From Wikipedia. On the issue of legality:
"In 2004, the FDA created a ban on ephedrine alkaloids that are marketed for reasons other than asthma, colds, allergies, other disease, or traditional Asian use.[28] On April 14, 2005, the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah ruled that the FDA did not have proper evidence that low dosages of ephedrine alkaloids are actually unsafe,[29] but on August 17, 2006, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Denver upheld the FDA's final rule declaring all dietary supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids adulterated, and therefore illegal for marketing in the United States.[30] Furthermore, ephedrine is banned by NCAA, MLB, NFL, and PGA TOUR.[31] Ephedrine is, however, still legal in many applications outside of dietary supplements. However, purchasing is currently limited and monitored, with specifics varying from state to state."
Any product using ephedra or ephedra alkaloids marketed for weight loss is illegal in the US at any dosage.
As a licensed Chinese Medicine practitioner with a focus on Chinese herbs who is actually legally allowed to recommend ephedra including supplements (primarily as a bronchodilator / decongestant), I'm here to tell you that using ephedra or ephedra derivatives for weight loss or as workout supplements is stupid and dangerous.
Can it help with weight loss? Yeah, it can. Was it ever in the traditional record as a safe effective way to lose weight? No.
It's considered to be toxic, not for long term use, and strongly diaphoretic and diuretic. IE it will make you sweat more and pee more.
It also has a wonderful tendency to instigate elevated and irregular heart rate, this tendency is dose dependent.
And of course the appetite suppressant effect is common to many stimulants, including Ritalin, meth, and cocaine.
But here's the problem. You take something that can F with your heart and also dehydrates you via sweat and urine and go do intense exercise with it in your system. But now you're getting dehydrated faster even if you're drinking water because you are sweating much more. You can easily end up with an electrolyte imbalance that affects the heart, and when you couple this with elevated and / or irregular heart rate from the ephedra itself + the increased cardiovascular demands of the training you are engaged in and BAD THINGS CAN HAPPEN.
Using ephedra for weight loss is unsafe and unintelligent. If you want to lose weight eat better (and less) and exercise more.
