[shipping info / Q&A help] [testimonials] [ephedra ban overturned] [thank mr. emord] [ephedra survey] [misleading ephedra news] [obesity will be biggest cancer cause] [Link between obesity and dementia] [FDA about to confiscate viatamins] [alcohol, tobacco among worst drugs] [ephedra ruling] [Illinois AG sue acai marketers] [defend DSHEA] [which one is the best?] [obesity linked to aging] [obesity affects salary] [water overdose] [obesity and cancer link] [obesity links to prostate cancer] [alzheimer risk in obesity] [Death risk in women as obesity worsens] [Acomplia drug patients at psychiatric risk] [CODEX update] [most effective diet] [Being overweight may raise cancer risk] [Judge's Decision Lifts Ephedra Ban] [multivitamins linked to younger age] [Vitamin D Benefits, Lean Muscle Mass] [obesity is more dangerous] [more ephedra proof] [magnesium, fountain of youth] [metal filings in your cereal] [Obese kids have arteries like 45-year-olds'] [Low testosterone means earlier death] [junk food triggers our "bliss point"] [obesity linked to pancreatic cancer] [fight obesity and extend life span] [diabetes cases linked to obesity] [diet foods encourage overeating] [FDA recall: What were the reasons with Hydroxycut?] [orlistat and hydroxycut] [our ephedra ranked] [purchase problems] [overnight shipping] [why buy from us] [shipping info / Q&A help] All payments secured by VeriSign FAKE EPHEDRA IS EVERYWHERE Beware of fake ephedra extracts sold elsewhere. We specialize in real ephedra! Look out for new products that will be added! If your order is returned to us by the mail carrier due to wrong/missing/incomplete shipping information, we will refund you the order price minus the shipping charges incurred to us. All orders are processed the following day or when the funds clear your financial institution to prevent fraudulent purchases. WHERE DO YOU SHIP FROM? Products are shipped from within the US. Your merchandise should get to you from 1 to 6 business days of payment including Saturdays. Signature is required upon receipt of merchandise so make sure there is somebody present at the shipping location. If you don't receive your item within 7 days, then give it an extra day or two as the delivery services sometimes are not so reliable. If not received after 7 days then look for a failed delivery attempt notice left at your mail box or contact us via our live chat system or leave us an email at sales@thatswholesale.com We will then send you the tracking information again.  Make sure you provided a valid email account in your order form.  Otherwise you will not be able to get the tracking or information from us.  You can also request NO SIGNATURE in the notes section of the checkout page.  We cannot be responsible for lost packages if you make this request. WHY DIDN'T I GET MY PACKAGE YET? Make sure that the shipping address you provided is complete and correct or the merchandise will be returned to us. In such a case, we will refund your purchase price minus the shipping charges incurred to us.  We will first contact you via email for a valid address to resend to.  Verify with the order invoice we sent you via email that your entire address, including apartment or suite number is present. If delivered to a large commercial facility, then provide also the company name, floor or building designations.  If after purchase you did not get any email confirmations, then please check your bulk or spam box.  If you still don't find any confirmations then you have provided a bad email address.  Common mistakes made are the accidental omission or addition of a letter.  E.G: customer@yaho.com, instead of the correct customer@yahoo.com We are not responsible for delayed mail due to lack of important delivery information that is needed for a timely delivery. Even with the correct address but  wrong zip code will result in the package getting delayed or returned to us. WHY AM I NOT GETTING A REPLY? We receive tons of emails a day and reply in the order they are received. Don't worry if we don't reply on time. Sometimes the spam filter will delete it. If you don't receive a response from us within 24hrs, then don't hesitate to send another one. We have been receiving too many emails lately and cannot respond to all of them in time. For faster response, please use the live chat system on our site. Be patient, your order will arrive soon and we hardly lose a package. The postal service slows down due to natural events such as hurricanes, flooding, forest fires etc. HOW MUCH IS SHIPPING? With quantity purchases, we offer free priority shipping. Only $3 is charged for handling on all orders and the shipping is free within the US!!! With us, what you see is what you pay. There are no surprises when shopping with us. We deal directly with the source for the lowest prices. HOW DISCREET IS MY ORDER? Don't worry about the description on your credit card statement. All packages and descriptions are very discreet. Nobody will even know a package arrived from us. We are also very successful in sending our products to Canada, United Kingdom and the rest of Europe. We make it so that you don't have to pay customs either. PO BOXES, APO, FPO and other military locations are not a problem for us and we constantly strive to maintain a very high level of customer satisfaction. All transactions are kept in strict confidentiality and packages are sent unmarked. Your credit card statement will show as T.W.S. for the purchase. IS EPHEDRA LEGAL? Let me answer that question by saying that ephedrine has never been illegal.  It is legal to purchase ephedrine both natural and synthetic (Ephedrine HCL made by Vasopro) for it's intended use which is as a decongestant and bronchodilator. It will also provide energy, appetite suppression and increase your metabolism which leads to weight loss. It will also increase your blood pressure so do not take it with any blood pressure medication, antidepressants or if you have a history of heart disease. Read all warnings before using and consult with your physician before use. WHY DON'T YOU TAKE PHONE ORDERS? Placing your order online via our hacker safe and encrypted system provides higher protection than placing an order over the phone.  Here are the reasons why.  By placing your order over the phone, you are giving your personal information that can be intercepted via another line in your office or residence.  A person taking your order could be a reseller, drop shipper or an affiliate making a commission.  They can record your information for future malicious purposes should the employee leave the company.  By placing an order online with us, all the transaction data is entered by you into Cartmanager, our third party shopping cart software (verified hacker safe and with a strong encrypted system). The encrypted information (your data is broken down into computer language) is then passed directly to our credit card processor to verify the information you entered with your bank.  If all checks out, then the total for the order is placed on hold at your bank.  We do not receive your payment into our account until we process all the orders at the end of the day.  For this reason we are primarily a web based business which has served our worldwide clientele for over 5 years.  We do not keep our customer's personal or financial records locally and all orders are kept in strict confidentiality by our electronic secured payment systems and processors.  Click here to learn a bit more about our reputation online.  All purchases are 1 time only and we never bill and ship orders you never placed. MY ORDER FAILED BUT I HAVE A CHARGE IN MY ACCOUNT. Upon placing your online order, your bank places the transaction amount on hold believing that the money is supposed to be used for a purchase.  This hold is a way your bank locks up the amount that is supposed to be paid to us and to make sure that there are sufficient funds in the first place.  It is what's called an AUTHORIZATION.  At this point, no money has moved anywhere and is still in your possession.  Our credit card processing company then verifies the information you entered with the one on file with your credit card company or bank.  If everything matches then the transaction becomes successful.  Then the AUTHORIZATION turns into a CAPTURE of your funds.  If it fails, then the transaction amount stays in AUTHORIZATION status and will later be removed (3 to 6 days depending on your bank guidelines).  So don't worry if you see money "taken out" of your account.  It is just an AUTHORIZATION done by your bank that is  later released since there was no CAPTURE by our credit card processing company.  An AUTHORIZATION is placed every time an order fails but only the funds from the successful transaction gets taken out of your account.  The entire process is done by your bank and our bank via their secure system.  So please do not believe that we "took" more money than we deserve when you see multiple charges to your account.  They are not charges but merely AUTHORIZATIONS. WHY ARE YOUR PRICES SO LOW? The advantages of automation coupled with low overhead expenses in online shopping, allows us to offer wholesale prices directly to the public. Our goal is for all our customers to have a superb online shopping experience. Our core values are primarily honesty and integrity. All merchandise is thoroughly supervised and inspected before shipping. All personal requests are welcomed and can be fulfilled to your exact details. If you are interested in certain items that you would like featured in my shop, let us know and we will do our best. We respond to all our email inquiries within 24hrs. from Monday to Friday in the order they are received. Sincerely, Thatswholesale Team. Send all inquiries and custom orders to: sales@thatswholesale.com Take our webpoll below and see what others think. Top [testimonials] Hey thanks guys or gals, received my order much thanks, very happy with them, finally something close that works for me, never had a worry with you guys, i forgot my password to my email account, no worries very happy, red cutz be around for a while??? told a couple more people about you guys. talk to later. Sincerely, dave k I just wanted to say THANK YOU. I have already received my product and am very impressed how quick it arrived. I will be ordering again very soon! Thanks so much :-) Julie C. Returning customer here, thanks for being a great company. Patrick D. Please advise of any backorder---thanks for your amazing service! Angela W. I have found this poduct very good, as I suffer from depresion and illness, before I had this product I was feeling very low and down, as soon as I had it I felt totaly optermistic about life rather than negative, it is not to powerful that it over powers your brain but it is resonable boost, as it has allso helped me to go running as well. I would highley recomend this porduct for any person that needs a bit more of a boost in energy, happyness, and optamistic outlook on life. Pure Ephedrine PE-25 is a very good product, thanks for your grate product,many thanks Thomas P. Aug 05, 2009 I have bought from thatswholesale several times, you guys are very trustworthy and professional. Thank you for having true products and not false advertised fakes. Jen July 23, 2009 You are always amazing at shipping to me in Canada. Keep up the great work! Mitchell D. July 11, 2009 Thank you for your service. I have been a customer for a few years now. Michael R. I recently received my order very quickly. Thank you again for the great customer service and reliable delivery. I will continue coming to you for my future nutrition needs. John B Mar 21, 2009 Thanks being so sincere for this stuff. I 'am so happy that I got this stuff (Zenalean Pro). Sincerely, Big Stuff. Mar 20, 2009 Hello Dear TWS-Team Today my second order reach me finally! I apologize me for every trouble which I have caused at you. I can't you tell my gratitude!!! I know now what the mistake was! It was the rush oder! Oure custome service is too lazy with normal stuff and this package was REALLY perfect packaged! I know you could do it! Thank you ssoo much for your great service! But my first order was send back again to you.. I hope it reached you back successful. And again thank you so much! Yours faithully Kai K.!!! Mar 19, 2009 Germany Thank you. This is the 4th or 5th purchase I have made through your website. With each order, I have experienced speedy delivery and I recieved exactly what I was expecting. Thank you for such great service. Crystal C. Feb 2, 2009 Thank to Paul who "talked" to me via Chat and was very helpful and made me feel confident in purchasing from you all. Thank you. Charlene W. I just wanted to say thank you for the online advice about which fat-burners I should use. You have always been very helpful and friendly. I have just placed another order for the Original Stimerex and hve had fantastic results! I am mother of 4, a fitness instructor, and I homeschool my 2 younger children, and work a part time job from 8pm to 1 am. I have the energy and alertness to function with this schedule, my body had transformed from "just had a baby" to wow, you have "FOUR KIDS??!!" I am a size 6 now and still losing. I eat for energy, so I am a healthy eater by nature, but I have not seen results like this with anything else. I am a customer for life, as long as I am not nursing or expecting! I love your products! And...my husband is amazed that I can get everything done that I do, and still have energy to enjoy his company at the end of the day ! Thanks for the advice! Shannon Thu, Jan 22, 2009 Very impressed with prompt delivery on my first order, and also the quality of the product that I will continue to try different diet pills from your company. Petrina B. Mon, Nov 10,2008 Australia I just wanted to say thank you so much for selling ephedra products. When I first started trying to loose weight, the only thing that worked was Ephedra. And now, having regained weight last year, I have bought some from your store, and in a month, I've lost almost two sizes, and have enough energy through the day to keep me working at my high activity job. I'm not as hungry as I was before, and I am really feeling good. Again, thank you so much! Holly K. Sat,Jul 26, 2008 I just received my order and wanted to say thank you for sending it to me via expres. I was concerned you would not see my email asking for it to be rushed, but you did and I really appreciate that you sent it overnight. That is great customer service. Thank you! Carol P. Thu, May 22, 2008 I love this stuff (Pure Ephedrine PE25), it keeps me going and doesnt leave a crash. Thank you! Eric B. Tue, Apr 1, 2008 I LOVE YOUR PRODUCTS, AND SERVICE!!!! Sherita B. Sat, Mar 29, 2008 You are the BEST resource for supplements and are a safe source. I won't go anywhere else. Thanks again! Tara S. Sat, Feb 23, 2008 You guys truly have the real ephedra with the ephedrine alkaloids. Not many people are educated about ephedra supplements and get burned by the new misleading EPHEDRA EXTRACT formulas with no ephedrine coming out in the market. I was fooled by others and that is the reason why I am sticking with you guys from now on. For those who don't know, make sure to look for the amount of milligrams in ephedrine alkaloids if you see ephedra extract on the label. Remember that the ephedrine alkaloids in these diet pills are what make it work. Paul C. Sat, Nov 10, 2007 Wow! What great service, shipping, and products. We will definitely order from your company in the future - thank you so much! Heather M. Mon, Aug. 27, 2007 I actually DID receive this Monday evening...THAT WAS SUPER FAST!!!! Thanks for your prompt response and quick service! You're the best! :) Tina T. Thu, Jul. 19, 2007 thank you so much, i receieved it yesterday!!! thanks fast shipping Jimmy L. Wed, Jul. 18, 2007 Hi guys! I cannot belief it, but my Yellow bullet arrived to me in Iceland today - 10 daus after I ordered!! 