Ephedra risks have now become front and center in American culture as people are, not out of necessity, but out of enjoyment, are consuming ephedra based energy drinks at an alarming rate, including children. This powerful nervous system stimilant is derived from a shrub that grows in the Asian regions of the world. It has been used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years in treating asthma and hay fever. How it came to acceptance in the fitness culture rests on peoples willingness to do anything to reduce bodyfat and gain more energy just to get through the day. The danger is that ephedra based energy drink consumption has now become a leisurely activity.



And hit it did. When people began raving about the abundant energy and weight loss results problem began. News traveled fast, but as with many unproven products, the law of unintended consequences led to its banning by the FDA in 2004. Reports of heart palpitations, stokes, heart attacks, and even deaths elevated ephedra risks to national news. Believe it or not this win at any cost has dire consequences to peoples health, including death in some cases. Now this,of course, are the extreme cases. I do know of one friend who took an ephedra product everyday for eight months and nearly had a stroke. His problem required being put under to receive a medically induced cardiac arrest which would allow doctors to restart his heart to attain a normal rythm. The long term damage for this individual disallows consumption on any nervous system stimulant (including caffeinated coffee or beverages) for the rest of his life.

Consider the risks in using this approach to reducing bodyfat and/or making it through the day? Energy production requires the following considerations. That fact that anyone needs to use a nervous system stimulant (such as caffeine, ephedra, gurana root, etc...) to get through the day indicates a nutritional problem. How many people do you know who can't jump start the day without a few cups of coffee? Of course not! Human biochemistry begins to shift at the age of 25 and by 39 we notice that our energy supply isn't what is once was. Some people begin to rely on coffee or begin using caffeine or ephedra laced energy drinks to make up the energy deficit. The bodys' inability to produce cellular energy is the reason for this. There is an answer to all of this. Cell renewal! Cell renewal is the process by which you put in the botanical compounds required by your evolutionary DNA to produce abundant mitochondrial ATP and fuel your entire system.

The truth is that energy production requires nothing more that what nature provides; botanical compounds as fuel for the process.