Is Ephedra Legal

Ephedra was the #1 selling diet ingredient on the market. Tons of dieters rushed to get their hands on products like Lipodrene, Stacker, and Hydroxycut that had effective forms of ephedra. Ephedra diet pills was popular for its two main functions first it was an effective choice for quick increases in energy and your metabolism’s ability to product energy. Second, ephedra works as an appetite suppressant allowing people to take back control over their cravings.

Is Ephedra Legal

Is Ephedra Illegal?

Ephedra alkaloid has been officially banned by the FDA. The important aspect of this statement is ephedra alkaloid. The six principal ephedra alkaloids that are included in the ban are ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, norephedrine, methylephedrine, norpseudoephedrine, and methypseudoephedrine.

Dietary products that don’t contain these ephedra botanicals are not illegal. Manufacturers have found a way to remove the banned ephedra alkaloid molecule out of the ephedra leaf while leaving the rest of the ephedra plant intact. These new versions of ephedra diet pills are legal. Over 8,000 bottles of these new ephedra products were confiscated by the FDA only to be returned to Hi Tech Pharmaceuticals stating that they did not violate the ban on ephedra. The new ephedra products are label as ephedra leaves or ephedra extract.

The most beneficial compound for weight loss is still left in the new ephedra leaves products. L-ephedrine is still present after the extraction process. Only .08%-1.5% of the ephedra plant is the banned ephedra alkaloids that are removed.