5 days within the Icelandic post and customs. This service is unbeliveble and I can't wait trying the product. Thank you so very much for the excellent service. Your awards for this is a new happy customer and one that will not hesitate to order again. Best regards to everyone at TWS and have a great summer!! Yours happiest, HHH Iceland Mon, Jul. 16, 2007 Thank you! I received it (Black Ice) on Saturday. Wow! The energy is amazing (my house is spotless!!!)Thank you again, Gina S. Mon, Jun. 25, 2007 I ordered a bottle of Stimerex-ES (original ephedrine formula) last months from TWS, and was advised that since I live in the UK, delivery could take up to 10 days. To my amazement, the package arrived on my doorstep 5 days after I ordered. The product was also great, I lost 4lbs in the 1st 2 days and consistantly lost around 1lb a day for the next couple of weeks. As those ran out, I came back and ordered something new to try, Super Go Juice. This again arrived 5 days after I ordered and I've been taking it for 2 days now. Still good, but not as amazing as the Stimerex, so I'll definately be buying that again next time! Also have to mention, the prices are insanely cheaper than most websites, and also one of the only places that ship ephedra to the UK. Although delivery to the UK comes up to $13, the low priced products make up for that. Totally recommend this website 100,000,000 times to anyone! Thanks guys :) xx Z. Lochrie Tue, June 26, 2007 I will definitely be ordering more as soon as this supply is near end. It (Black Ice) definitely is a great product. I played like 3hrs of basketball without getting tired yesterday. As long as you take the recommended dosage, and eat properly it is not dangerous. Thanks. J. White Fri, June 22, 2007 Not too long ago, I purchased “Black Ice” and I’m really glad that I did. It is working great! So far, I have dropped 12 pounds ... Melody C. Mon, May 07, 2007 Heya! Sorry for being such a bug about the delivery! I got it saturday and am very impressed on how fast it came! I am FOR SURE shopping with you guys again! AND AGAIN! hehe.. I ordered the Mini Lean pills and they work pretty great, next time, I wanna try something new any suggestions? Ariane L. Thu, Mar 29, 2007 I read a few comments on the shipping and I'm impressed. Ordered my products Friday and got them Monday afternoon. thx Anthony, Tue, Mar 13, 2007 Your service is absolutely AMAZING and this is definitely the REAL DEAL! I will be ordering again very soon!!! THANKS!!!!!!!! Anne C., Thu, Mar 01, 2007 Hi! I just wanted to compliment you guys on how fast I’ve been receiving my orders in the mail for the last two orders. I ordered on a Friday and my order was in my mailbox that Monday evening!!! Wow!!! Now that’s what I call excellent customer service!!! Thanks for providing a great product and great service along with it! I have been able to stick with my weight loss goals! Keep up the good job! Tina T. Wed, Feb 21, 2007 You still have the best and the most variety at the lowest prices with the free shipping. Others charge recurring billing and have only 1 or a few products which are weak. You have a customer for as long as the ephedra is legal. Paul C. Wed, Feb 14, 2007 This is my second purchase, I thought you guys couldn't do better than my first transaction, but was I wrong! This time the shipping was even faster than before and to Canada too! You guys rock! I said after my first purchase I was going to be back, I gratefully say it again, I"LL BE BACK! Jack C., Canada Mon, Oct 09, 2006 Received the midnight stallion yesterday, and took one this morning. WOW, this is what I have been looking for since running out of the original Stacker 2. The Lipodrene I got from you fizzled out after a few days of taking them, but these will definitely keep on running strong. Got to go now and order some more, before you guys run out of the only kind of stuff that keeps me from eating like a horse. THANKS!!! John W. Tue, Sep 19, 2006 I am sorry I am so impatient sometimes. You guys have truly great service at tws and will be refered about. Expect some orders of finigenx from all of my football buddies. And anyone thinking about ordering muscle builders you came to the right store. Great service ***** five stars!!!!!!! thanks so much it was here is 5 days. Nick Thu, Aug 10, 2006 Sorry for my impatience. The parcel was delivered today! so thank you so much,they're perfect! I will order with you company again! xxx Jo S. from Netherlands. Thu, Aug 03, 2006 7 days from us to the Netherlands ! Thank you very much the order came on time.Because of your company i can honestly say my life will change forever.I know it might sound a little dramatic but its true. I have learned from experience that all the products on your site realy do work. I am around 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighed 240lbs. I have lost 80lbs and feal like a new man. I probably added a few years to my life , and prevented many illnesses. Why the FDA would try to ruin peoples lives by making these products illegal when they realy do help is a question that can be answered but why get into detail when we can say we already won. There is so many drugs,alchol,cigarettes, and chemicals that should be an issue but for what reason its not. Shows. Not to mention all the crap they sell in supermarkets that kill your stomach and give you cancers. Once again thank you for saving my life. And you will be hearing from me soon. Its been a pleasure doing business with you all. Sincerly, Anthony Thu, Aug 03, 2006 This is a thank you not a problem mail.. please do not list my e mail address) I just wanted to thank you for your prompt delivery..Honest advertising..great prices..I was impressed by how honest you kept your information to the point of listing the expiration dates on your products on the web, so the buyer knows exactly what he/she is getting. I received my order 3 days after I placed it ..free shipping in the US. I know that your products are excellent in quality since I have used one of them and they work!!! I bought the pure ephedrine from you I prefer to take the caffeine in the form of coffee or green tea drinks and the aspirin separately for the weight loss effect.. used half a pill each time and they are great! one happy customer who was so ripped off by almost all the useless weight loss products that are "ephedra free". I highly recommend you.. Keep up the good work!! Mona, New Jersey, US Thanks for sending my ORDER SO FAST...thank U thank U Frank F Fri, 07 Jul 2006 Thank you so much for the quick shipment. I ordered on Friday and received my product on Monday. This was my second order from TWS and will definately order again. Thank you, Kristi (Jenison, MI) 06/27/2006 I wanted to thank you for making my first purchase with your company a very positive one. I received my order and I am very pleased with the fast shipment. After experiencing two lost orders from E-bay from the states this past year, I was overwhelmed by how fast I received my order from your company. Again, Thank You! I will certainly order from you again ! Sincerely, Jacques C. 6/17/06 Another happy Cdn customer. I can't believe how quick and easy I rec'd my order. I will totally order again. Thx Keri 05/16/2006 Thanks! I have had great experiences with you in the past, keep up the good work! :-) Derrick S. www.derricksantos.com 05/13/2006 Telll me about it. if it were not for these I would have been fired long ago....LOL It gives me the pep to be super TECH! Glenn A. 04/26/2006 Thank you for checking on this! I have been a customer for more then a year and I think ya'll do great with your business and the customer service is outstanding. Amber 02/23/2006 To whom it may concern: I received my order today. Thank you for very much for your prompt attention and excellent service. Your site is the best on the net. Sincerely, M. Zinyk 01/14/2006 you guys are the best,first rate service,Thanks g. springer 01/07/2006 hi, I received the stimerex-ES pills and they work great! I WANT TO THANK YOU SINCERELY FOR THE BOTTLE, HAPPY NEW YEAR!! AND MOST OF ALL, I WILL BE BACK NEXT MONTH FOR MOREEEEEEEEEEEEE... THANKS, Lisa ...after all of these positive reviews for your company. I have ordered a few times and received my packages within 3-4 days consistently. In addition, you products are inexpensive. I have already deferred other friends to you EVERYONE-BE AWARE OF OTHER STORES THAT WILL OVER CHARGE YOU AND SEND YOU EXPIRED PRODUCTS! JASON OKC I have received in time, thanks a lot, as always. If you ever need testimonials for your site, I am totally up for that, by the way. Lost Nearly 40 lbs since June 6th with your product. [Mom, 38 yrs. old, works 60/hrs week in corporate job, had tried everything, could not seem to lose the weight/little time to exercise]. I look now like I did 10-15 yrs ago]. Natalie D. Just wanted to say "Thank You". I am in the Middle East and your package got here within 7 days. I really did not think it would make it through but it did. I am Smiling ;-) Will pass details to all friends and collegues.. Brace yourselves for a mad rush from the Middle East Region. "Secret Shopper" Thank you so much, that is much appreciated!! By the way, I cannot tell you how good your services have been. You have acquired a lifetime customer! Jacqueline F. And to show you I'm serious about what I write because I act/model/do stand up, etc. I have to stay in shape and your company has been a lifesaver! I would've blown up like an oil tanker if I hadn't found you! You've got me! And I did order the new stuff! Thnaks you wonderful people! Buddy Yahoo! Pkg. was recieved today, THX for your patience with me! Happy customer in Canada (Lana L.) Sorry this isn't a complaint,but I wasbt sure how to contact you to tell you instead how pleased I am and to express to anyone viewing this site that this is the best,no nonsense way to buy ephedra.My order was recieved quickly and was exactly what I ordered.Just wanted to say thanks! J.B. Yeah, I think you are right about it... I just started Black Ice for the first time on Saturday & I really like it. Oh yeah, by the way... THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE SPEEDY DELIVERY!!!! I appricate it. ~Scott hi I received my packaged today. thank you very much.! I'll be ordering from u guys soon, thanks again... sorry i was such a bug. Jessica Thank you so much for the products. I received them today. Thanks for also being patient with me with all the emails I sent you. I would love to keep buying products from you. Thanks again Melissa Netherlands oh thank goodness!!!! u guys are the best! thanks again! R.R. Thank you very much. I appreciate your help in this matter. It's been a pleasure doing business with you. Debra I wanted to let you know that i recieved them on monday the 27th. I very pleased with your fast shipping this is the 2nd case i have bought from you and plan to buy more. thanks lesley hey there got my items yesterday.....I will be putting another order by next week..... thanks you made my day :) Cathy Savannah G.A Top [ephedra ban overturned] Read the entire article here! US appeals court upholds ban on ephedra By Clarisse Douaud 8/21/2006 - A federal appeals court has overturned a Utah ruling that challenged the FDA ban on products containing weight loss and sports performance herbal ephedra, making it more unlikely than ever that the US market for the ingredient will resurface. Last year Utah judge Tena Campbell ruled the FDA did not prove a daily dosage of 10mg or less of ephedra results in an unreasonable risk of illness or injury, and blocked enforcement action against Utah-based Nutraceutical Corporation if it were to sell supplements containing a daily dosage of 10mg or less of ephedra. But last week, the US Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver overturned her decision, ruling the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was correct in its 2004 analysis of ephedrine products and subsequent conclusion there is no acceptable dose of the ingredient. The reversing of the decision is in effect another nail in the coffin on the matter of the legality of ephedra. Ephedra sinica, or Ma huang, has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years for a variety of ailments and is often used in teas. Until the 2004 ban, it was marketed as a supplement for weight-loss and sports performance, but a number of recent studies have linked ephedrine alkaloids with adverse effects on the cardiovascular and central nervous systems which have been though in some cases to be fatal. It has been a very emotive issue for the supplements industry. Many representatives are concerned with doing all they can to ensure supplements have a safety record that is grounded in science. Indeed, the discovery that case reports of adverse events caused by ephedra were not passed on by one former seller to the regulatory authorities is often cited in support of a recently introduced bill that would make serious adverse events reporting mandatory. However some parties have reacted by saying FDA is biased against herbals and has taken an exaggerated position in the issue, painting all supplements containing ephedra with the same brush. "Here FDA banned ephedra outright, but did not prove that lower doses are toxic," Jonathan Emord, attorney for Nutraceutical told NutraIngredients-USA.com. "We believe they made an enormous error." With the most recent review the appeals court still concluded the FDA had properly examined the facts when it ruled, in 2004, that dietary supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids present an "unreasonable risk of illness or injury". Pursuant to this the government has since seized numerous products containing the herbal ingredient. "We find that the FDA correctly followed the congressional directive to analyze the risks and benefits of EDS [ephedrine-alkaloid dietary supplements] in determining that there is no dosage level of EDS acceptable for the market." Pending the appeal, American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), together with other trade bodies, urged member companies and the industry at large not to jump the gun and reintroduce ephedra-containing products. But president Michael McGuffin said AHPA had has concerns about FDA's ruling on ephedrine and the outcome of this case since it refused to acknowledge any benefits for ephedra, even for traditional uses. "I strongly believe it [FDA] is not correct on the facts on ephedra," he told NutraIngredients-USA.com. "If the benefit side is judged as 'zero,' the outcome of any risk/benefit analysis will necessarily be skewed."However, the appeals court documents conclude the FDA was balanced in its approach: "The FDA was not arbitrary or capricious in its final rule; the FDA met its statutory burden of justifying a total ban of EDS by a preponderance of the evidence." Emord opinioned the court appeals reversal to be an "odd decision", stating that ephedra teas are available on the market. And because tea drinkers consume varied quantities and strengths of the beverage, teas can contain higher levels of ephedra than those found in the "standardized" daily dosage of his client's product, said Emord. Nutraceutical and Emord say they will seek a rehearing in front of the entire tenth circuit - thus 19 judges, as opposed to the 3 judges in the most recent court. "Industry will need to evaluate the implications of this as precedent," said McGuffin.   Top [thank mr. emord] Whenever you have the time, thank Jonathan Emord for winning the case for Nutraceutical against the FDA: Emord & Associates 1800 Alexander Bell Drive Suite 200 Reston, VA 20191 Telephone: (202) 466-6937 Telecopier: (202) 466-6938 http://www.emord.com/ If you ever need legal advice I wouldn't hesitate to give them a call. Top [ephedra survey] CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL REAL EPHEDRA DIETS.  BEWARE OF FAKE EPHEDRA. FAKE EPHEDRA HAS NO ACTIVE INGREDIENT EPHEDRINE ALKALOIDS.  IT IS A NEW SCAM TO AVOID !!! HOME    EPHEDRA DIETS    EPHEDRA FREE DIETS    BEST ANABOLICS    INTIMACY ENHANCERS    BEAUTY & COSMETICS    Mini Lean Ephedra    EphBURN 25 Ephedra    Xenadrine RFA-1    Pure Ephedrine    Hot Body Ephedra    Black Ice Ephedra    Stimerex-ES Ephedra Extract    Lipodrene Ephedra Extract   Stimerex-ES Ephedrine    Lipodrene Ephedrine    Diet Fuel    Metabodrene 356 Ephedra Extract    Ripped Fuel    Get Ripped Ephedra    Yellow Bullet Ephedra    Trimethylean Ephedra    Hydroxycut Ephedra    Hydroxylean Ephedra   Zenalean Pro Ephedra    Trucker's Luv It Ephedra    Go Juice Ephedra    Blu Impact Ephedra    Red Hotz Ephedra    Zenalean Stack Ephedra    Phenterdrene P57 Ephedra Extract    Pure Ephedrine    Yellow Cross Ephedra    Tri-Stack Ephedra Extract    ECA Xtreme Ephedra Extract    Hydroxyslim Ephedra Extract    Metabolife 356    Ripped Fuel    Hoodia Lipodrene SR    Lipo 6X    Venom Hyperdrive    Hydroxycut Hardcore    Fastin    LipoCutz    Red Cutz    Yellow Bullet HERE ARE THE TOP 3 REAL EPHEDRA DIETS Beware of fake ephedra as they are everywhere.  Those are labeled Ephedra Extract and have no active ingredient Ephedrine Alkaloids. It is a new scam you must avoid. #1 RED CUTZ XS A pure ECA Stack without any junk ingredients. #2 YELLOW POWER Liike the old Yellow S. This is like a Stack 4. #3 ZENALEAN PRO A clone of original ephedra Xenadrine RFA-1.

Top

Top

Top

Top

Top

Top

Top

Top

[which one is the best?]

SELECTING THE RIGHT ONE FOR YOU: What overweight women and men have learned is that for years virtually every professional bodybuilder, informed fitness expert and successful personal trainer would tell you the same thing.  Whether you want to accelerate the burning of excess body fat, boost your metabolic rate, heighten your thermogenic output or increase your energy level, there is nothing stronger or more effective than the "thermogenic cocktail" of Ephedra, Caffeine, and Aspirin (The E/C/A- Stack"). E/C/A STACK = (Ephedrine -aka. Ma Huang, Ephedra; Caffeine -aka. Kola Nut, Green Tea, Guarana; Aspirin -aka. Willow Bark).  Natural ingredients are necessary in all supplements in order not to fall under pharmaceutical drug category and thus be protected against FDA regulation and scrutiny.  Warnings: Not suitable for those who are pregnant or nursing, or are at risk or are being treated for high blood pressure, heart, liver thyroid or psychiatric disease, diabetes pernicious anemia, nervousness, headache, anxiety, depression, seizure disorder, stroke or difficulty in urination due to prostate enlargement. Consult your health care professional before use if you are taking mao inhibitor or any other prescription drug. Discontinue use and consult your health care professional if dizziness sleeplessness, tremors, nervousness, headache, heart palpitations or tingling sensations occur. Not intended for use for persons under the age of 18. SUGGESTED USE FROM A PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE: All ephedra diet supplements are good as long as the ECA stack is in the following amounts per serving: 200 mg Caffeine. 20-25 mg Ephedrine. 81 mg Aspirin (or 1/2 adult aspirin). The above to be taken together once or twice a day to start (3-5 days), 3 times a day thereafter. Most effective when taken 30 minutes before working out or 30-45 minutes before meals. You can elect to not increase frequency to three times a day if two doses or less give desired results. Under no circumstances should one increase dosing to more than 3 times a day. Some folks elect to Stack for 5 days and cycle off two days (take it 5 days straight and skip doses for 2 days - aka 5 on 2 off) while others Stack for 2 days and cycle off one day.  Do not take late at night as the energizing and thermogenic effects will last at least 6 hours and will keep you awake.  Recommended Vitamins to take with ECA stack: The addition of B vitamins may help with any feelings of short-temperedness that occur as a result of Stacking. Vitamin C can also be used to help with the bruising that can occur while dieting and Stacking.  Our Trucker's Luv It pills contains the full ECA stack and the B vitamins ! If you forget to take a dose and there is only 3 to 4 hours left before bedtime, then we recommend Pure Ephedrene or Ephedra 850 as these do not contain caffeine that prolongs the ephedra effects for 6 to 8 hours.  If your body begins to get used to the effects of any of our 20 - 25mgs ephedra stacks, then taking one pill along with Stacker 2 Lite will help as it contains only 12.5mgs of ephedra.  For instance, take 1 pill of Stacker 2 or 3 plus 1 Stacker 2 Lite for a combined total of 37.5mgs instead of 2 pills of Stacker 2 or 3 for a total of 50mgs.  Go for the smaller and safer increment of dose. SCIENCE SUPPORTING THE CLAIMS: ECA Stack contains an effective amount of each Ephedra, Caffeine and Aspirin that is proven to reduce body fat in clinical studies. (Daly, P et al., Internationional Journal of Obesity, Feb, 1993, 17 [Supp.1], S73-S78; and Colker, D., et al., Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 16. No.5, p.501 [#116]).   Ephedrine, Caffeine and Aspirin: safety and efficacy for treatment of human obesity. Daly PA, Krieger DR, Dulloo AG, Young JB, Landsberg L. Dept of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston. The safety and efficacy of a mixture of ephedrine (75-150mg), caffeine (150mg) and aspirin (330mg), in divided premeal doses, were investigated in 24 obese humans (mean BMI 37.0) in a randomized double blind placebo-controlled trial. Energy intake was not restricted. Overall weight loss over 8 weeks was 2.2kg (4.85Lbs) for ECA vs. 0.7kg (1.54Lbs) for placebo (p < 0.05). 8 of 13 placebo subjects returned 5 months later and received ECA in an unblinded crossover. After 8 weeks, mean weight loss with ECA was 3.2kg (7.05 Lbs.) vs 1.3 kg (for placebo (p = 0.036). 6 subjects continued on ECA for 7 to 26 months. After 5 months on ECA, average weight loss in 5 of these was 5.2kg (11.46Lbs) compared to 0.03kg (0.07Lbs) gained during 5 months between studies with no intervention (p = 0.03). The sixth subject lost 66kg (145.50Lbs) over 13 months by self-imposed caloric restriction. In all studies, no significant changes in heart rate, blood pressure, blood glucose, insulin, and cholesterol levels, and no differences in the frequency of side effects were found. ECA in these doses is thus well tolerated in otherwise healthy obese subjects, and supports modest, sustained weight loss even without prescribed caloric restriction, and may be more effective in conjunction with restriction of energy intake. WHAT STUDIES SHOW: Chronic administration of aspirin to obese mice had no effect on energy balance and body composition. In contrast, ephedrine increased energy expenditure by 9% and reduced body weight and body fat by 18% and 50%, respectively: obesity, however, was reduced but not reversed. In the presence of both ephedrine and aspirin, increase in energy expenditure found during treatment with ephedrine alone was doubled, and the obese group lost greater than 75% of body fat: obesity was reversed. These studies indicate that although aspirin administered alone has no influence on energy balance it can markedly potentiate thermogenic properties of ephedrine, effects which led to a normalization of body composition of the obese to that of the lean. Such ephedrine-aspirin mixtures, often found in over-the-counter preparations for asthma and bronchial disorders, could be put to new use as aids for treatment of human obesity.   IS EPHEDRINE REALLY SAFE ? Ernie and Pat Bechler, who testified at the recent congressional hearings on ephedra, blame the herbal stimulant for the death of their son, Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler, during spring training last February. So does Bechler’s widow, who has filed a lawsuit seeking $600 million in damages from the manufacturer and distributor of Xenadrine, an ephedra-based diet aid found in the 23-year-old baseball player’s locker. As one of Bechler’s teammates put it, ‘‘Someone has to be held responsible for a young kid dying like that.’’ But the rush to condemn ephedra, which the Food and Drug Administration and members of Congress have threatened to ban, is not justified by the evidence. Bechler, who died of heatstroke, was overweight, had high blood pressure and abnormal liver function, and was exercising hard in hot, humid Florida weather to which he was not acclimated. Broward County Medical Examiner Joshua Perper concluded that ‘‘the toxicity of ephedra played a significant role in the death of Mr. Bechler, although it’s impossible to define mathematically the contribution of each one of the factors in his unfortunate death due to heatstroke.’’ Perper added, ‘‘I am not saying (ephedra) was the triggering factor, because I cannot identify the triggering factor. You have here a constellation of factors working together.’’ But if ephedra was not ‘‘the triggering factor,’’ it’s possible that Bechler would still be dead even if he hadn’t consumed the stimulant. That was the conclusion reached by the renowned forensic pathologist Michael Baden, whom Xenadrine’s manufacturer asked to review the case. ‘‘The coincidental toxicologic finding of ephedrine, which is not known to produce heat stroke, in my opinion should not have been linked to the death by the medical examiner,’’ Baden wrote in a letter to the House committee that heard testimony from Bechler’s parents. ‘‘It is my opinion, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, . . . that Xenadrine did not cause or contribute to Mr. Bechler’s death.’’ The Bechler case illustrates the peril of leaping to conclusions when someone dies after consuming an ephedra product. News reports frequently assert that ‘‘more than 100 deaths’’ have been ‘‘linked’’ to ephedra. Yet a RAND Corporation study of all the ‘‘adverse event’’ reports in the FDA’s files and in the medical literature that were available as of Sept. 30 found only two fatalities where there was an attempt to rule out other factors. RAND also identified ‘‘four myocardial infarctions, nine cerebrovascular accidents, one seizure, and three psychiatric cases’’ that fell into the same category. Even in such cases, the FDA concedes, the reports ‘‘may indicate a safety problem but do not prove that ephedra caused the adverse event. ... Other unmeasured factors may have contributed, and such serious adverse events are likely to happen (albeit at very low rates) among the millions of users of ephedra anyway.’’ With an estimated 12 million to 17 million Americans taking something like 3 billion doses of ephedra products a year, FDA Administrator Mark McClellan admits, ‘‘serious adverse events from ephedra appear to be infrequent.’’ That point is underlined by data from the federal government’s Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), which indicate that two deaths, or even 100, over a decade would not make ephedra stand out on a list of drugs mentioned by medical examiners. In 1999, the last year for which nationwide totals were reported by drug, DAWN counted 811 mentions for Valium, 641 for Benadryl, 427 for Tylenol, 305 for Prozac, and 104 for aspirin. No drug is completely safe, but ephedra seems considerably safer than many popular over-the-counter remedies and prescription drugs. The ephedra industry is vulnerable partly because it depends on a loophole in federal law that allows ‘‘dietary supplements,’’ including ‘‘herbs,’’ to be sold without the FDA approval required for pharmaceuticals. Hence manufacturers have to pretend their product is not a drug. This legalistic maneuver gives consumers a bit more freedom to self-medicate, but it also raises unreasonable expectations about safety. The dietary supplement route is not the only way for a psychoactive substance to escape regulation as a drug. Coffee is considered a food, for example, even though it contains caffeine. Indeed, the manufacturer of NoDoz, which is considered a drug, reassures consumers by telling them the caffeine pill is ‘‘safe as coffee.’’ It’s too bad for the ephedra industry that ‘‘Mormon tea,’’ an ephedra brew that Mormons used to drink instead of beverages containing caffeine, never really caught on. Jacob Sullum is a senior editor with Reason magazine and a nationally syndicated columnist. His column publishes on Saturday. With the recent steroid use controversy among MLB players, who knows what else played a role in his untimely death? HOME

[obesity linked to aging]

Obesity Linked to Aging Research finds classic signs of aging in cells of obese women and female smokers. June 18, 2005 British and American researchers will report findings on Saturday linking obesity and smoking to a well-known indicator of cellular aging.   The report, to be published in the medical journal The Lancet, shows that obese women and female smokers have shorter cellular structures known as telomeres.   Telomeres are found at the ends of chromosomes and become shorter every time a cell divides. Once their telomeres reach a critically short length, cells are no longer able to divide and some die as a result.   Therefore scientists have suggested a link between aging cells with shorter telomeres, and the wrinkled skin and immune system decline that come naturally with aging.

