Table
of Contents
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Articles*
1)
Guest Article: Will Brink On The Ephedra Controversy
2)
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1)
Guest Article: Will Brink On The Ephedra Controversy
With
the recent and most unfortunate passing of Baltimore Oriole
Steve Bechler, the media has driven the anti-ephedra sentiment
to a fever pitch. As much as I'd like to rant about this,
and compare the relative safety of ephedra (incidents VS.
millions of doses), to innocuous over-the-counter drugs like
aspirin, I won't. Despite the fact that there are often more
ephedra-alkaloids (pseudoephedrine) in your over-the-counter
cough and cold medicine than in the average fat burner, I
won't rant about that either.
Oh,
right. I AM ranting.
OK,
OK, I'll stop. Here's what I'll do -- first, if you haven't
seen my new article, "Did Xenadrine Kill Steve Bechler?",
you can read it online...
http://www.ultimatefatburner.com/xenadrine_steve_bechler.html
Otherwise,
I'm going to let Will Brink take the ephedra issue from here.
Will's a well known and respected supplement guru and consultant,
as well as a Harvard graduate. He's the author of the superb
"Diet
Supplements Revealed" and the newly released "Muscle
Building Nutrition" (I've reviewed both on Ultimatefatburner.com)
(Printed
by permission)
---
Intro
from Will Brink:
The
anti ephedrine camp seems to be making another wave of
worthless emotional based statements, which as usual, lack
any real data. This tactic is of course an old one.
As
the man once said:
'All propaganda has to be popular and has to adapt its
spiritual level to the perception of the least intelligent
of those towards whom it intends to direct itself.'
Adolf Hitler, Mein Kamp
Most
of you may have heard of a new 'study' supposedly showing
how dangerous ephedrine is and the death of baseball player
Steve Bechler is being blamed on ephedrine.
Both
are complete shams!
Ok,
below is my lay commentary of this 'study' followed by
BrinkZone members Doug Kalman MS, Jose Antonio, Ph.D.,
FACSM, and Richard B. Kreider, PhD, letter to the editor of
the journal that published the study with a nice analysis
of
the data of the study.
Finally,
is a link to a press released from Miami Research
Associates (also written by Doug Kalmen) that looks at the
death of this base ball player the media is blaming in
ephedrine.
Enjoy
the read
..........
'Anti
Ephedrine Campaign's latest bogus study'.
By Will Brink
Well
gang, the anti supplement powers that be, are at it
again with a new 'study' that supposedly shows the dangers
of ephedrine.
Typical
of the 'don't confuse us with the facts' media, this
study is being plastered all over the news and held up as
a
reason to pull ephedrine containing products off the market.
At
this point, it appears they are so desperate to find
proof that ephedrine is a health hazard, they are willing
stretch the truth to absurd levels.
What
am I referring to? A new study called 'The Relative
Safety of Ephedra Compared with Other Herbal Products
published in Annals of Internal Medicine (2003;138:000-000).
This
study is not bad science, it's not science at all.
What
the authors did was examine reports put into the
American Association of Poison Control Centers Toxic Event
Surveillance System Database Annual Report for 2001, and
make conclusions about the safety of ephedra based on
those numbers.
For
example, the authors state:
'Ephedra
is widely used in dietary supplements that are
marketed to promote weight loss or increase energy; however,
the safety of this product has been questioned because of
numerous case reports of adverse events.'
Translated:
they have already decided that ephedra is unsafe
and are going to prove it no matter what they have to do.
Hence, the authors were biased (more on that in a minute)
from the start and made it their job to confirm their biased
belief.
Basically
what these authors did was compare the adverse
reaction reports from American Association of Poison Control
Centers Toxic Event Surveillance System vs reports on other
herbs and shock of all shocks, conclude that compared to
other herbs such as ginko and kava, that ephedra has more
side effects.
Well
Duh. They concluded that ephedra containing products
accounted for 64% of all reported adverse effects from herbs
compared with kava and Ginkgo biloba (see letter data
showing that's not even true).
They
state:
'This
risk was defined as the ratio of adverse reactions to
ephedra versus other products, divided by the ratio of their
relative use in the United States.'
Translated:
a fancy way of saying that they compared apples to oranges
(ephedrine Vs ginko or Kava) and concluded ephedrine accounted
for a higher rate of reported side effects.
This
is equivalent to comparing coffee (a stimulant) to
fruit juice and coming to the shocking conclusion that
coffee has more side effects than fruit juice!
Now,
why didn't they compare it to say other diet products,
in particular diet drugs with similar mechanisms?
You
would find that pharmaceutical diet drugs are involved
in considerably more adverse events than ephedrine based
products, and those events, on average, are of a more
serious nature.
