Ephedra Solaray
Solaray is a distributor of ephedra diet supplement products. Solaray ephedra also contained bitter orange and licorice. There are many products which contained ephedra because it was used for medicinal purposes for asthma, common colds, sinus congestion, bronchial tubes and lung congestion, weight loss, as an energy booster, and as a sports performance booster. The Chinese used ephedra for medication for lung problems for over 5,000 years. The Native Americans, Mexicans, and Mormons also used ephedra for medicinal purposes for many years. Ephedra id known by several different names. It is also called Squaw Tea, Desert Tea, Mormon Tea, Chinese Ephedra, Ma Huang, Herbal Ecstasy, and Epitonin. The ephedra plant is found in desert areas around the globe. The stems of the shrub were dried and made into a powder.
There were many dangerous side effects of ephedra reported to the Food and Drug Administration so they worked to get ephedra banned. Some of the side effects were heart attacks, strokes, rapid heart beat, irregular heart beat, insomnia, anxiety, tremors, seizures, nausea, vomiting, itching, hives, allergies, psychosis, high blood pressure, nervousness, and more. The FDA received over 800 reports of heart attacks and strokes and some deaths from people who had used ephedra so they filed their findings with the court and had ephedra banned in 2003. Then some manufacturers and individuals felt that ephedra was not as dangerous as the FDA claimed it was so they filed a petition to have the ban lifted on ephedra. The court agreed with the people so in 2005 the ban on ephedra was lifted. The court felt that the FDA did not have enough evidence to prove that ephedra was dangerous when taken in small amounts. So the products were not to contain no more than 10 mg of ephedra. The FDA continued to receive reports of people suffering from strokes and heart attacks while only taking small doses of ephedra (as small as 8 mg). The FDA received over 1,000 reports of emergency hospitalization of users of ephedra and at least 17 deaths. The FDA had some tests done on some of the ephedra products to determine how much ephedra was in each dose of the products. The tests concluded that many of the products did not contain the amount of ephedra that was stated on the label. Some products contained more ephedra and some contained less ephedra than was on the labels. Some of them did not contain any ephedra at all. The FDA took their findings and reports back to the courts and ephedra was banned in the United States for the second time. There are some safe alternatives that work just as well but without the dangerous side effects. No medication is worth losing your life over. Why destroy one part of your body (or your life) to try to cure another part?
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