[obesity affects salary]

Gaining weight may influence earning power By Patricia ReaneyTue Jan 23, 9:29 PM ET from Reuters Life! Piling on the pounds is not only bad for health it can have a negative impact on earning power. Just a 10 percent increase in body mass index, a measure of weight relative to height, can cut a man's real earnings by 3.3 percent and a woman's by 1.8 percent, economists said on Wednesday. Research from nine European countries shows the negative impact of weight on wages is stronger in the "oil belt" nations which include Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal. But in the so-called "beer belt" countries of Austria, Ireland, Denmark, Belgium and Finland gaining weight does not have a significant effect on salary. "We find that BMI affects wages negatively in Europe, and that the size of this effect is larger for males than for females," said Giorgio Brunello, an economist at the University of Padova in Italy. But he does not know whether it is due to discrimination against the overweight and obese or to health problems or depression that may limit their productivity. BMI is calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in meters squared. A BMI between 20-25 in normal, 25-30 is pre-obese and more than 30 is obese. Public health experts have warned that Europe is facing an obesity epidemic that will increase health costs and hamper economic development. Up to 23 percent of men and as many as 36 percent of women in Europe are obese. It is also a growing problem in children. Brunello and Beatrice D'Hombres of the European Commission, Joint Research Center in Ispra, Italy used information from the European Community House Panel, which is a comparative dataset, in the study published in the journal Economics and Human Biology. "Our results point out that heavier European workers experience a wage penalty in the labor market," Brunello said. The researchers said their findings are in line with the results of a recent survey of Europeans that shows Southern Europeans place a higher concern on gaining weight. Neville Rigby, the director of Policy and Public Affairs at the International Obesity TaskForce (IOTF) in London, said the findings need to be looked at more closely. "What is being shown is that there is an income gradient which relates to obesity in the same way that other factors do," he added. "If it is perceived that people are more concerned about overweight and obesity in certain areas it may well relate to the fact that they are becoming more aware of the health consequences," he added.

[water overdose]

Maybe the FDA will look into banning water as well. Lawsuit: DJs were warned of contest risk By JULIET WILLIAMS, Associated Press WriterFri Jan 26, 1:44 PM ET  Disc jockeys hosting an on-air water-drinking contest should have summoned medical help when a woman complained her head hurt and noted that her belly was so swollen she looked pregnant, said an attorney for a family suing for wrongful death. Instead, "The talent verbally chastised and otherwise coerced her, exhorting her to remain in the contest by threatening that she would be disqualified if she 'puked,'" according to the lawsuit filed Thursday on behalf of 28-year-old Jennifer Lea Strange's family. The mother of three died Jan. 12, just hours after drinking as much as two gallons of water in the contest to win a video game console. In the lawsuit, filed in Sacramento County Superior Court, the family claims the DJs on the "Morning Rave" program on KDND-FM knew of the potential dangers of drinking too much water, yet went ahead with the contest anyway. "The talent admitted during the broadcast that they should have done more research once various participants, including (Strange), began to report medical symptoms," it said. "Such conduct was despicable and so vile, base or contemptible that it would be looked down upon and despised by reasonable people." Strange was one of about 18 contestants who tried to win a Nintendo Wii gaming console by seeing how much water they could drink without going to the bathroom. The DJs called the contest "Hold your Wee for a Wii." "They keep telling me that it's the water. That it will tell my head to hurt and then it will make me puke," Strange said, according to an audio tape of the show. At one point during the contest, a listener who identified herself as a nurse called in to warn the disc jockeys that the stunt could be fatal. "Yeah, we're aware of that," one of the DJs responded to the caller's warning, the lawsuit said. Another DJ said with laugh: "Yeah, they signed releases, so we're not responsible. We're OK." The family claims Strange never signed a liability waiver. Instead, the form merely granted the station permission to use the contestants' names and photos for promotions, said the family's attorney, Roger Dreyer. "I guarantee you if there was a waiver of liability they would have produced it," Dreyer said at a news conference. The Sacramento-area station fired 10 employees after Strange's death. The lawsuit names as defendants KDND's parent company, Entercom/Sacramento, as well as employees and managers who organized, promoted and participated in the contest. The radio station would not comment directly about Thursday's lawsuit, Entercom spokesman Charles Sipkins said. "We reiterate our deepest sympathies and condolences to the Strange family, but we do not comment on pending litigation," he said. Sipkins said he did not know whether the DJs jockeys had retained their own attorneys. After several hours of drinking water, Strange relented and accepted the second-place prize, tickets to a Justin Timberlake concert. Her mother, Nina Hulst, found her dead several hours later at the family's home in Rancho Cordova, a Sacramento suburb. "I want nobody else to have to suffer the pain that our family is suffering," Hulst said at the news conference. The Federal Communications Commission has joined the investigation into Strange's death at the request of the family's attorneys, spokesman Clyde Ensslin said. He said FCC Chairman Kevin Martin was "troubled" by the information in the letter. If it finds wrongdoing, the FCC could fine the station or deny its license renewal application. ___ Associated Press Writer Aaron C. Davis contributed to this report.

[obesity and cancer link]

Obesity and cancer more closely linked than previously thought By Anthony Fletcher 11/14/2005 - Diet and obesity could play a more significant role in cancer risk than previously thought, putting processed food again under the spotlight. Growing evidence suggests that overall cancer incidence and mortality resulting from overweight and obesity is increasing, potentially thwarting other prevention and treatment efforts aimed at reducing these dire statistics. A number of recent academic studies, presented at the recent AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, provide worrying reading for the food industry, and present regulators with another headache. "Given the trends in obesity and the increasing evidence of a broad range of cancers caused by excess energy balance, the projected burden of cancer over the coming years is worrisome," said Graham Colditz, professor of epidemiology with the Harvard School of Public Health. The food industry is already taking a lot of the heat. The recent introduction of nutritional guidelines in the UK has led to the banning of soft drinks and high-fat snacks from vending machines in schools, while France has banned such machines from schools altogether. Read more here.

[obesity links to prostate cancer]

Read the original article here Putting on the pounds 'doubles prostate cancer risk' By DAVID DERBYSHIRE - More by this author. Last updated at 11:41am on 12th November 2007 The risk of dying from prostate cancer is doubled if the sufferer is carrying too much weight, according to research published today. Doctors compared the chances of survival of 788 patients against their body mass index - the measure of obesity that takes into account weight and height. Within five years of diagnosis, the prostate cancer death rate for men with a normal BMI - 25 or under - was less than 7 per cent against 13 per cent for men with a BMI over 25. Cancer campaigners said the findings were of "great concern" in the light of the growing obesity crisis. Every year nearly 35,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in Britain and 10,000 men die from it. It is the most common cancer diagnosed in men, with at least one person dying from the disease every hour. Many more are thought to have the disease without realising it. Dr Jason Efstathiou and colleagues from Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston, studied 788 patients with locally advanced prostate cancer - the form where the cancer has spread outside the prostate gland. Overall, men who were moderately fat - with a BMI of between 25 and 30 - were 1.5 times more likely to die from their cancer than those with a "normal" BMI of 25, Dr Efstathiou found. Obese men, those with a BMI higher than 30, were 1.6 times more likely to die from their disease, the researchers report in the journal Cancer. Body mass index is measured by taking someone's weight in kilograms and dividing it by the square of their height in metres. Dr Efstathiou, whose team took into account other reasons why the cancer is more deadly for fat men, such as their income, social background and general health, said it was unclear whether losing weight after being diagnosed would alter the course of the disease. Approximately 12,000 men are diagnosed with locally advanced prostate cancer in Britain each year. Treatments for prostate cancer include the complete surgical removal of the prostate, radiation and hormonal therapy. The Prostate Cancer Charity called for more studies into the link between obesity and post-treatment survival. Ingrid Spickett, senior nurse at the charity said: "This large scale study is of great concern considering the rising levels of obesity here in the UK. "We now need to ask what impact these men's particular treatments may have had on their survival and whether there other factors such as poor diet and lack of exercise may play a role. "We also need more studies to see whether the same is true of men who are diagnosed with localised prostate cancer and men who have different treatments." Earlier this month, a major study from the World Cancer Research Fund highlighted the links between diet, obesity and cancer. Some nutrients - including selenium and lycopene, found in tomatoes - can protect against the disease.

[alzheimer risk in obesity]

By Martha Kerr Thu Jul 6, 6:45 PM ET NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Obesity is known to increase a person's risk of death and now, new findings from a study of more than 90,000 women indicate that the risk continues to increase as the severity of obesity worsens. "It's not good enough to consider obesity alone," principal investigator Dr. Kathleen McTigue of the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, told Reuters Health. "You need to look at degree of obesity." In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, McTigue and colleagues evaluated the impact of body weight on death risk in 90,185 women enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study. On average, the patients were followed for 7 years. Body mass index (BMI), a measure of body weight for height, was used to classify the women as normal weight, overweight, or obese. Normal weight was defined as a BMI from 18.5 to 24.9 and overweight was a BMI from 25 to 29.9. The investigators defined three categories of obesity: obesity 1 (BMI of 30 to 34.9), obesity 2 (BMI 35 to 39.9) and extreme obesity (BMI 40 and higher). "The risks of extreme obesity have not been well-defined," McTigue noted. But this study had enough subjects to assess that risk, she added. As weight increases, so does the risk of death, but the risk is not statistically significant until one becomes obese, McTigue said. Compared with normal-weight women, she continued, "the risk of dying was increased 12 percent in all women in obesity category 1, while risk was increased 86 percent over seven years in women in obesity category 3." In a University of Pittsburgh release, the researcher pointed out that "earlier studies, which tended to reflect lower degrees of obesity, may underestimate the risks of extremely obese individuals and overestimate the risk for mildly obese individuals in diverse groups." She concluded, "More accurately assessing weight-related health risk may both improve policy decisions about obesity and assist women in making informed decisions about their health." SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, July 5, 2006.

[Death risk in women as obesity worsens]

By Martha Kerr Thu Jul 6, 6:45 PM ET NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Obesity is known to increase a person's risk of death and now, new findings from a study of more than 90,000 women indicate that the risk continues to increase as the severity of obesity worsens. "It's not good enough to consider obesity alone," principal investigator Dr. Kathleen McTigue of the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, told Reuters Health. "You need to look at degree of obesity." In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, McTigue and colleagues evaluated the impact of body weight on death risk in 90,185 women enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study. On average, the patients were followed for 7 years. Body mass index (BMI), a measure of body weight for height, was used to classify the women as normal weight, overweight, or obese. Normal weight was defined as a BMI from 18.5 to 24.9 and overweight was a BMI from 25 to 29.9. The investigators defined three categories of obesity: obesity 1 (BMI of 30 to 34.9), obesity 2 (BMI 35 to 39.9) and extreme obesity (BMI 40 and higher). "The risks of extreme obesity have not been well-defined," McTigue noted. But this study had enough subjects to assess that risk, she added. As weight increases, so does the risk of death, but the risk is not statistically significant until one becomes obese, McTigue said. Compared with normal-weight women, she continued, "the risk of dying was increased 12 percent in all women in obesity category 1, while risk was increased 86 percent over seven years in women in obesity category 3." In a University of Pittsburgh release, the researcher pointed out that "earlier studies, which tended to reflect lower degrees of obesity, may underestimate the risks of extremely obese individuals and overestimate the risk for mildly obese individuals in diverse groups." She concluded, "More accurately assessing weight-related health risk may both improve policy decisions about obesity and assist women in making informed decisions about their health." SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, July 5, 2006.

[Acomplia drug patients at psychiatric risk]

A weight-loss drug used by thousands of UK patients should not be taken by people on anti-depressants, a European health watchdog warned yesterday. The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) said it was recommending that anyone taking anti-depressants or suffering ongoing major depression should not take rimonabant, which is sold under the brand name Acomplia. About 41,000 patients in the UK have been treated with rimonabant since it was launched here in June 2006. The Department of Health's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said it had received reports of psychiatric reactions to Acomplia in the UK. "Three hundred and sixty-four (364) psychiatric reactions have been reported," it said. "Amongst these, there have been 48 reports of depression, 16 reports of suicidal thoughts and one report of self-injury." It said evidence suggested one in 10 people who take Acomplia may develop psychiatric side effects. "Approximately one patient in every 100 may experience suicidal thoughts." Last month, a committee advising the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States voted to ban the drug because of an increased risk of suicide. You can read the complete article here!

