffeine and ephedra have been cited quite often and certain conclusions can already be drawn on their basis. The most ambitious was the experiment, in which 167 people took part. The control group took placebo, and the work group took Ephedra in combination with caffeine.
The nutrition program for the milestones was standard, and the restrictions were only on the amount of fat consumed. The subjects were examined daily, and each of them kept a diary in which the readings of blood pressure and heart rate were recorded.
As a result, those who took the mixture of Ephedra and caffeine were able to burn twice as much body fat as the control group. The changes in the work of the heart were insignificant, as were the blood pressure. There were also no signs of arrhythmia.
Five participants in the experiment withdrew from further participation at an early stage of the study, considering the increase in blood pressure as a serious side effect. Although from a medical point of view, it was small, and did not pose any danger.
Some participants in the experiment noted disturbed sleep patterns and heart palpitations. Scientists believe that this is due to the rejection of one of the components of the mixture by the body, since these cases were isolated.
The result of the experiment was the conclusion of scientists that when using a mixture of ephedra and caffeine under the supervision of medical workers and in the presence of physical activity, the fat burning effect of the drug will be very significant.
From earlier studies, it can be concluded that the main effect on accelerating lipolysis is produced by ephedra, while caffeine enhances its effect. By itself, caffeine can only be used as a fat burner in high dosages.
For more useful information about Ephedra, see this video:
