Ephedra Weight Loss Products
There were many weight loss products which contained ephedra until it was banned in the United States in 2003 and again in 2006. Many of them have replaced ephedra with some other ingredient which would work just as well as ephedra but is much safer to use. Some of the products that are now ephedra free are Trimspa x32, Metabolite, Metabolife, Metabolift, Diet Fuel, Energy Fuel, Everslender, Ripped Fuel, Shape-Fast Plus, Xenadrine, Ripped force, and Ultimate Orange. There are many more products that once contained ephedra are now ephedra free. Ephedra was banned in the United States because there were just too many reports of serious health issues caused by the ephedra. Ephedra was banned the first time in 2003 after the Food and Drug Administration had received over 800 reports of people suffering from strokes , heart attacks, and even some deaths from 1994 to 2003 from using ephedra products. Some people who did not think the ephedra was dangerous filed a petition with the court and in 2005 the ban was lifted and ephedra was once again allowed on the market. The court claimed that the FDA did not have enough evidence to prove that ephedra was dangerous if used in small amounts. The products were to contain no more than 10 mg of ephedra. The Food and Drug administration continued to receive reports of people suffering from heart attacks and strokes even when they only took the small amounts (some as little as 8 oz) of ephedra. There were reports of over 1,000 people who were hospitalized and at least 17 deaths from the use of products containing ephedra. The FDA tested some of the products which contained ephedra and found that some of them had more and some less ephedra than was stated on the bottle labels. Some of them contained no ephedra at all. The FDA took their evidence back to the courts and ephedra was banned for the second time in late 2006. The FDA felt that the numbers were just too high to just ignore the problem.
Ephedra is a shrub or a synthetic which was used for medicinal purposes for the common cold, nausea, vomiting, bronchial tube or lung congestion, to alleviate sweating, for shortness of breath, fever, water retention, cough, hay fever, sinus congestion, weight loss, energy booster, and sports performance booster. There were just too many side effects which were too serious to continue allowing it to be marketed in the United States. Some of the reported side effects were nausea, vomiting, high blood pressure, strokes, heart attacks, nervousness, anxiety, tremors, insomnia, allergies, psychosis, hives, itching, increased heart beat, rapid heartbeat, and death.
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