[CODEX update]

Health is an inalienable human right Firm protest in Bonn against Codex plans On Sunday, 31 October, the Dr. Rath Health Foundation welcomed an international audience to the large auditorium of Bad Godesburg municipal hall in Bonn. “Stop Codex“ was the urgent appeal, with the message: “We say ‘No' to the unscrupulous plans of the Codex Alimentarius Commission to prohibit free access to natural remedies and information about them.” Since Monday 1 November the Commission has been meeting again in Bonn, under German patronage, to drive forward goals which wholly disregard human needs and rights. Dr. Matthias Rath left no doubt about who is responsible for the Codex plans: none other than the pharmaceutical cartel, which for countless years has been promising health but spreading illness. The profits of the pharmaceutical investment industry depend on the continued survival and expansion of its markets in patented drugs, genetically modified foods and synthetic food additives ­ despite the fact that there is an alternative to ineffectual pharmaceutical medicine, embodied in scientifically based, effective natural remedies without side effects, such as Cellular Medicine. The large audience attending the event at Bad Godesberg municipal hall clearly demonstrated that it was composed of people intent on taking responsibility themselves: responsibility for preventing the pharmaceutical cartel from continuing to turn the human body into a market place for its “business with disease”. Dr. Aleksandra Niedzwiecki, director of the Dr. Rath Research Institute in California, gave information about Cellular Medicine's latest, encouraging research results, highlighting the fact that the strength of this natural approach to medicine lies in its scientific foundation. Dr. Wong Ang Peng from Malaysia gave a committed and passionate lecture on the successes he has been able to achieve with the help of Cellular Medicine in combating endemic diseases such as high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes and cancer. Paul Taylor, as British expert on the “Codex Alimentarius”, supported Dr. Rath's appeal to protest actively against the Codex plans. He encouraged the audience and people throughout the world to send e-mails and, in particular, letters and faxes to members of the German and European parliaments, and decisively reject plans to prohibit free access to natural remedies. “All of us must act. Just think about it: the life you save might be your own,” said Taylor, giving the audience something to ponder. Adv. Anthony Brink, high court advocate and former magistrate from South Africa, reported on his battle against the pharmaceutical drug business based on AIDS. Expensive, ineffective anti-AIDS drugs are sold there ­ a medical catastrophe which harms whole generations of socially disadvantaged AIDS patients. The programme of accompanying events in the municipal hall's foyer met with a very warm response. At the Dr. Rath Health Foundation stand, hundreds of signatures were collected against the Codex Alimentarius plans. Werner Pilniok spoke of the aims of his patient association, which include providing a communication forum for patients harmed by pharmaceutical medicine. On Monday 1 November a large crowd of people gathered at the Brotfabrik cultural centre in the Beuel district of Bonn, in order to join a protest march with Dr. Rath past the building in which the Codex Commission had on the same day begun its meeting to realise its unscrupulous aims. Banners showed their absolute determination to continue the protest against the plans, regulations and laws being driven forward to protect the global pharmaceutical market. “Stop Codex, free access to natural remedies” declared this group of critics battling for a healthy world. When the protesters reached their destination there were several addresses, in which Dr. Rath, Dr. Niedzwiecki and other committed doctors and members of the Dr. Rath Health Alliance gave their solid vote in favour of free access to vitamins and natural remedies. They appealed to Codex delegates not simply to implement the profit-orientated guidelines of the pharmaceutical cartel, but to listen to their own conscience. For health is an inalienable human right that no one has the right to curtail. Vitamin Freedom Internationally Around the world, vitamin freedom is gradually being eroded. Many governments are pressured into abandoning vitmains as a part of their national health strategy by strong pharmaceutical interests that want nothing more than to obtain a monopoly on health. For many countries, the regulations imposed by the Codex Alimentarius commission have led to the complete ban of vitamins and other natural therapies in favor of toxic pharmaceutical concoctions. To learn more about this Codex commission and how it threatens vitamin freedom internationally, please follow the link at the top of this page. Read more here

[most effective diet]

Probably the most important change to incorporate in your life is the "6 meal a day" paradigm. Many people think, "It's impossible to make six meals a day!" Well, change your idea of a meal, and just think of it as eating about 6 times a day. No more breakfast, lunch, or dinner...just first meal, second meal, and so on. And a meal can be as small as a couple glasses of milk, or a bowl of cereal, or a sandwich, or a small amount of pasta with meat. Do not eat more calories -- just spread them over the day more evenly. Simply spreading your calories over the entire day will increase your metabolism like wildfire and make it easier to lose fat. Finally, you should by all means eat before you go to bed. Just do not eat many carbs. When you sleep, your body needs nutrients to rebuild. So much so, in fact, that some people who are really serious about recovery wake up once in the middle of the night! I'm not suggesting you do this (sleep is more important), but make sure to eat a low carb meal within an hour of bedtime. After you adjust your lifestyle and eating patterns, you can begin to use the fat burners. The ephedrine/caffeine/aspirin stack is not only safer than any prescription fat loss product, it is more effective -- you lose fat and spare the muscle. Most OTC fat burners will burn fat fine, but strip you of your calorie burning muscle. Of course, be aware of the warnings on the label. Ephedrine/caffeine is not for everyone!

[Being overweight may raise cancer risk]

By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer Fri Feb 15, 5:53 PM ET LONDON - Being obese or even overweight may increase a person's risk of developing up to a dozen different types of cancer, European researchers report in a new study. Doctors have long suspected a link between weight gain and certain cancers, including colon and breast cancers. But the new study, published Friday in the journal Lancet, suggests it could also increase chances for cancer of the esophagus, thyroid, kidney, uterus and gall bladder, among others. While the study suggests a link, there is no definitive proof that being fat in itself causes cancer. "To make the link between cause and effect, we need to tick several boxes," said Dr. Andrew Renehan, the study's lead author and senior lecturer at the School of Cancer Studies at the University of Manchester. "This study begins to tick the first two or three boxes, but more research is needed to confirm it." The researchers compiled data from 141 studies and considered more types of cancers and more diverse populations than had been done previously. The research covered more than 280,000 cases from North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. The subjects, both overweight and normal weight, were followed for about nine to 15 years, with researchers tracking their body mass index, or BMI — a calculation based on weight and height — and correlating it with incidents of cancer. In men, an average weight gain of 33 pounds increased the risk of esophageal cancer by 52 percent, thyroid cancer by 33 percent, and colon and kidney cancers each by 24 percent, the research found. In women, a weight gain of 29 pounds increased the risk of cancer in the uterus and gall bladder by nearly 60 percent, esophagus by 51 percent and kidney by 34 percent, the study said. The link was weaker for bone and blood cancers, for both men and women. In Asian populations, there appeared to be a stronger link between increased BMI and breast cancer, the study said. "This study provides a lot of circumstantial evidence about the dangers of obesity," said Dr. David Robbins, a gastroenterologist at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, who was not involved in the study. "It also highlights the cancer crisis we face as obesity rates increase worldwide." Scientists are unsure how being overweight could make people more susceptible to cancer. "One of the hypotheses is that the presence of excess fat cells could affect the levels of hormones in your body," Renehan said. "At a cellular level, that may favor the development of tumors in humans." Because many studies have found that fatter people are more likely to get cancer, experts often recommend losing weight to reduce cancer risk. "The simple message is that, if you manage to keep a healthy body weight, you will have a lower risk of developing cancer," said Ed Yong, of Cancer Research United Kingdom. The Lancet study was paid for by British Medical Association, the University of Manchester and the University of Bern, Switzerland. Renehan has consulted for several pharmaceutical companies that make hormone replacements.

[Judge's Decision Lifts Ephedra Ban]

Judge's Decision Lifts Ban On Sale of Ephedra in Utah By GARDINER HARRIS; JAY SCHREIBER CONTRIBUTED REPORTING FROM NEW YORK FOR THIS ARTICLE. Published: April 15, 2005 A federal judge in Utah on Thursday struck down a Food and Drug Administration ban on the herbal supplement ephedra, an adrenaline like stimulant linked to dozens of deaths. The ruling, by Judge Tena Campbell of Federal District Court, calls into question whether the F.D.A. can enforce its ban on ephedra anywhere in the United States, though the ruling's immediate effect is restricted to Utah. It also prompted calls on Capitol Hill for legislation to crack down on the supplements industry. Saying that the drug agency had failed to prove that ephedra at low doses was dangerous, and that it lacked the authority to ban the substance without such proof, Judge Campbell called for the F.D.A. to devise new rules for ephedra. Bruce Hough, president of the Nutraceutical Corporation, which brought the suit, said that it had no immediate plans to resume the sale of ephedra, which was pulled off the market a year ago this week. He said that the company, which is based in Park City, Utah, had brought the suit to check the agency's oversight of nutritional supplements. ''We didn't file this lawsuit because of ephedra,'' said Mr. Hough. ''We filed it because the F.D.A. established rules that could cause problems to the rest of our business.'' A spokeswoman for the F.D.A. said that the agency was still evaluating the ruling. No determination has been made about an appeal. Dr. Julian Bailes, chairman of neurosurgery at West Virginia University School of Medicine, said the ruling was ''a green light to abuse this substance again.'' Dr. Bailes's research established a link between ephedra -- an ingredient in supplements said to aid weight loss, enhance sports performance and increase energy -- and heat-stroke deaths among young athletes. Ephedra has been linked to more than 80 deaths, though estimates vary. More adverse reactions were reported from the use of ephedra than from the use of all other herbal supplements combined, Dr. Bailes said. Judge Campbell stated in her ruling that the F.D.A. had failed to prove that low doses of ephedra were dangerous. In fact, she found, the agency was caught in a bind. It suspected that all doses of ephedra posed a risk, suggesting that further research would have been unethical. Unable to determine a safe dose of ephedra, the agency banned them all. That, however, is not legal, Judge Campbell ruled. A 1994 law championed by Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa, and Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, shields makers of herbal and nutritional supplements from strict adherence to F.D.A. rules that require drug makers to prove that their products are safe and effective. Instead, the law defines nutritional supplements as food, which is assumed to be safe unless federal regulators can prove otherwise. After all, ''if food producers were required to show a benefit as a precondition to sale, the sale of foods such as potato chips might be prohibited,'' Judge Campbell wrote. Because the research on ephedra is incomplete, the drug agency could not prove that low doses of the supplement were unsafe. And because the burden of proof under the 1994 law is the agency's, its ban was illegal, the judge wrote. ''The statement that a safe level cannot be determined is simply not sufficient to meet the government's burden,'' Judge Campbell ruled. A major push to ban ephedra came after it was cited as a factor in the death of Steve Bechler, a 23-year-old pitcher with the Baltimore Orioles who collapsed during a workout at Fort Lauderdale Stadium on Feb. 16, 2003, and died the next day. On Thursday, Tom Glavine, a pitcher for the New York Mets and formerly the National League's player representative, said that he doubted that Judge Campbell's ruling would lead players to start using ephedra again. ''Guys understand the concerns and the potential risks involved with ephedra,'' Mr. Glavine said. ''I don't see anyone running and saying: 'Let's do it again now. This is a great idea.''' Rob Manfred, Major League Baseball's executive vice president for labor relations and human resources, said baseball would not lift its own ban on ephedra. The National Football League and the National Basketball Association also ban its players from using ephedra. Safety advocates have long complained that the law governing herbal and nutritional supplements allows their manufacturers to sell potentially dangerous products with little federal oversight. Advocates of the law say that it provides needed protection for the companies that cannot afford to undertake the enormous expense involved in underwriting the clinical trials to prove that their products are safe and effective. Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, said Thursday's ruling showed that the 1994 law needed to be changed. At the time, Mr. Kennedy tried to include a provision that would have prohibited supplements that presented a ''reasonable possibility of harm.'' ''If F.D.A. can't take a supplement as dangerous as ephedra off the market, then Congress needs to change the law to allow it to do so,'' Mr. Kennedy said through a spokeswoman. But Mr. Hatch said that ''the history of ephedra regulation has been tortured, and I do not believe it is a good example of how the government should resolve dietary supplement safety.'' Steven M. Mister, president of the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a Washington-based trade association for the dietary supplement industry, said the ruling should not lead to ''inappropriate conclusions'' about the need to change the law. Read original post here.

[multivitamins linked to younger age]

Multivitamins linked to younger ‘biological age’: Study
By Stephen Daniells, 27-May-2009

Related topics: Research, Antioxidants, carotenoids, Vitamins & premixes, Cancer risk reduction

The cells of multivitamin users may have a younger biological age than cells from non-users, according to new research from the US.

Researchers led by Honglei Chen, MD, PhD from National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences looked at the length of telomeres, DNA sequences at the end of chromosomes that shorten as cells replicate and age.

The ageing and lifespan of normal, healthy cells are linked to the so-called telomerase shortening mechanism, which limits cells to a fixed number of divisions. During cell replication, the telomeres function by ensuring the cell's chromosomes do not fuse with each other or rearrange, which can lead to cancer. Elizabeth Blackburn, a telomere pioneer at the University of California San Francisco, likened telomeres to the ends of shoelaces, without which the lace would unravel.

With each replication the telomeres shorten, and when the telomeres are totally consumed, the cells are destroyed (apoptosis). Previous studies have also reported that telomeres are highly susceptible to oxidative stress.

Dr Chen and his co-workers noted that telomere length may therefore be a marker of biological ageing, and that multivitamins may beneficially affect telomere length via modulation of oxidative stress and chronic inflammation.

According to results published in the new issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the telomeres of daily multivitamin users may be on average 5.1 per cent longer than in non-users.

