EPHEDRA

Dietary supplements that include ephedra, a naturally occurring substance, have been found to pose a risk of serious injury and death:

  • Heart attacks
  • Strokes - Caused by high blood pressure causing blleding in the brain
Ephedra is a substance that is found in plants. The principal active ingredient is ephedrine, which is an amphetamine like chemical compound that can strongly stimulate the human nervous system and heart. Ephedra products, such as Metabolife, have, in recent years, been marked as dietary supplements that claim to be capable of producing weight loss, energy increase, and enhanced athletic performance. Some of the products which have been known to include ephedra are:
  • Ripped Fuel (TwinLab Laboraories)
  • Diet Fuel (TwinLab Laboraories)
  • GH Fuel (TwinLab Laboraories)
  • Clenbutrx (Vital Pharm, Inc.
  • BetaLean HP (EAS)
  • Diet Pep (Natural Balance, Inc.
  • Diurlean (ISS Research)
  • Dyma-Burn Xtreme (Dymatize Nutrition)
  • Herba Fuel (TwinLab Laboratories)
  • MetaboLift (TwinLab laboratories)
  • Chinese Ma Huang (Gaia Herbs, Inc)
  • Lipokinetix (Syntrax Innovations, Inc.
  • Ultimate orange (Next Nutrition, Inc)
  • UltraCuts (bioPlex)
  • Vasopro (Mega Pro International
  • Adipokinex (Syntrax Innovations, Inc)
  • ThermoPlex (Bioplex)
  • Thermogenic Power (Nature's Herbs)
  • Chinese Ephedra (Frontiers, Inc)
  • MetaCuts (Metaform)
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a final rule on April 12, 2004, banning the sale of dietary substances that contian ephedrine alkaloids and has also advised consumers to stop using dietary supplements copntaining ephedra. Withdrawn from the market under this rule are all dietary supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids, such as ephedra, Ma Huang, Sida cordifolia and pinellia. However, many traditional Chinese herbal remedies have not been withdrawn. The ban also does not apply to products such as herbal teas, because they are regulated as conventional foods instead of dietary supplements. Furthermore, products regulated as drugs that contain chemically synthesized ephedrine were not withdrawn because they are not dietary supplements. These substances would include drugs used for short term treatment of asthma, bronchitis, and allergic reactions.