Ephedra content of EC stacks

[Blood&Iron]

I was just diddling around at work--rather than doing what I was supposed to be doing, and found this. Unfortunately, I can't post the link to the full text 'cause access to U of M's Medline is restricted. Maybe Pubmed has the full text too.


Unique Identifier
20291967

PubMed Identifier
10832496

Authors
Gurley BJ. Gardner SF. Hubbard MA.

Institution
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock 72205, USA. gurleybillyj@exchange.uams.edu

Title
Content versus label claims in ephedra-containing dietary supplements. [see comments].

Comments
Comment in: Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2000 May 15;57(10):951

Source
American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy. 57(10):963-9, 2000 May 15.

Abstract
The content of ephedra alkaloids in herbal dietary supplements containing ephedra (ma huang) was studied. The ephedra alkaloid content of 20 ephedra-containing supplements was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. Contents of (-)-ephedrine, (+)-pseudoephedrine, (-)-methylephedrine, (-)-norephedrine, and (+)-norpseudoephedrine were measured. Ephedra alkaloid content varied considerably among products. Total alkaloid content ranged from 0.0 to 18.5 mg per dosage unit. Ranges for (-)-ephedrine and (+)-pseudoephedrine were 1.1-15.3 mg and 0.2-9.5 mg, respectively. (+)-Norpseudoephedrine, a Schedule IV controlled substance, was often present. Significant lot-to-lot variations in alkaloid content were observed for four products. For one product, lot-to-lot variations in the content of (-)-ephedrine, (+)-pseudoephedrine, and (-)-methylephedrine exceeded 180%, 250%, and 1000%, respectively. Half of the products exhibited discrepancies between the label claim for ephedra alkaloid content and actual alkaloid content in excess of 20%. One product was devoid of ephedra alkaloids. Assay of 20 ephedra-containing dietary supplements showed that alkaloid content often differed markedly from label claims and was inconsistent between two lots of some products.


The only EC stacks I was curious about were Xenadrine and Ripped Fuel, both of which I've used. Unfortunately, they didn't test the EC I know use, but it piqued my curiousity.

Anyways the results were:

Xenadrine
labelled ephedra content: 10mg
actual content:8.5mg

Ripped Fuel
labelled ephedra content: 10mg
actual content: 2.5mg!!!

No wonder I didn't feel anything when using Ripped Fuel. I thought TwinLab was a solid company. Who knew?

[Paul Stagg]

Take this with a grain of salt. They may not have randomly tested enough to make the study meaningful - although the possibility of having that big a variance is a bit troubling.

[Blood&Iron]

Originally posted by Paul Stagg
Take this with a grain of salt. They may not have randomly tested enough to make the study meaningful - although the possibility of having that big a variance is a bit troubling.
I don't care how few samples of each they tested, even if it was a single lot(But they stated multiple lots were tested.) The fact that TwinLab's product(and quite a few others) came it at 25% label claim is ridiculous and completely unacceptable. But again, I bought one bottle of Ripped Fuel, felt nothing while using it, and never bought any again. Xenadrine has always worked well for me, but it's a bit pricey(And even it didn't do that well. 85% of label claim is hardly something to get excited about.)

[Cackerot69]

Well the cool thing about ECA's is that you either take it and it works, or it doesn't. You don't really have to worry about this type of stuff. When I take dymetadrine and am energetic as fook I am quite confident they put in it what they said they did.

[Blood&Iron]

Originally posted by Cackerot69
Well the cool thing about ECA's is that you either take it and it works, or it doesn't. You don't really have to worry about this type of stuff. When I take dymetadrine and am energetic as fook I am quite confident they put in it what they said they did.
Ever hear of the placebo effect?

Besides, if one is taking EC for weight-loss, CNS stimulation will abate after several weeks. The product will still cause thermogenesis(If it, in fact, contains what it should.) Severely underdosed products will not cause the same rise in metabolic rate and will produce less than optimal results.

[Cackerot69]

Yes I've heard of the placebo effect. I can tell when something works or not, though. Dymetadrine definately has what it says, I've taken some other stuff that I'd say didn't.

[Avatar]

I'll second Dymetradrine Xtreme. Its a lot more than a placebo effect. You can actually feel it kick in within the body at about 30 minutes after taking it. That stuff is powerful.

[Marcel]

Hmm...Dym Xtrm is great. I like it and have some waiting for me.
Ripped Fuel worked just fine when I used it and I mos def felt the effects.

I dunno if some of you read the thread where I said that the biotest md-6 capsules were very inaccurate. By that I mean some capsules were full and some were practically empty! I took a break from this ***** for 3 days...today i was sweating like a mofo! I guess it's okay but still pisses me off that they aren't accurate. I'll try something different next time.

I know of a way you can tell if your ECA is working or not...your nuts get in the fight or flight mode and shrivel like your in a cold ass swimming pool. not cool.:whazzup:

[Lonestrbeer]

I've used Ripped Fuel, Xenadrine, Metacuts, Hydroxycut and the GNC generic thermogenic called Thermo Ripped all at different stages. Xenadrine was by far the most potent, then Metacuts (taken off the market, I think). But by far the best buy would be the generic GNC stuff. It contains ma huang and gaurana extracts as well as L-Carnatine...anyway, for 60 caps, it runs $10, half of what most thermos run.

[Maki Riddington]

Why go through the bother?
I usually pick up ephedrine, some caffine pills and I'm set.

[Marcel]

Maki - smart

[rookiebldr]

I agree with Maki, just add in some asa to the stack.

[heathj]

Well, I got like 8000000 pills of H-Cut..I'm set ;)

How much is Ephedrine anyway?

[Blood&Iron]

Originally posted by Maki Riddington
Why go through the bother?
I usually pick up ephedrine, some caffine pills and I'm set.
Pharmaceutical grade ephedrine HCL is no longer sold in the US(Unless, you buy it as an cold remedy and then it has an expectorant added. No thanks.) Hence, the crap with "standardized" ephedra alkaloids. Really it would've made more sense to ban the alkaloids and keep ephedrine HCL legal. But since when has the FDA been known to make logical decisions?

[Maki Riddington]

I live in Canada. Although it is banned here. I can still get it at my local supp store. I just ask the owner and he opens his secret drawer.:)

[Leviathan]

Dymetadrine Xtreme is incredible. For all those who don't know, I pretty much buy exclusively from AST - they don't throw any BS at you and back up their statements with what seems to be solid science. I respect their way of doing business, and they sell quality products.

Wow, that sounded like an advertisement. Oh well... basically, go buy AST stuff - you won't be disappointed.

[Tryska]

i'm on a ephedra-free formula of meta-burn right now. it has like twice the caffeine, and i still get a subtlwe thermo effect...but i miss my ephedrine. it made me feel awake.