“To our knowledge, this was the first epidemiologic study of multivitamin use and telomere length,” wrote Dr Chen and his co-workers. “Regular multivitamin users tend to follow a healthy lifestyle and have a higher intake of micronutrients, which sometimes makes it difficult to interpret epidemiologic observations on multivitamin use.

“Further investigations would be needed to understand the role of multivitamin use and telomere length and its implication in the etiology of chronic diseases.”

Multivitamin use

According to a National Institutes of Health (NIH) State-of-the-Science Panel, half of the American population routinely use dietary supplements, with their annual spend estimated at over $20 billion.

Recent results of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey showed that 35 per cent of the US adult population regularly consumes one or more types of multivitamin product (Am. J. Epidemiol., 2004, Vol. 160, Pages 339-349).

New study

Dr Chen and his co-workers analysed multivitamin use and nutrient intakes, as well as telomere length of 586 women aged between 35 and 74 in the Sister Study. A 146-item food-frequency questionnaire was used to determine multivitamin use and nutrient intakes.

Compared to non-multivitamin users, the researchers noted that that telomeres were on average 5.1 per cent longer for daily multivitamin users.

In an attempt to identify specific nutrients that could be behind the observations, a positive relationship between telomere length and intakes of vitamins C and E from foods was observed.

“Whereas the evidence is not sufficient to conclude that these 2 dietary antioxidants mediated the observed relation, the results are consistent with experimental findings that vitamins C and E protect telomeres in vitro,” wrote the researchers.

Being the first study to report such an association, Dr Chen and his co-workers emphasized that the evidence is only preliminary and that additional epidemiologic studies are required to further explore the association. The implications of the findings in terms of ageing and the etiology of chronic diseases should be carefully evaluated.

Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
June 2009, Volume 89, Number 6, Pages 1857-1863, doi:10.3945/ajcn.2008.26986
"Multivitamin use and telomere length in women"
Authors: Q. Xu, C.G. Parks, L.A. DeRoo, R.M. Cawthon, D.P. Sandler, H. Chen

[Vitamin D Benefits, Lean Muscle Mass]

BEIRUT, Lebanon--Providing vitamin D to young females before the onset of menstruation may benefit their bones and lean body mass, according to a new study in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (91, 2:405-12, 2006). In the double blind, placebo-controlled study, coordinated by researchers from the Calcium Metabolism and Osteoporosis Program at the American University of Beirut, 179 girls between the ages of 10 and 17 were randomly assigned to receive weekly oral vitamin D doses of 1,400 IU or 14,000 IU for one year. Serum calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase and vitamin D metabolites were assessed during the study; areal bone mineral density (BMD), bone mineral content (BMC) and body composition were measured at baseline and one year.

At the end of the study, lean mass was found to have increased significantly in both treatment groups, with bone area and total hip BMD increasing significantly in the high-dose group. In premenarcheal girls, lean mass increased significantly in both treatment groups, with consistent trends for increases in BMD and/or BMC at several skeletal sites. There was no significant change in lean mass, BMD or BMC in postmenarcheal girls.

[obesity is more dangerous]

Original article can be read here.
Obesity more dangerous than terrorism: Experts
25 Feb, 2008, 1129 hrs IST,

[more ephedra proof]

Read original here Multinutrient supplement containing ephedra and caffeine causes weight loss and improves metabolic risk factors in obese women: a randomized controlled trial. R M Hackman1, P J Havel1, H J Schwartz2, J C Rutledge2, M R Watnik3, E M Noceti1, S J Stohs4, J S Stern1,2 and C L Keen1,2 1.    Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA, USA 2.    Department of Internal Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, USA 3.    Department of Statistics, California State University, East Bay, CA, USA 4.    Department of Pharmacy Science, Creighton University, Omaha, USA Correspondence: Dr RM Hackman, Department of Nutrition, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616-8669, USA. E-mail: rmhackman@ucdavis.edu Received 24 June 2005; Revised 6 January 2006; Accepted 19 January 2006; Published online 21 March 2006. Abstract Objective: To determine the safety and efficacy of a dietary supplement with a low dose of ephedra and caffeine in overweight/obese premenopausal female subjects. Design: A 9-month, double-blind, randomized control study compared the efficacy and safety of a dietary supplement with ephedra and caffeine to a control supplement. Subjects: Sixty-one healthy, premenopausal women with body mass index (BMI) from 27 to 39 kg/m2 were randomly assigned and received a dietary supplement (40 mg/day ephedra alkaloids, 100 mg/day caffeine, high potency mixture of vitamins, minerals, omega-3 fatty acids) or a control supplement for 9 months. Measurements: Efficacy: changes in body weight, body composition, lipids, insulin, leptin, adiponectin, ghrelin, and self-reports of physical activity, diet and quality of life indices. Safety: blood pressure, heart rate, electrocardiograms, urinalysis, blood histology, serum chemistry measures and self-reported symptoms. Results: Forty-one women completed the study. The treatment group lost significantly more body weight (-7.18 kg) and body fat (-5.33 kg) than the control group (-2.25 and -0.99 kg, respectively), and showed significant declines in heart rate, serum cholesterol, triglycerides, cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein ratio, glucose, fasting insulin, and leptin. Blood pressure, electrocardiograms, other clinical chemistry measures, blood histology, urinalysis, and self-reported physical activity were similar in the groups. Minor symptoms included dry mouth, insomnia, nervousness and palpitations. The treatment group reported more energy and decreased appetite compared to controls and scored higher on a quality of life domain assessing vitality. Conclusion: A dietary supplement containing a low potency ephedra/caffeine mixture appeared safe and effective in causing loss of weight and body fat, and improving several metabolic parameters, including insulin sensitivity and lipid profiles when tested under physician supervision. Such supplements could be a useful tool to assist with weight loss.

[magnesium, fountain of youth]

Magnesium - The Fountain
Of Youth & Health
By Dr. Luise Light and Mary Sparrowdancer
© 2008 - All Rights Reserved
9-24-08

While the USDA, the FDA, news media and nearly all of "modern medicine" promote vaccines, chemicals, surgery and radiation as the "accepted" way of dealing with the growing number of illnesses and symptoms prevalent in the US, it now appears that magnesium may be the miraculous, essential mineral that has been kept hidden from us for about 100 years. Needed by every cell in the body, a magnesium deficiency can be catastrophic and has now been associated with heart attacks, arrhythmias, cancers, diabetes, asthma, Crohn's disease, premature aging, hair loss, twitches, cramps, high blood pressure, stroke, fibromyalgia, migraines, bone and joint pain, ADD, ADHD, shortness of breath, osteoporosis, muscle wasting, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, constipation, memory loss, sensitivity to light and loud noises, hearing loss, insomnia, fatigue, anxiety, tuberculosis, aggression, hyperactivity, panic attacks, nail fungus, Tourette syndrome, PMS, toxemia of pregnancy, numbness and tingling, eczema, psoriasis, depression, violence, gum problems, tooth decay, calcium deficiency, and virtually all chronic and autoimmune diseases now common in the US, including chronic fatigue syndrome.

If the list of symptoms associated with a magnesium deficiency comes as a surprise, the list of ailments that nature's natural magnesium has been used to successfully treat is even more of a surprise. Although there is usually little mention of the near-miraculous magnesium connection in mainstream media, conditions that magnesium has been successfully used to treat include polio, diphtheria and tetanus. In 1985, a Harvard team found that Toxic Shock Syndrome associated with tampon usage in women, resulted when certain ultra absorbent materials in some tampons absorbed the magnesium that is normally present in a woman's body. When magnesium is no longer present, Staphylococcus aureus produces "up to 20 times as much toxin."

Various data sources, including the US government, suggest that the number of Americans now deficient in magnesium is approximately 90%, with some data suggesting the number is even higher. The mineral, responsible for all the electrical impulses of the body, is critically needed for normal muscle and nerve functions, healthy heart rhythms, strong bones, a healthy immune system, normal blood sugar, normal blood pressure, normal brain function and a healthy GI tract. In short, while we can live with minimal amounts of this mineral, we cannot live well or in a state of optimum health and happiness without it.

Factory foods and many industrially farmed foods are deficient in magnesium because most of the US soils are now deficient in magnesium and loaded with chemicals that force plants to grow artificially. Organic foods grown on magnesium-rich soils are a preferable way to obtain magnesium from food. Good food sources of magnesium are spinach, wild garlic, raw (non-pasteurized) almonds, corn and other whole grains, oysters, pumpkin seeds, cashews, seaweed, sunflower seeds, raw wheat germ (which is usually removed from industrial cereals, breads and pastas in order to prolong shelf-life), and dark green olive oil. Since magnesium is reportedly destroyed by heating, it is important to consume fresh, raw vegetables, fruits and nuts daily. Unfortunately, all raw almonds grown in the US must now be "pasteurized" by high heat or chemicals due to industrial regulations, and spinach is soon destined to be irradiated. The consequences of these damaging processes on consumer health are unknown.

In a shining example illustrating why we should no longer be depending upon our government for its ideas about our health (and how to ruin it), the following information is taken from the website of the National Institutes of Health. "The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research. Helping to lead the way toward important medical discoveries that improve people's health and save lives, NIH scientists investigate ways to prevent disease as well as the causes, treatments, and even cures for common and rare diseases."

In the NIH area devoted to magnesium, they state that while a "substantial" number of people fail to consume adequate magnesium, incredibly, "symptoms of magnesium deficiency are rarely seen in the US." This is the same group of "experts" who continue to suggest that the entire US population needs to be mass-medicated with unknown doses of a HAZMAT toxic chemical called fluoride in our drinking water, while they have yet to acknowledge or recognize the symptoms of a simple magnesium deficiency in the US population.

Since our government scientists are making it increasingly difficult for us to obtain magnesium from the poor American food and water supply, Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) may be used as a time-honored way of replenishing one's magnesium. Soaking in Epsom salts has long been known to help relieve bodily aches and pains, as well as restore a sense of energy, calmness and well-being by providing a good dose of absorbed magnesium. Magnesium is easily absorbed through the skin, and a simple foot soak in a tub of non-fluoridated water in which Epsom salts have been dissolved, is a pleasant way to spend a quiet 20 minutes. Other forms of magnesium that can be absorbed or added to the diet include magnesium citrate (which can be dissolved in a glass of drinking water), magnesium oxide (pellets added to fluoridated water reportedly remove the fluoride), and magnesium chloride from evaporated sea water. If you have kidney failure consult your physician prior to any self-administration of magnesium due to your special circumstances.

* * * * * * * * *

Mary Sparrowdancer is an independent, investigative journalist and the author of "The Love Song." www.sparrowdancer.com

Luise Light is the creator of the original USDA Food Pyramid, which was later altered by government workers before being given to the unsuspecting public. She is the author of What to Eat; The Ten Things You Really Need to Know to Eat Well and Be Healthy, www.luiselight.com For information about menopause and the health problems linked to well-known menopause drugs, please visit: www.themenopauseadvisor.com, and www.premproadvisor.com.

* * * * * * * * *

References and suggested reading:

National Institutes of Health, PubMed, ADD, hyperactivity and magnesium.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9368236

Sodium magnesium-chlorophyllin isolated from conifer needles is active against viruses of the herpes group, vaccinia virus, and the flu.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v222/n5193/abs/222574b0.html

Fluoride Magnesium interaction.

http://www.mgwater.com/fl2.shtml

Time Magazine: The Magnesium Connection and Toxic Shock Syndrome. 1985.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,959243,00.html

Magnesium treats polio.

http://www.mgwater.com/rod05.shtml

Dr. Norman Shealy studies magnesium importance.

http://www.betteryou.uk.com/articles-news/?a=5

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Magnesium

http://www.immunesupport.com/chronic-fatigue-syndrome-treatment.htm

National Institutes of Health describes itself.

http://www.nih.gov/about/NIHoverview.html

National Institutes of Health unaware of magnesium deficiency symptoms.

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/magnesium.asp

Magnesium oxide ­ a simple method of de-fluoridating water. 1986.

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119482337/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

Magnesium oxide uses: "Fluoride removal in water treatment."

http://www.parchem.com/Magnesium-Oxide-DC-Granular-001338.aspx

Magnesium oxide to remove fluoride from drinking water.

http://civil.iisc.ernet.in/~msrao/files/applicationIIScmethod.pdf

Carribbean Food and Nutrition Institute, Magnesium, Nutrition and Health, in NYAM News, August, Nos. 1 &2, 2005, ISSN 0255-8203 (http://www.paho/cfni.org)

Magnesium in the Diet, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002423.htm

Oral Magnesium Therapy Improves Epithelial Functioning in Patients with

Coronary Artery Disease; M Shechter, M Sharir, MJP Labrodor, J Forrestor, B Silver, and CNB Merz. Circulation 2000 102:2353-2358

WHO Meeting of Experts on the Possible Protective Effect of Hard Water Against Cardiovascular Disease: Final Statement April, 2006.

http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/gdwqrevision/cardiofullreport.pdf

Doheny, K. 2008. "Magnesium Sulfate Reduces Threat of Cerebral Palsy." Health Day News, August 27. (Report based on article in Aug. 28, 2008 issue of New England Journal of Medicine)

Medline Plus, Antioxidants, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/antioxidants.html

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, http://www.cdc.gov/cfs/

Galen, P, et al. 1997. Dietary Magnesium Intake in a French Adult Population. Magnesium Research 10:321-328

Larsson, S. C., L. Bergkvist, and A. Wolk. 2005. "Magnesium Intake in Relation to Risk of Colorectal Cancer in Women". J. American Medical Association 293 (1): 86-89.

