Looking for alternatives to ephedrine?

[Jay Mc]

Here we go. A lot of these sups have other benefits, I'm focusing, briefly, on their fat loss benefits.

Caffeine

How it works: Its a CNS stimulant and increases thermogenesis. Its an adenosine antagonist. Adenosine prevents the release of norepinephrine! Most research shows caffeine works best when stacked with some of the supplements mentioned bellow (specifically ones that cause catecholamine release or potentiation and ECGC).

Side effects: if you don't know the side effects of caffeine, go take some and find out

Dosing and when to take: 150-400mg 2-4 times a day.

Yohimbine HCl

First, make sure you are taking yohimbine HCl and not Yohimbe, the herb. This is the only way to insure you are getting a specific dossage of the alkaloid you want.

How it works: The adrenergic system has alpha and beta receptors. Beta 2 receptors are the ones that make you lose weight. You activate these receptors with Norepinephrine. The problem is, NE also binds with both other beta receptors and both alpha receptors. Alpha 2 receptors essentially shut off the production of NE and stops lipolysis (fat burning). To avoid this we take Yohimbine which works ONLY as an alpha2 antagonist.

Side effects: Anxiety, water retention, increased heart rate, palpatations, hypertension are all possible...basically anything you'd expect from a stimulant. For what its worth, yohimbine has been used to induce anxiety in certain clinical studies.

How much and when to take it: The effective dosage according to research is .2mg/kg of body weight. Yohimbine should be taken after a fast and on an empty stomach. Insulin greatly reduces yohimbines effectiveness. Ideal timing would be first thing in the morning before cardio on an empty stomach.

Green Tea (extract)

Green tea is shown to be a powerful antioxidant and also shown to effect weight loss. I will focus ONLY on the weight loss aspect. Once again, I think its important to take an extract rather than trying to drink the tea.

How it works: The active ingredients are the catechins, and specifically the polyphenols, and even more specifically EGCG. It is shown to increase thermogenesis, decrease lypogenesis, increase lypolysis, and some other more questionable effects. The most likely method of action is by acting on the COMT pathway which is an enzyme that degrades NE.

Side effects: no majors to mention...

How much to take: 400mg EGCG 1-3 times daily. Note this is EGCG so check your extract to find out how many pills that equals!

L-tyrosine

How it works: This is a precursor to epinephrine and norepinephrine. Wether it works or not, still up in the air, however, it shows promise when stacked with other stimulants.

Side effects: increases catecholamines so expect those types of things...anxiety, insomnia, etc, etc.

How much and when to take it: For best uptake it should be on an empty stomach in the abscence of other amino acids. Some studies suggest that if you stack it with choline (about 2x as much choline as l-tyrosine), B6, Folic Acid, and vitamin C it has increased effectivenes. Suggested dossage is anywhere from 1-9g's daily.

Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALCAR)

How it works: ALCAR is important in cellular metabolism, specifically fat oxidation. It does a lot of other stuff but I'm just hitting the fat loss end.

Side effects: few according to the literature.

How much and when to take: 1-2g 2-3 times a day.

ALA/R-ALA

What id does: increases insulin sensitivity, also a potent antioxidant.

How much and when to take: Generally about 200 mg 5-20 minutes before meals if taking R-ALA, if taking ALA you need double the amount.

EPA/DHA (Fish oil)

What it does: apparently has beneficial influences on cell membrane composition, leptin signalling, and BMR. Is also a great antioxidant.

How much and when: Get the oil. You want 3-6g of EPA/DHA per day so check your label to find out how much that is. Space it out over at least two doses, and remember, this contributes to fat calories!

Conjugate Linoleic Acid (CLA)

How it works: There is some debate about the exact mechanism, but mostly it works by effecting the incorporation of free fatty acids into adipocytes, membrane composition, effects the lipid profile, and my increase levels of NE through chronic supplementation.

Side effects: For those w/type II diabetes, CLA may increase insulin sensitivity, however, research shows for those w/o the disease CLA may actually increase insulin resistance. It can also cause liver enlargement

How much to take: CLA actually refers to about 28 different isomers. The one most active for fat loss is the t10,c12 isomer. Dosage needs to be .5-2.5g daily (of the t10,c12 isomer, check your supplement to see how much you need total). Better results would likely be seen at higher dossages. Most animal studies involve dossages around 25g a day, however, this increases the risk for insulin resistance and liver problems.

You can try stacking any or all of these things. Caffeine, L-Tyrosine, ALCAR, and Choline might be interesting.

Another popular stack is the anarchy stack, ALCAR, ALA, and CLA being the back bone.

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Ok, I'm spent. There are lots more, but those are some of the biggies. If you have a question about something here or even something not mentioned here, post up the question and I'll tell you what i know.

J