Ephedra Sinica

At first glance, the Ephedra sinica plant looks like a fairly ordinary – or even boring – bush that is found eking out a precarious existence in marginal desert lands ranging from Asia to the Americas – especially in China. If you take a look at the rather uninteresting little shrub, you’d find it hard to think that the extracts of this bush are marketed in places like Powerhouse Supplements with exciting names like “Yellow Devils” and “Ripped Power.” Is this just marketing hype at work? What is the extract of the Ephedra sinica bush good for, anyway?

Ephedra sinica is one of several species of ephedra grown and harvested commercially for the alkaloids ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. As it is part of traditional Chinese medicine, Ephedra sinica is also widely known by its Chinese name ma huang (also spelt mahuang). Other popular names for this plant extract include Mormon tea and Squaw tea, although these tend to refer to the American ephedra species. However, it’s Ephedra sinica that contains the greatest concentration of the highly desirable alkaloids.

Ephedra’s traditional uses were as a decongestant for treating bronchial problems such as asthma (the very popular Mini-thins from Vasopure are manufactured for this purpose), and also to give stamina, as ephedrine is a form of natural herbal stimulant.

Today, however, ephedra is used most often as a weight loss tool, especially in diet pills (also called fat burners or fat blasters). No secret, patented lab-created fat burning formula here – just nature’s own powerful compounds. Ephedra diet pills are proven to be effective for managing weight and for achieving a healthy weight loss, as they work as an effective thermogenic and energy-booster. A thermogenic substance such as ephedra works by signalling to the brain to raise the body’s core temperature slightly, which is experienced as heat. This has the effect of raising the metabolic rate (hence the Meta- prefix in many brands of ephedra, such as Metabadrine, Metabolife and Metabothin), and a raised metabolism processes and burns calories (and burn fat) more quickly.

Ephedra also works as an energy booster, as it triggers the release of the hormone adrenaline, which increases overall energy levels and promotes mental alertness. This energy-boosting factor makes ephedra products popular with bodybuilders, with several leading manufacturers of bodybuilding supplements including an ephedra supplement in their product range (e.g. Red Dawn Stack Rush and Anabolic Entities Eph Burn). For the rest of us, an energy-boosting ephedra supplement can be the much-needed kick in the butt we need to get us down to the gym instead of shirking – again!

Ephedra sinica is often blended with other herbal extracts such as green tea, guarana, yerba mate, hoodia gordonii, yohimbine, acacia rigidula, theobroma cocoa, white/purple willow bark and bitter orange for added fat-loss effects. At Powerhouse Supplements, we have a wide range of ephedra products (and many more, including non-ephedra weight loss aids and multivitamins) so you can select the product that has the extracts and the price you prefer. Whether you choose the super-discount priced Mini-thins or the best-seller Lipodrene (but let’s face it – all Powerhouse Supplements.net products are offered at absolutely crazy below-cost prices, not just these two), Powerhouse Supplements has an Ephedra sinica product for you.