Herzog WR, FJ Materese, and D Atar. 1995. "Reactivity of coronary arteries in relation to serum magnesium levels in patients with ischaemic heart disease--a quantitative coronary angiographic study". Magnesium Research : Official Organ of the International Society for the Development of Research on Magnesium. 8 (1): 57-63.

[metal filings in your cereal]

[Obese kids have arteries like 45-year-olds']

Many overweight children and teenagers could have severe cardiovascular disease in their 20s and 30s, causing a healthcare crisis. Early identification of the problem is a key.

By Thomas H. Maugh II
November 12, 2008

The arteries of many obese children and teenagers are as thick and stiff as those of 45-year-olds, a sign that such children could have severe cardiovascular disease at a much younger age than their parents unless their condition is reversed, researchers said Tuesday.

"It's possible that they will have heart disease in their 20s and 30s," said Dr. Geetha Raghuveer of the University of Missouri at Kansas City, who led the study presented at a New Orleans meeting of the American Heart Assn.

"There's a saying that 'you're as old as your arteries,' meaning that the state of your arteries is more important than your actual age in the evolution of heart disease and stroke," she said. "We found that the state of the arteries of these children is more typical of a 45-year-old than of someone their own age."

Experts did not find the results surprising, but they did view it as "alarming."

"We're facing an epidemic of childhood obesity," said Dr. Michael Schloss, co-director of the lipid treatment program at the New York University School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study. "We are raising a generation of children that are going to have a significant increase in vascular disease as they get older."

A May study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 16.3% of U.S. children and teenagers are obese and an additional 15.6% are overweight.

Raghuveer runs a preventive cardiology clinic for children who have high cholesterol levels, obesity and a family history of cardiac deaths. She and her colleagues used ultrasound imaging to measure the thickness of the inner walls of the carotid arteries on 70 children considered at risk.

The carotid arteries supply blood to the brain, and the thickness of their inner walls is routinely used as a surrogate for the condition of the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart.

The children all had abnormalities in one or more types of cholesterol, and 40 of them had a body mass index, or BMI -- a calculation of weight and height routinely used as a measure of obesity -- in the 95th percentile.

Because the researchers did not have access to healthy children for comparison, they compared the measured values to readily available data for 45-year-olds, using an arbitrary cutoff value of the 25th percentile, Raghuveer said. They found that three-quarters of the children had artery thickness above this level.

The artery thickening was most advanced in patients who were the most obese and had the highest levels of a type of cholesterol known as triglycerides, so that combination "should be a red flag to the doctor that a child is at high risk of heart disease," she said. Their long-term prospects "are not good" unless they can reverse the condition.

The findings suggest the potential for "a major public health problem" down the road, said Dr. Albert Bove of the Temple University School of Medicine, president-elect of the American College of Cardiology, who was not involved in the study.

"If we begin to see people disabled in their 30s and 40s because of heart disease, we could lose a significant fraction of the workforce," Bove said.

But there is some hope.

"If we can identify the condition early and start modifying triglycerides, we can probably prevent progression and perhaps even promote regression," said Dr. John P. Kennedy, director of prevention cardiology at Marina del Rey Hospital.

Maugh is a Times staff writer.

thomas.maugh@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-obesekids12-2008nov12%2C0%2C5880043.story

[Low testosterone means earlier death]

For the report click here.
To raise testosterone levels naturally we recommend taking Tribulus Terrestris which we will soon carry.


Low testosterone in men linked to earlier death

[junk food triggers our "bliss point"]

From The Sunday Times June 28, 2009 Junk food triggers our ‘bliss point’　 Jonathan Leake, Science Editor 　 JUNK foods such as Snickers bars and ketchup really are irresistible. Manufacturers have created combinations of fat, sugar and salt that are so tasty many people cannot stop eating them even when full, according to America’s former food standards watchdog. David Kessler, former head of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has warned that snacks, cereals and ready meals devised by food scientists can act on the reward centers of the brain in the same way as tobacco. He argues that manufacturers are seeking to trigger a “bliss point” when people eat certain products, leaving them hungry for more. “It is time to stop blaming individuals for being overweight or obese,” said Kessler. “The real problem is we have created a world where food is always available and where that food is designed to make you want to eat more of it. For millions of people, modern food is simply impossible to resist.” While at the FDA, Kessler was best known for his attacks on the tobacco industry, which he accused of manipulating cigarettes to make them even more addictive. In a new book, The End of Overeating, he suggests food manufacturers have achieved a similar result using precise combinations of fat, sugar, salt and texture to make foods “hyper-palatable”. Kessler cites Heinz tomato ketchup and Starbucks white chocolate mocha Frappuccino as examples of the thousands of modern foods that have been engineered to stimulate feelings of pleasure. A study carried out by Kessler with researchers at Yale University using functional magnetic resonance imaging techniques, showed that about 50% of obese people and 30% of those who are overweight were prone to so-called “excessive activation”. “The right combination of tastes triggers a greater number of neurons, getting them to fire more,” said Kessler. “The message to eat becomes stronger, motivating the eater to look for even more food.” In other research, scientists have used rats to study how different combinations of fat, sugar and salt trigger the release of neurotransmitters in the brain’s pleasure centers. The most powerful combination involved sucrose (table sugar) mixed with chocolate and alcohol – the same mixture found in desserts such as tiramisu. Kessler said: “Many of us have what’s called a ‘bliss point’ – the point at which we get the greatest pleasure from sugar, fat or salt. “As more sugar is added, food becomes more pleasurable until we reach the bliss point, after which it becomes too sweet and the pleasure drops off.” The same thing happens with fat and salt. At the optimum point, food stimulates many people’s appetites instead of suppressing it, according to Kessler, who ran the FDA from 1990 to 1997 and is now professor of pediatrics, epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California. There have been a series of warnings about obesity in Britain. A landmark report by the National Audit Office in 2001 found that 20% of adults were obese – a figure that has since risen to 25% – while a further 38% were overweight. The findings alarmed Sir Liam Donaldson, the chief medical officer, so much that he warned of a “health time bomb” – particularly among children. In 2007 the government’s science-led Foresight report said: “The wide variety and appeal of modern foods, with their increased palatability and ability to heighten sensory stimulation, drive us to reward ourselves with more food.” Experts claimed that such evidence showed the need for state intervention. However, when Gordon Brown announced the Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives strategy early last year, he said: “There should be no doubt that maintaining a healthy weight must be the responsibility of individuals first – it is not the role of government to tell people how to live their lives.” Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University and a government adviser, said politicians’ obsession with promoting “choice” was damaging public health. “If I walk to my local park for some exercise,” he said, “I pass more than 30 food outlets before I get there. It’s that combination of availability, advertising and seductive taste that makes modern food so addictive. ”

[obesity linked to pancreatic cancer]

Youthful Obesity Linked to Pancreatic Cancer Study: Overweight or Obese Teens and Young Adults May Be More Likely to Get Pancreatic Cancer Later in Life By Miranda Hitti WebMD Health News Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD June 23, 2009 -- Teens and young adults who are overweight or obese may be more likely to develop pancreatic cancer later in life, a new study shows. The study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, compares the self-reported weight of 841 pancreatic cancer patients and 754 healthy people studied at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Participants recalled and reported their weight starting at age 14. Here are the key findings: * People who had been overweight from age 14-39 were 67% more likely to be pancreatic cancer patients. * People who were obese from age 20-49 were about 2.5 times more likely to be pancreatic cancer patients. * Pancreatic cancer began two to six years earlier in people who were overweight or obese from age 20-49. * Among pancreatic cancer patients, people who were overweight or obese in the year before their pancreatic cancer diagnosis had a worse survival rate, regardless of the stage of their tumor or whether they had surgery to remove their tumor. Youth a Key Time Obesity had already been linked to greater risk of pancreatic cancer. But the new study shows that the teen and young adult years are "the critical period that has the strongest risk association," researcher Donghui Li, PhD, tells WebMD. The age-related findings were also striking to Len Lichtenfeld, MD, deputy chief medical officer at the American Cancer Society and Gagandeep Singh, MD, FACS, director of the Liver and Pancreas Center at the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, Calif. "I think the most important thing here, the take-home message, is it's important to be healthy and fit when you're younger," Singh tells WebMD. "Not that you can let go as you're older, but I think that the more obese you are at a younger age, the more problems with cancer you're likely to have." "If we're going to tackle the problem of overweight and obesity in general, we really need to start with our children," says Lichtenfeld, who stresses the importance of eating a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables, getting regular exercise, and maintaining a healthy weight throughout life. The study doesn't prove that extra weight causes pancreatic cancer. But when Li and colleagues considered other factors, such as diabetes and smoking, the results held. Li, who is a professor in the department of gastrointestinal medical oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, cautions that the findings need to be confirmed. "There are a lot of people who are overweight. Not everyone gets cancer," Li says. "There have to be some other factors that modify the association between obesity and the cancer -- for example, there may be genetic factors, dietary factors, and other risk factors associated with pancreatic cancer." Li's team is looking into that. Pancreatic cancer, which often isn't found in its early stages, has a poor survival rate, and research on the biological basis of its connection to extra weight may yield much-needed clues for prevention and treatment, states an editorial published with the study.

[fight obesity and extend life span]

Public release date: 9-Dec-2009

Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
202-872-6042
American Chemical Society
How calorie-restricted diets fight obesity and extend life span

Fruits and vegetables are a key part of calorie-restricted diets, which may increase longevity.

Scientists searching for the secrets of how calorie-restricted diets increase longevity are reporting discovery of proteins in the fat cells of human volunteers that change as pounds drop off. The proteins could become markers for monitoring or boosting the effectiveness of calorie-restricted diets — the only scientifically proven way of extending life span in animals. Their study appears online in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research.

Edwin Mariman and colleagues note that scientists have long known that sharply restricting intake of calories while maintaining good nutrition makes animals live longer and stay healthier. Recent studies suggest that people may gain similar benefits. But scientists know little about how these diets work in humans, particularly their effects on cells that store fat.

The new study focused on proteins in abdominal subcutaneous fat cells from a group of overweight people before and after they went on a five-week-long calorie-restricted diet. The volunteers each lost an average of 21 pounds. Scientists identified changes in the levels of 6 proteins as the volunteers shed pounds, including proteins that tell the body to store fat. These proteins could serve as important markers for improving or tracking the effectiveness of therapies involving calorie-restricted diets, they say.

###

ARTICLE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
"The physiologic effects of caloric restriction are reflected in the in vivo adipocyte-enriched proteome of overweight/obese subjects"

DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT ARTICLE
http://pubs.acs.org/stoken/presspac/presspac/full/10.1021/pr900606m

CONTACT:
Edwin Mariman, Ph.D.
Department of Human Biology
NUTRIM, Maastricht University
Maastricht, The Netherlands
Phone: +31 43 3882893
Fax: +31 43 3670976
E-mail: e.mariman@hb.unimaas.nl

[diabetes cases linked to obesity]

Britain's growing number of diabetes cases 'linked to obesity'
Sam Lister


The number of cases of diabetes diagnosed has risen by more than 145,000 in a year.

Data from GP practices shows that there are now more than 2.6 million people registered with diabetes in Britain — an increase of 145,499.

More than 5.2 million people are also registered as clinically obese, meaning that one person in ten is being treated for obesity and one in twenty is being treated for diabetes, according to the charity Diabetes UK.

GPs receive extra money for monitoring patients with diabetes and the figures could partly reflect them registering more patients with the condition. However, Diabetes UK said it believed that unhealthy lifestyles and obesity were causing a genuine rise in the number of cases people developing the condition. About 90 per cent of people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes, which is linked to obesity and eating an unhealthy diet.

Eight out of ten people are overweight or obese at the time they are diagnosed with diabetes.

Douglas Smallwood, chief executive of Diabetes UK, said: “These latest figures are extremely worrying. Diabetes is a serious condition that causes heart disease, stroke, amputations, kidney failure and , blindness and more deaths than breast and prostate cancer combined.

Many, but not all, people with type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese. Therefore, we need to do all we can to raise awareness of diabetes and help people understand how following a balanced diet and leading an active lifestyle can help reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

“If we don’t stop the rising tides of obesity and diabetes, millions will face a future of ill health and put an ever-growing strain on NHS resources.”
 