(Very
Important Point....)
Let's not forget the recent study published in the Journal
of Strength and Conditioning Research, that found an
ephedrine caffeine based supplement was superior for
weight loss with less side effects than the popular diet
drug Xenical (Orlistat), one of the most commonly
prescribed diet drugs in the United States.
Of
course, in truth none of this info from this new report
from the Poison Control Centers can be used to represent the
true risk of any drug or nutrient as it is simply people
calling into claim some product made them ill.
It
does tell public health officials if some product in
particular should be looked for un expected side effects,
etc, but it's of little use in making real decisions
regarding the safety profile of any drug or nutrient.
That's
what true double blind placebo controlled human
studies are for, of which there are MANY with ephedrine.
What
about those studies with ephedrine? Every single study
to date with more than a decade of research-has concluded
the side effects are minor, transient, and short lived.
The
authors didn't bother to mention any of the real data
that exists on ephedrine but focused on a single study that
had a high drop out rate from the study.
Of
course ephedra is not without risk and there are many
people who should not use it, such as those with high
blood pressure and other contraindications, but as weight
loss compounds go, it is exceedingly safe.
Safer
in fact than most over the counter medications found
in stores, such as aspirin and acetaminophen.
Bottom
line is, considering the billions of doses sold of
ephedra containing products and the millions of people using
such products, the number of adverse events reported is
amazingly small.
The
authors of this bogus study conclude:
'Ephedra
use is associated with a greatly increased risk for
adverse reactions compared with other herbs, and its use
should be restricted.'
Translated:
they had an agenda to show ephedra was unsafe,
and found a unscientific way of showing it Vs following the
real data that exists or comparing ephedra to drugs for the
same purpose that are more toxic than ephedrine.
But
wait, it gets better.
If
you recall I mentioned the authors were clearly biased.
Why? All of the authors of this so called study have worked
for various lawfirms who are involved in anti-ephedra
lawsuits!
That's
right, the authors of this report are paid by law
firms and called as expert witnesses in cases against
companies (e.g., Cytodyne, MuscleTech, Next Nutrition,
TwinLabs, GNC, Phoenix Labs, Chemins Labs, etc.) that
produce and market supplements containing ephedra!
Yes
folks, that's how low the anti ephedra camp is willing
to go; to any lengths to get ephedra banned, and the fact
based on science be damned.
If
you would like to read the full study can view it on
line at:
http://www.acponline.org/journals/annals/ephedra.htm
And
if you would like to view the annual poison control
data to see what crazy things are reported can see it at the
Poison Control Center web site at:
http://www.aapcc.org/
Finally...
If
you want to see my opinion on the best ways to use
ephedrine based products, avoid side effects, etc,
should read my book Diet Supplements Revealed found at:
http://www.aboutsupplements.com
If
you want more of my opinions on supplements that build
muscle mass you can find that information and in my latest
ebook Muscle Building Nutrition here:
http://musclebuildingnutrition.com
2)
Server Crash -- Grab the Free Cookbook Now!
My
usually fantastic server company has had me pulling my hair
out in frustration over the last little while -- crashes,
downtime, and that's not all! Recently they lost all of my
data, replacing it with the most recent backup, which was
30 days old.
Unbelievable!
This
has led to pages disappearing, graphics not appearing, and
worst of all, no free cookbook I promised you all last issue.
The
good news is that all appears back to normal (touch wood --
I'm tapping my head :)
So
if you haven't downloaded your copy please do so now (there
is *no* cost, and no strings of any sort attached!). One small
caveat though...
Most
of these recipes look pretty good, but use your own judgement
-- a couple are a little suspect (unfortunately, there is
no carb/fat/protein/calorie info included), and of course,
dessert recipes and dishes containing macaroni, pasta, and
potatoes are definitely ones you'll want to avoid.
Anyway,
enough talking! Here's where you can grab your copy...
http://www.ultimatefatburner.com/recipes/
Enjoy!
*
New Reviews
1)
Meal Replacements and Whey Protein Subdomain is LIVE!
Lately
I've been working on expanding the material on Ultimatefatburner.com
beyond the realm of fat burners and diets. I'm especially
interested in discussing whey protein, which is, in my opinion,
a wonderful supplement for dieters and those simply concerned
with good health. Unfortunately, most people assume high quality
whey proteins are really only for body builders.
That's
not the case.
Whey
protein contains sub-fractions or peptides that can provide
fantastic benefits to everyone. I highly recommend visiting
this new section of Ultimatefatburner.com to learn more about
whey protein, and what it can do for you...
http://meal-replacements.ultimatefatburner.com
See
you next issue,
All
the best,
Paul
