Thread: Ephedrine/Caffiene safety.

The whole article was really long, and i'm too tired to read it all, but this is the main point of the article.....

Landmark NIH-Sponsored Study

The background information on ephedra was meant to offer a full appreciation of the significance of the results of the latest study on herbal ephedra/caffeine. As you will see, results weren’t exactly what the anti-ephedra establishment had hoped for. The study was conducted by some of the leading obesity researchers in America at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital, Columbia University in New York and the Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School in Boston.16 In the study, 167 overweight but otherwise healthy men and women were randomized to participate in a double blind and placebo controlled study to determine the safety and efficacy of herbal EC supplementation.
Subjects ingested a placebo or an herbal EC supplement 30 minutes prior to eating each of three meals per day for six months. This provided a total of 90 milligrams per day of ephedrine alkaloids (from Ma Huang) with 192 milligrams per day of caffeine (from Kola nut). Compliance in taking the supplements was closely monitored and was reported to be approximately 90 percent for the placebo and EC groups. Subjects were given nutritional education and exercise counseling.

In addition, subjects underwent a comprehensive medical exam and a battery of tests that included determination of body mass; bioimpedance-determined body composition; waist and hip circumference measurements; a comprehensive blood profile (including glucose, blood lipids, liver and renal function tests, electrolytes, complete blood counts, and thyroid stimulating hormone); toxicological analysis of urine; a 12-lead ECG analysis; a 24-hour Holter monitor analysis to assess heart rate and cardiac arrhythmias; ambulatory blood pressure analysis to assess blood pressure throughout the day; and a symptom/side effect review. Subjects underwent testing following one, two, four, 12, and 24 weeks of supplementation.

Results revealed that herbal EC supplementation promoted a significantly greater decrease in body weight (-11.7 vs -5.7 pounds), body fat (-9.5 vs -5.9 pounds) and LDL cholesterol (-8 vs -0 mg/dl) while increasing HDL-cholesterol (+2.7 vs -0.3 mg/dl). These findings support previous research indicating that ephedra/caffeine supplementation promotes weight loss/fat loss and may improve blood lipid profiles. Although these findings are not new, the landmark nature of this study was the comprehensive manner in which side effects were monitored. Safety analysis revealed that herbal EC supplementation promoted small changes in mean heart rate (+4 vs -3 beats/minute) and mean 24-hour blood pressure responses obtained at one, two and four weeks of supplementation (+3 vs -5 mmHg).

However, no significant differences were observed in mean, minimum or maximum systolic or diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, resting 12-lead ECGs, or the prevalence of cardiac arrhythmia following six months of supplementation. The researchers concluded that the changes in heart rate and blood pressure were marginal and not of clinical significance in a healthy population. Additionally, herbal EC supplementation had no effects on markers of liver function, kidney function, thyroid function, electrolyte levels, or complete blood counts. Analysis of self-reported symptoms revealed that subjects taking herbal EC experienced a slightly greater incidence of dry mouth, heart burn and insomnia, while reporting less incidence of diarrhea. No differences were seen in the incidence of irritability, nausea, chest pain, palpitations, or the number and/or reasons that subjects withdrew from the study. The researchers concluded that “herbal ephedra/caffeine supplementation, when used as directed by healthy overweight men and women in combination with healthy diet and exercise habits, may be beneficial for weight reduction without significantly increased risk of adverse events.”

Originally posted by Yanick
healthy overweight men and women

I know what they mean, but that was kinda funny.

Hopefully this stuff works for me, just started a few days ago.