Pure Ephedra Caps
It may be difficult to find pure ephedra caps on the market today. Especially if you live in the United States because ephedra was banned in 2006 by the Federal Court and the Food and Drug Administration. If you live in another country you may still be able to get ephedra. If you do, be careful because ephedra was proven to be dangerous even when taken in small doses as little as 8 mg per dose. Heart attacks, strokes, and even death as well as many other side effects has been reported to the FDA from users of ephedra products. Ephedra is a shrub found in different desert regions around the world. Ephedra was also made synthetically. Ephedra is also known as Squaw Tea, Ma Huang, Herbal Ecstasy, Epitonin, Mormon Tea, Chinese Ephedra, and Desert Tea. It can be lethal or at least life threatening if ephedra is mixed with aspirin (willow bark, salicytes, salicylic acid) or caffeine (kola nut, guarana, cocoa extract) and some of the products contained all three of these ingredients. Other side effects experienced from products containing ephedra were rapid heart beat, irregular heart beat, insomnia, anxiety, high blood pressure, nausea, vomiting, allergies, hives, itching, psychosis, tremors, nervousness, seizures, and more. Ephedra was just too dangerous to ignore. The numbers of people suffering from health issues, often severe, were just too great.
The FDA received more than 800 reports of health issues from people using ephedra products and some deaths from 1994 until 2003 when the FDA got ephedra banned for the first time. Some people did not agree with the FDA and felt that ephedra was not as dangerous as the FDA was saying it was so they got a petition together and filed it with the Federal Court in 2004 and in 2005 the court agreed with the people and lifted the ban on ephedra. They felt the FDA did not provide enough evidence to prove that ephedra was dangerous when used in smaller amounts less than 10 mg. The FDA continued receiving reports of serious illnesses caused by ephedra and from 1997 until 2006 they had received over 1,000 reports of hospital emergencies and at least 17 deaths caused by products containing ephedra. The FDA had some of the products tested and some of them contained more ephedra and some less than what was stated on the labels of the products and some contained no ephedra at all. It seemed that the companies were mislabeling the products to make more sales. The FDA filed their evidence and reports with the court again and this time the court agreed with them and banned ephedra in the United States for the second time in 2006.
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