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Because ephedrine is similar in structure to amphetamines and can increase heart rate and blood pressure in susceptible individuals, the FDA has recommended that ephedrine consumption should be limited to less than 24 mg per day and that dietary supplements contain no more than 8mg of ephedrine or related alkaloids per serving (recently, the FDA has indicated that they may be backing away from this recommendation, but it still stands in the public record for now). It is very important, should you decide to use ephedra-containing products, to understand that there are a variety of ephedrine-like compounds (alkaloids) present in Ma Huang and related herbs, including ephedrine, norephedrine, pseudoephedrine, methylephedrine, and norpseudoephedrine - and products should be standardized to a TOTAL ALKALOID content. For example, a product that states 356mg of Ma Huang or related herb per serving and is standardized to 6% ephedra alkaloids, would have 21.36mg of ephedra alkaloids per serving (356 X 0,06 = 21.36) - make sure that the "standardization" is to TOTAL alkaloids rather than simply to ephedrine.
In the few studies which have been conducted on ephedra-containing products for weight loss, the total amount of ephedrine ingested per day has ranged between 60-75mg (usually in 3 divided doses of 20-25mg/dose).
The above dosage recommendations should be considered in light of a recent study from the University of Arkansas which analyzed the content of ephedra alkaloids in 20 dietary supplements. The study showed that the alkaloid content varied considerably among products - from ZERO to 18.5mg per dose and significant lot-to-lot variations in alkaloid content were observed for at least 4 products (meaning that even if you selected the same brand each time, you would be getting a different level of ephedra). For 1 product, the alkaloid content varied by as much as 1000% between lots. Perhaps the most disturbing finding of the study was that fully half of the products showed discrepancies of more than 20% between the label claim for ephedra alkaloids and the actual alkaloids measured in the study.
In the few studies which have been conducted on ephedra-containing products for weight loss, the total amount of ephedrine ingested per day has ranged between 60-75mg (usually in 3 divided doses of 20-25mg/dose).
The above dosage recommendations should be considered in light of a recent study from the University of Arkansas which analyzed the content of ephedra alkaloids in 20 dietary supplements. The study showed that the alkaloid content varied considerably among products - from ZERO to 18.5mg per dose and significant lot-to-lot variations in alkaloid content were observed for at least 4 products (meaning that even if you selected the same brand each time, you would be getting a different level of ephedra). For 1 product, the alkaloid content varied by as much as 1000% between lots. Perhaps the most disturbing finding of the study was that fully half of the products showed discrepancies of more than 20% between the label claim for ephedra alkaloids and the actual alkaloids measured in the study.
