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FITNESS TIPS FOR 9/9/2003
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This article is dedicated to the new anti ephedrine onslaught that
appears to be going on in the media.
An email from Will Brink:
The anti ephedrine camp seems to be making another wave of worthless
emotional based statements, which as usual, lack any real data. This
tactic is of course an old one.
As the once man said:
'All propaganda has to be popular and has to adapt its spiritual level to
the perception of the least intelligent of those towards whom it intends
to direct itself.' - Adolf Hitler, Mein Kamp
Most of you may have heard of a new 'study' supposedly showing how
dangerous ephedrine is and the death of baseball player Steve Belcher
is being blamed on ephedrine.
Both are complete shams!
Ok, below is my lay commentary of this 'study', enjoy the read.
"Anti Ephedrine Campaign's latest bogus study"
by Will Brink
Well gang the anti supplement powers that be, are at it again with a new
'study' that supposedly shows the dangers of ephedrine.
Typical of the 'don't confuse us with the facts' media, this study is
being plastered all over the news and held up as a reason to pull
ephedrine containing products off the market.
At this point, it appears they are so desperate to find proof that
ephedrine is a health hazard, they are willing stretch the truth to
absurd levels.
What am I referring to? A new study called 'The Relative Safety of
Ephedra Compared with Other Herbal Products' published in Annals
of Internal Medicine (2003;138:000-000).
This study is not bad science, it's not science at all.
What the authors did was examine reports put into the American
Association of Poison Control Centers Toxic Event Surveillance
System Database Annual Report for 2001, and make conclusions
about the safety of ephedra based on those numbers.
For example, the authors state:
'Ephedra is widely used in dietary supplements that are marketed to
promote weight loss or increase energy; however, the safety of this
product has been questioned because of numerous case reports of
adverse events.'
Translated: they have already decided that ephedra is unsafe and
are going to prove it no matter what they have to do. Hence, the
authors were biased (more on that in a minute) from the start and
made it their job to confirm their biased belief.
Basically what these authors did was compare the adverse
reaction reports from American Association of Poison Control
Centers Toxic Event Surveillance System vs reports on other
herbs and shock of all shocks, conclude that compared to other
herbs such as ginko and kava, that ephedra has more side
effects.
Well Duh. They concluded that ephedra containing products a
ccounted for 64% of all reported adverse effects from herbs
compared with kava and Ginkgo biloba (see letter data
showing that's not even true).
They state:
'This risk was defined as the ratio of adverse reactions to ephedra
versus other products, divided by the ratio of their relative use in
the United States.'
Translated: a fancy way of saying that they compared apples to
oranges (ephedrine vs ginko or Kava) and concluded ephedrine
accounted for a higher rate of reported side effects.
This is equivalent to comparing coffee (a stimulant) to fruit juice and
coming to the shocking conclusion that coffee has more side effects
than fruit juice!
Now, why didn't they compare it to say other diet products, in particular
diet drugs with similar mechanisms?
You would find that pharmaceutical diet drugs are involved in
considerably more adverse events than ephedrine based products, and
those events, on average, are of a more serious nature.
(Very Important Point....)
Let's not forget the recent study published in the Journal of Strength and
Conditioning Research, that found an ephedrine caffeine based
supplement was superior for weight loss with less side effects than the
popular diet drug Xenical (Orlistat), one of the most commonly prescribed
diet drugs in the United States.
Of course, in truth none of this info from this new report from the Poison
Control Centers can be used to represent the true risk of any drug or
nutrient as it is simply people calling into claim some product made
them ill.
It does tell public health officials if some product in particular should
be looked for un expected side effects, etc, but it's of little use in
making real decisions regarding the safety profile of any drug or nutrient.
That's what true double blind placebo controlled human studies are for,
of which there are MANY with ephedrine.
What about those studies with ephedrine? Every single study to date
with more than a decade of research-has concluded the side effects
are minor, transient, and short lived.
The authors didn't bother to mention any of the real data that exists on
ephedrine but focused on a single study that had a high drop out rate
from the study.
Of course ephedra is not without risk and there are many people who
should not use it, such as those with high blood pressure and other
contraindications, but as weight loss compounds go, it is
exceedingly safe.
Safer in fact than most over the counter medications found in stores,
such as aspirin and acetaminophen.
Bottom line is, considering the billions of doses sold of ephedra
containing products and the millions of people using such products,
the number of adverse events reported is amazingly small.
The authors of this bogus study conclude:
'Ephedra use is associated with a greatly increased risk for adverse
reactions compared with other herbs, and its use should be restricted.'
Translated: they had an agenda to show ephedra was unsafe, and
found a unscientific way of showing it vs following the real data that
exists or comparing ephedra to drugs for the same purpose that are
more toxic than ephedrine.
But wait, it gets better.
If you recall I mentioned the authors were clearly biased. Why? All
of the authors of this so called study have worked for various
lawfirms who are involved in anti-ephedra lawsuits!
That's right, the authors of this report are paid by law firms and
called as expert witnesses in cases against companies (e.g.,
Cytodyne, MuscleTech, Next Nutrition, TwinLabs, GNC, Phoenix
Labs, Chemins Labs, etc.) that produce and market supplements
containing ephedra!
Yes folks, that's how low the anti ephedra camp is willing to go; to
any lengths to get ephedra banned, and the facts based on
science be damned.
Finally...
If you want to see my opinion on the best ways to use ephedrine
based products, avoid side effects, etc, should read my book
Diet Supplements Revealed found at:
https://www.aboutsupplements.com/cgi/at.cgi?a=264830
If you want more of my opinions on supplements that build muscle
mass you can find that information and in my latest ebook Muscle
Building Nutrition here:
https://www.musclebuildingnutrition.com/cgi/at.cgi?a=264830
