One of the medicines utilized by the ancient Chinese for a good thousand of years for effectively treating allergies and asthma, is the now famous diet drug called ephedra. Now, ephedra has been dubbed as the most effective weight loss product here in the United States, the Ephedra Educational Council said that:

"More than 15 million consumers a year benefit from Ephedra, with only a minute fraction reporting problems to the FDA. Any risk of inappropriate use must be balanced against the health benefits accruing to millions of Americans. The nation's obesity epidemic creates a personal and public imperative for weight control, and 98 million Americans must not be denied an option for improving their health without conclusive scientific evidence."

Without a doubt, ephedra can greatly help people achieve weight loss fast, if they take the diet pill in conjuction with proper diet and a good exercise program directed at effective fat loss. People are encouraged to take the medication along with their diet regime of choice as it was proven to expedite weight loss by 75% compared to other dieters under the same diet but taking a different diet supplement.

There is absolutely no substitute for a healthy lifestyle. Using ephedra on its own is not likely to allow anyone to change their weight significantly. Ephedra does seem to have an appetite suppressing effect, as well as a thermogenic effect. Ephedra stimulates the central nervous system which allows the body to burn more calories by increasing metabolism.

If you are planning to lose dreaded weight, you must follow the basic principle of calories in, as opposed to calories out. Meaning, to effectively lose weight, you need to use more calories in a day than what you are actually consuming. This will admit more caloric deficit resulting to the body using up its own stored source of fuel as energy. In effect, a 3500 or more caloric deficit will result in one pound of weight loss.

Dieting alone may result in more muscle tissue being lost while the body is relying its own stores of fat and muscle as energy. Using ephedra while losing weight has been reported to aid the body in maintaing lean muscle mass while burning more fat for fuel. Since one pound of muscle burns approximatley 50 calories per day as opposed to 2 calories per day for every pound of fat, it is easy to see that the more muscle that is maintained, the quicker the weight will disappear. This will also decrease the likelihood of regaining the weight at a later time. People say a good way of maintaining lean muscle mass while still burning fat is use of the ECA stack method.

Lastly, a good diet must be coupled with discipline, determination and a resolve to pursue it until completion. Otherwise, all your efforts will end in vain. Always remember that ephedra is a mere dietary agent that will hasten your weight loss but it is useless if you do not couple it with the necessary diet, exercise and a steadfast control of your body on a more positive note.