Thus, the active substance called ephedrine is what is extracted from the ephedra plant.
It should be noted that there are many different types of ephedra - they vary in the amount of ephedrine they contain. However, the same alkaloid is present in any plant.
Besides ephedrine, ephedra extract also contains pseudoephedrine and N-methylephedrine.
The former is less active than ephedrine but more toxic. Although, in principle, it can be used instead of ephedrine, which is often done. The latter is a derivative of ephedrine and is usually not used in medical practice.
It turns out that extracting ephedrine from ephedra is quite labor-intensive. Therefore, a synthetic method of producing ephedrine was proposed back in 1925, which is still used to this day.
Ephedrine in Medicine
Only synthetic ephedrine is used in medical drugs, but when producing various supplements, the "good old" natural ephedrine obtained from ephedra extract is often used.
I mentioned that ephedrine is used in medical practice; it remains to find out exactly why this is done.
In China, ephedrine is called ma huang - it is believed that it was Chinese traditional medicine, where ma huang was used as an anti-asthmatic agent, that gave ephedrine a "ticket" to Western medicine.
For a long time, it was indeed used to combat asthma, although more potent agents are available today. But ephedrine hasn't disappeared from pharmacy shelves - it can be found, for example, in a product like "Bronholitin."
Ephedrine as a Fat Burner
Besides its primary purpose, ephedrine is used as a longer-acting substitute for adrenaline - the former excellently stimulates the release of the latter.
This property of ephedrine is also utilized in fat burners: in small amounts, adrenaline inhibits glucose assimilation and glycogen synthesis, but enhances tissue metabolism. Altogether, this forces the body to use an alternative energy source, namely, fat.
ECA: Ephedrine, Caffeine, Aspirin
ECA is the abbreviated name of a fat burner consisting of ephedrine, caffeine, and aspirin. Why are they needed in fat burners with ephedrine?
Caffeine
Caffeine is a fairly good psychostimulant, but it also has the ability to increase the body's energy expenditure.
By itself, this property might not be overly useful, but the combination of caffeine with ephedrine makes the latter more effective, prompting the body to mobilize more fat.
Moreover, this combination provides a powerful psychological boost, which can be useful when performing strenuous work. Thus, the ECA fat burner logically can also be used as a pre-workout complex.
Aspirin
Aspirin is not really necessary here; it is just believed that ephedrine promotes the aggregation (sticking together) of red blood cells, and aspirin can prevent this undesirable effect.
More often, complexes include not aspirin itself but its substitute - white willow bark extract (sometimes also omega-3 fatty acids), which has the same anti-aggregation properties but lacks the harmful effects of aspirin on the gastrointestinal tract.
It should be noted that other components may be included in ECA. Among those that can be considered real helpers of ephedrine and caffeine in getting rid of fat deposits, synephrine and yohimbine should be highlighted.
What's Bad About ECA?
If said in one word, nothing. Except perhaps increased excitability and, consequently, sleep disturbances. Ephedrine is somehow considered dangerous (or rather, used to be considered), but according to studies:
- it practically does not raise blood pressure, but even if such an increase occurs, this effect can be considered temporary
- it practically does not increase the heart rate - this effect was noted only in a small number of cases
- even if ephedrine had negative side effects, they would be mitigated by caffeine and aspirin (or its substitute)
- finally, ephedrine slightly, but increases the level of high-density lipoproteins ("good" cholesterol) and reduces the level of low-density lipoproteins ("bad" cholesterol) - this effect cannot be called negative at all.
Given my heart issues - doctors recommend I occasionally take caffeine. I have also repeatedly used "ECA fat burners," including quite "harsh" ones. And I had no consequences or problems with either blood pressure or pulse.
And no: ephedrine is not a narcotic substance. Of course, both it and pseudoephedrine are psychostimulants, but quite weak ones.
Worse, both can be used (and are used, it must be admitted) in the production of methamphetamine and ephedrone - and these are quite serious drugs.
So periodically, ephedrine (and even complexes containing it as just one of the components) is removed from free sale.
How to Take ECA?
To begin with, it's worth mentioning what to pay attention to when choosing a complex - of course, besides its quality and the manufacturer's reputation.
Ephedrine: the optimal single dose of ephedrine, if we're talking about weight loss, is 20-25 mg.
A greater amount causes too strong an adrenaline release, and in significant quantities, this hormone provokes protein destruction. Clearly, any tissue loss leads to weight loss, but our goal is certainly not to reduce muscle volume.
Caffeine: its optimal single dose is considered to be 200-250 mg, but the greatest "return" from this substance can be achieved by taking about twice that amount.
But don't overdo it, it's better to stick to a value of 4-6 mg per kilogram of weight (this is what researchers usually operate with). Or just take the optimal dose of caffeine approximately 250-350 mg. This is a single dose, there may be two or three such doses per day.
Though three is really for emergency cases, there really could be problems. So it's better to stick to two doses, taken 6-8 hours apart.
It's very beneficial to take one of the doses about half an hour before training - thus work in the gym (or running, cycling etc.) will be more productive.
And it's advisable not to take ECA later than 5-6 hours before sleep, to avoid problems with falling asleep. Although some modern complexes include adaptogens (rhodiola rosea, ginseng), as well as 5-HTP and GABA - they facilitate falling asleep.
Manufacturers recommend taking any of the ECA complexes after you have eaten, and indeed this is the best way to go.
But if for some reason you can't follow this rule, no big deal - the white willow bark extract included in the supplements does not have practically any irritating effect on the stomach lining - this is not aspirin.
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