What is the big deal about ephedra?

Question

It is not the use of ephedra that is bad. It is the MISUSE of ephedra (or anything else for that matter) that has serious side effects. I took ephedra for years and never had one problem. It is those people who do not follow the directions that have problems. You would have problems with any substance that you misused.
The ephedra ban should be lifted.

Answer 1

Thats where you are wrong I'm glad you were lucky enough to have no probs but lots of people who used it as directed had to have heart transplants or worse. The reason for the ban is there is no way for them to know who this will happen to and who it won't. So they can't risk it.

Answer 2

ephedra and ephedrine are not banned by the FDA, that was lifted in 2005. it is only illegal to market and sell products that contain ephedra specifically for weight loss. I'm pretty sure though that it is still banned by the NCAA

various cultures have been using it for thousands of years with out problems. leave it to Americans to mess up a good thing, far too many think if a little is good then more "must" be better, a general lack of common sense is the problem. ephedrine was used safely in many circles in the US from the 70's to the mid 90's until main stream American and the obesity epidemic and a rise in OTC weight loss supplements

Answer 3

I sort of agree. Ephedra was a great enegry booster for the people I work with. Taken in moderation, under 100 mg, it helped people lose weight without the caffeine high . I am doing research on the addictions of caffeine in our society and the findings are staggering, to say the least. I think we have a bigger problem with caffeine than ephedra.
Should it be band?
Not for me to say, but I know it worked and I monitored my users and had no long term side effect.
It's like any other substance...use to much and it will kill you dead!