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A utah state court judge declared the fda ban on ephedra, Ma-huang, as a drug wrong on April 14th 2005. The fda filed an appeal to have the ruling overturned in a higher court. The appeal was granted and the ruling was overturned as of August 18, 2006. This means the fda is entitled to pose restrictions and/or limitations on sales of pills with ephedra. However, the fda won't be allowed to write their own restrictions as they have done in the past. Any restrictions would be presented via a proposal. That proposal would then have to be voted on and passed through both the House of Representatives as well as the Senate.

So the question for the general public still remains,"Is ephedra legal?" For now, the future availability of ephedra in the U.S.A. is up in the air. The fda recently made a statement saying that, for the time being, they would be allowing the sale of capsules containing ephedra that did not exceed 10mg per capsule. Currently, this is only a recommendation since the fda doesn't have legal control over the herb. For the moment, you can still buy pills with ephedra in the United States, however, that could change at any time.

In December of 2000, the Cantox Report researched 9 controlled studies on ephedra. Each study observed was a minimum of 8 weeks long. These studies looked at heart rate, blood pressure, adverse side effects, and other related indicators. One study revealed that cardiac arrhythmia episodes didn't occur in subjects given 90mg of ephedra per day vs. a placebo. The Cantox Report concluded that 150mg of ephedrine alkaloids per day was the "lowest observed adverse effect level". According to their conclusion, the lowest observed adverse effect level is a full 50% higher than the recommended maximum daily dose of 100mg per day of ephedrine alkaloids you will see on ephedra containing diet supplements.

This study also examined the long-term safety and effectiveness for weight loss of an herbal supplement containing Ma Huang and Kola Nut. The results of this six month randomized, double-blind placebo controlled trial were published in the International journal of obesity for May of 2002. after a 6 month study, the conclusion was that, "the tested product produces no adverse events and minimal side effects. This is consistent with the known mechanism and action of Ephedrine and Caffeine".

An estimated 61% of the U.S. adults are over-weight or obese and obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. obesity continues to be the second leading cause of preventable death. By current estimations, there are 300,000 obesity related deaths per year. Given the current obesity problems in America, the fda not allowing U.S. citizens to buy pills with ephedra, a diet pill that actually works, seems pretty silly.

Right now, you can still buy pills with ephedra. How long that will last is anyone's guess. take advantage of the opportunity while it still exists!

posted by 10022  # 3:57 AM