Ephedra Information

Ephedra is a substance that occurs naturally in plants. It is also known as a Chinese medicine by the name of Ma Huang. It has been used as a medicine for over 5000 years. The plants that produce ephedra are mainly grown in dry areas. In the early days of America, settlers made tea out of the plants to cure ailments such as fevers, headaches, and colds. Today- ephedra is still found in cold and allergy medicines. The compounds in ephedra do a great deal to treat the symptoms of conditions such as bronchits, asthma, and emphysema. Ephedra will usually speed up the metabolism of the user and and give the user extra enegy. With that, ephedra became a main ingredient in weight loss drugs and energy supplements.

After researching the effects of the ephedra side effects, the FDA has found ephedra to be dangerous. The FDA’s research shows that epehdra stresses the body’s cardiovascular system, and only shows potential for short term weight loss. The FDA has decided that the risk to consumer’s health outweighed the benefits of the weight loss. Research has shown that the side effects can become very dangerous when ephedra is combined with other stimulants.

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