The
Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research also published
a study recently, and guess what it found? Yes, an ephedrine
& caffeine based supplement was superior for weight loss
with less side effects than the popular diet drug Xenical, one
of the most commonly prescribed diet drugs in the United States.
The
International Journal of Obesity published a study called "Herbal
ephedra/caffeine for weight loss: a 6 month randomized safety
and efficacy trial" (IJO (2002) 26, 593-604). It found
that in healthy individuals, side effects were so minor as to
be insignificant. This study also backed up previous studies
verifying the effectiveness of ephedra & caffeine combination
as a fat burner (if you are interested, you can download this
study in PDF format here!).
Of
course, the key to safe, smart ephedra use is to use it properly,
which means to never exceed the recommended dose (which according
to the reports I read, Mr. Bechler did, increasing the dosage
by a whopping 50%). It also means you do not use it if
you are experiencing any contraindicated symptoms. For
instance...
Mr.
Bechler had a history of borderline high blood pressure, as
well as undiagnosed liver abnormalities. He also has a family
history that concerns me: his half-brother died of a brain aneurysm
after a workout. To make things worse, Steve's father has a
heart condition). In
other words, he was not a candidate for safe ephedra
use. Simply put, Mr. Bechler should never have used Xenadrine.
Does
that mean Xenadrine did kill Mr. Bechler?
Well,
if I were to answer that question without the toxicology reports,
I'd be as irresponsible as the media, who have been happy to
sensationalize this story, and blame the entire incident on
Xenadrine without a single shred of proof. Doubly ridiculous
when you consider Mr. Bechler's health history.
In
my opinion, the combination of the hot, humid weather, the improper
dieting techniques (Mr. Bechler was on a "liquid"
diet apparently), the pre-exisiting medical condition coupled
with the Xenadrine may have been what killed the unfortunate
Mr. Bechler (it's funny how the media, so quick off the mark
to jump on the anti-ephedra bandwagon, hasn't been nearly so
dilligent in following up on the results of the toxicology report.
The question still remains... did Xenadrine have anything to
do with this unfortunate accident?).
This
discussion cannot be complete however, without some blame being
allocated to certain supplement companies. Many have seen the
"All Natural" sales pitch come back to haunt them;
people are simply not aware of the dangers inherent to all-natural
products (many ephedra-based products have the ephedrine content
drawn from the herbs Ma Huang, Sida Cordifolia, or Country Mallow,
and are therefore sometimes advertised as "all natural").
This leads to obvious problems for people who, under a false
sense of security, ignore label warnings, exceed dosages, and
take despite experiencing contraindicated symptoms.
To
sum up, this extremely unfortunate incident emphasizes what
we already know about ephedra (whether or not a toxicology report
links Xenadrine to Mr. Bechler's death)...
Ephedra-based
fat burners are to be approached with respect. Never exceed
the recommended dosages. ALWAYS read the label warning thoroughly.
If you experience ANY of the contraindicated symptoms (high
blood pressure, liver, thyroid, or psychiatric disease, nervousness,
pernicious anemia, anxiety, depression, seizure disorder, cardiac
arrhythmia, stroke, etc., etc.), do not experiment with such
a product.
Instead,
investigate ephedra-free products like Xenadrine EFX (reviewed
here), or Lean System 7 (reviewed
here).
Sidebar:
It's also important to recognize that ephedra alkaloids (pseudoephedrine),
are found in high doses in over the counter cold and cough remedies.
This never seems to be mentioned by anyone in the media when
presenting inflammatory stories about the dangers of ephedrine.
Other
related articles:
What
Really Killed Steve Bechler? Hint: It Wasn't Ephedra (YLift.com)
Unheeded
warnings lead to tragedy (Florida Sun Sentinel)