[diet foods encourage overeating]

Diet foods encourage overeating, study finds Researchers offer an answer to the conundrum of why sticking slavishly to low-calorie meals often still fails to shift the pounds By Rachel Shields Sunday, 14 June 2009 It is every dieter's nightmare: hopping on to the scales after weeks of forgoing steak for salad, only to find they haven't lost an ounce. Now researchers at the University of Bristol claim to have found a simple explanation for this phenomenon: when people choose lower-calorie dishes, they just compensate by eating bigger portions. These findings are sure to come as a blow to the diet industry, which makes millions selling low-calorie foods, but should make cheering reading for any dieters sworn off their favourite fatty foods. The study also showed that when faced with foods they liked, participants did not pick bigger portions of them than of any other food. "A person's perception of how full a meal will make them feel will no doubt affect portion size," said Lisa Miles, a nutritionist at the British Nutrition Foundation. "It's so important to be aware of behavioural triggers for over-eating." The researchers, who studied the responses of 76 people to 18 different foods, found that people quickly learnt if food offered fewer calories per serving and upped their portion size to compensate. "We know from experimental studies that eating large portions does not necessarily mean that you eat less at a subsequent meal, so this can lead to an increase in calorie intake overall," Ms Miles said. Dr Brunstrom, senior lecturer at the University of Bristol who led the study, will present these findings at a British Nutrition Foundation conference, entitled "Satiation, satiety and their effects on eating behaviour", on Thursday. "This is quite a controversial idea, which goes against the perceived wisdom that you just eat what is put in front of you," said Tam Fry, chairman for the Child Growth Foundation and a member of the National Obesity Forum. In a study to be published later this month, Dr Brunstrom also found that children whose parents restricted their consumption of high-calorie snack foods such as crisps and chocolate were more likely to eat them in much larger portions when they were presented with them. Researchers tested 70 children aged between 10 and 12 years old, presenting them with six snack foods. They found that a child who is unfamiliar with snack food was more likely to over-estimate how much they would need, regarding a 250kcal portion as only containing 120kcal, whereas a child who had eaten the foods previously would be able to assess accurately how calorific it was, guessing that a 250kcal portion contained 230kcal. "These findings suggest that limiting access to certain snack foods limits learning about their properties. Thus, when snack foods are eventually encountered they might tend to be selected in larger portions," Dr Brunstrom said. This could be bad news for parents who believe they are doing their children a favour by placing treats such as sweets and cakes off-limits. "The object lesson here is that obesity is all to do with education, education, education," Mr Fry said. "Early in a child's life they need to be introduced to portion size as a positive measure, otherwise it becomes forbidden fruit. It isn't just the ignorant affected by obesity, it goes across all social classes." Snacks banned: 'His problem is portions' Jane Galley, 43, Sheffield, is mother to David, 10, and Jonathan, 12 "The younger boy has always been as thin as a rake, but Jonathan, the older, has been heavier. When they were little I never gave them sweets and rubbish, I always gave them homemade food, but other people would give them it when they were out of the house. I suppose that I was quite restrictive, but nothing was ever completely out of bounds. When I was swimming with my older son he saw a poster for an organisation called Mend, which helps overweight children. He learnt about portion control, and balancing energy intake and exercise. His problem was never excessive snacking, more just portion control." Snacks allowed: 'He knows he should eat sensibly' Tracy Rogers, 35, a civil servant from south Wales, is relaxed about letting her children, Lewis, nine, and Jack, 11, eat snacks "The only rule, really, is that they have to have eaten their dinner before they can have snacks. They always ask first: they are not allowed to just help themselves. They are allowed to have fruit, crisps, biscuits and chocolate. Jack is at secondary school now and so has access to whatever he wants at school. The snacks I give him for lunchboxes are often portion-controlled, like cake bars. He knows that he should eat sensibly, which is good because it is difficult to monitor what he is eating. Both boys are slim, and I've never worried about their weight. They are very active. Jack plays rugby and cricket, while Lewis plays football three or four times a week."

[FDA recall: What were the reasons with Hydroxycut?]

Read original story here.   Posted by Hugo Ottolenghi    May 6, 2009   The Food & Drug Administration issued on May 1 a consumer warning to stop using Hydroxycut, the heavily marketed weight-loss product. The agency said that “some Hydroxycut products are associated with a number of serious liver injuries” and announced that the maker was recalling all products. Did the FDA properly react? The warning cited 23 serious health problems, including jaundice, liver damage, seizures and cardiovascular disorders. One person has died from liver failure since 2002 when the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition first received reports about liver damage associated with intake of Hydroxycut. Some people — for reasons not totally understood — had adverse reactions to Hydroxycut, according to a research report cited in the FDA warning. Sometimes the individuals required serious treatment for liver damage. Other times, the people regained normal health when they stopped taking the product. Until 2004, Hydroxycut contained ephedra, a substance that the FDA banned after a study found more than 16,000 adverse events associated with its use in dietary supplements. According to a recent label, the main ingredients in Hydroxycut are now the minerals calcium, chromium and potassium, plus what the company calls Hydroxagen Plus and HydroxyTea. The former contains leaf and rind extracts and the latter is a combination of tea and ginger extracts. None are banned substances. And the  health hazard evaluation board acknowledged in its report that it “does not know what ingredient(s) of Hydroxycut are responsible for producing liver toxicity. In addition, there is insufficient information to determine whether there is a dose-response effect between Hydroxycut ingestion and liver disease or whether its effects are cumulative over time.” The board concluded, “Three lines of evidence derived from multiple disparate sources suggest it is very likely that exposure to Hydroxycut can cause idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity.” Some definitions are in order. According to a 2007 article in Toxicological Sciences, “Idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity is a rare and unpredictable event of liver injury affecting generally less than 1 in 10,000 patients treated with certain drugs. However, it is a serious clinical problem as it accounts for 10% of all drug-induced liver failure cases.” And citing a study published in May 2005 in the Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, the article said, “Idiosyncratic hepatotoxicities are currently the main cause for Food and Drug Administration-mandated warnings, restrictions of use or even withdrawals of drugs from the market.” So, the FDA puts great weight on idiosyncratic hepatoxicity even though it is uncommon and difficult to predict in a population. Given the level of uncertainty, did the FDA have other options? After conducting a risk-benefit analysis, could the agency have told the makers of Hydroxycut to add a warning to immediately discontinue use and seek medical attention if certain symptoms present themselves? Why did an average of three cases per year — none this year and only three last year — justify a ban and recall? Here’s a clue from the report, which references the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition as CFSAN:  “In discussions in March and April of 2009 with hepatologists Tse-Ling Fong , M.D. of the University of Southern California and William Lee, M.D. of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, CFSAN has become aware of these physicians’ case series of patients with severe liver disease associated with the use of Hydroxycut. Two cases from this series, representing additional cases to the ones reported to CFSAN, underwent liver transplantation following acute liver failure.” Were the doctors two of the three sources? And were their case series the underlying reason for such swift and final FDA action? The answers are not here, but they are needed.

[orlistat and hydroxycut]

Orlistat and Hydroxycut: Similar health problems, but comparable FDA treatment?

[our ephedra ranked]

OUR EPHEDRA SUPPLEMENTS RANKED

ONLY THE REAL EPHEDRA, MA HUANG AND SIDA CORDIFOLIA BEWARE OF FAKE EPHEDRA ELSEWHERE!   MINI LEAN 25/100 Simplest and one of the most effective.  ZENALEAN PRO Like the Original Xenadrine RFA-1!
HEAT ECA STACK Just like the Yellow Stacks	YELLOW POWER This is the original Yellow Bullet

Metabodrene 356 /Metabolife 356

Get Ripped /Ripped Fuel

EphBurn 25 Original

Red Cutz XS ECA Stack

Red Cutz XS Overall Best for Diet/Energy and Performance (1) BEST OVERALL THE CLASSIC (1) BEST APPETITE SUPPRESSANT (1) BEST FOR DIET AND ENERGY (1) BEST SINGLE INGREDIENT

(2) TRUCKER'S LUV IT

(3) RED CUTZ ECA STACK

(4) HEAT ECA STACK

(3) ZENALEAN PRO

 
RECOMMENDED FOR BEGINNER EPHEDRA DIETERS

What overweight women and men have learned is that for years virtually every professional bodybuilder, informed fitness expert and successful personal trainer would tell you the same thing.  Whether you want to accelerate the burning of excess body fat, boost your metabolic rate, heighten your thermogenic output or increase your energy level, there is nothing stronger or more effective than the "thermogenic cocktail" of Ephedra, Caffeine, and Aspirin (The E/C/A- Stack"). E/C/A STACK = (Ephedrine -aka. Ma Huang, Ephedra; Caffeine -aka. Kola Nut, Green Tea, Guarana; Aspirin -aka. Willow Bark).  Natural ingredients are necessary in all supplements in order not to fall under pharmaceutical drug category and thus be protected against FDA regulation and scrutiny.  Warnings: Not suitable for those who are pregnant or nursing, or are at risk or are being treated for high blood pressure, heart, liver thyroid or psychiatric disease, diabetes pernicious anemia, nervousness, headache, anxiety, depression, seizure disorder, stroke or difficulty in urination due to prostate enlargement. Consult your health care professional before use if you are taking mao inhibitor or any other prescription drug. Discontinue use and consult your health care professional if dizziness sleeplessness, tremors, nervousness, headache, heart palpitations or tingling sensations occur. Not intended for use for persons under the age of 18. SUGGESTED USE FROM A PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE: All ephedra diet supplements are good as long as the ECA stack has: 200 mg Caffeine. 20-25 mg Ephedrine. 81 mg Aspirin (or 1/2 adult aspirin). The above to be taken together once or twice a day to start (3-5 days), 3 times a day thereafter. Most effective when taken 30 minutes before working out or 30-45 minutes before meals. You can elect to not increase frequency to three times a day if two doses or less give desired results. Under no circumstances should one increase dosing to more than 3 times a day. Some folks elect to Stack for 5 days and cycle off two days (take it 5 days straight and skip doses for 2 days - aka 5 on 2 off) while others Stack for 2 days and cycle off one day.  Do not take late at night as the energizing and thermogenic effects will last at least 6 hours and will keep you awake.  Recommended Vitamins to take with ECA stack: The addition of B vitamins may help with any feelings of short-temperedness that occur as a result of Stacking. Vitamin C can also be used to help with the bruising that can occur while dieting and Stacking.  Our Super Go Juice Plus contains the full ECA stack and the B vitamins ! SCIENCE SUPPORTING THE CLAIMS: ECA Stack contains an effective amount of each Ephedra, Caffeine and Aspirin that is proven to reduce body fat in clinical studies. (Daly, P et al., Internationional Journal of Obesity, Feb, 1993, 17 [Supp.1], S73-S78; and Colker, D., et al., Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 16. No.5, p.501 [#116]).   Ephedrine, Caffeine and Aspirin: safety and efficacy for treatment of human obesity. Daly PA, Krieger DR, Dulloo AG, Young JB, Landsberg L. Dept of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston. The safety and efficacy of a mixture of ephedrine (75-150mg), caffeine (150mg) and aspirin (330mg), in divided premeal doses, were investigated in 24 obese humans (mean BMI 37.0) in a randomized double blind placebo-controlled trial. Energy intake was not restricted. Overall weight loss over 8 weeks was 2.2kg (4.85Lbs) for ECA vs. 0.7kg (1.54Lbs) for placebo (p < 0.05). 8 of 13 placebo subjects returned 5 months later and received ECA in an unblinded crossover. After 8 weeks, mean weight loss with ECA was 3.2kg (7.05 Lbs.) vs 1.3 kg (for placebo (p = 0.036). 6 subjects continued on ECA for 7 to 26 months. After 5 months on ECA, average weight loss in 5 of these was 5.2kg (11.46Lbs) compared to 0.03kg (0.07Lbs) gained during 5 months between studies with no intervention (p = 0.03). The sixth subject lost 66kg (145.50Lbs) over 13 months by self-imposed caloric restriction. In all studies, no significant changes in heart rate, blood pressure, blood glucose, insulin, and cholesterol levels, and no differences in the frequency of side effects were found. ECA in these doses is thus well tolerated in otherwise healthy obese subjects, and supports modest, sustained weight loss even without prescribed caloric restriction, and may be more effective in conjunction with restriction of energy intake. WHAT STUDIES SHOW: Chronic administration of aspirin to obese mice had no effect on energy balance and body composition. In contrast, ephedrine increased energy expenditure by 9% and reduced body weight and body fat by 18% and 50%, respectively: obesity, however, was reduced but not reversed. In the presence of both ephedrine and aspirin, increase in energy expenditure found during treatment with ephedrine alone was doubled, and the obese group lost greater than 75% of body fat: obesity was reversed. These studies indicate that although aspirin administered alone has no influence on energy balance it can markedly potentiate thermogenic properties of ephedrine, effects which led to a normalization of body composition of the obese to that of the lean. Such ephedrine-aspirin mixtures, often found in over-the-counter preparations for asthma and bronchial disorders, could be put to new use as aids for treatment of human obesity.   IS EPHEDRINE REALLY SAFE ? Ernie and Pat Bechler, who testified at the recent congressional hearings on ephedra, blame the herbal stimulant for the death of their son, Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler, during spring training last February. So does Bechler’s widow, who has filed a lawsuit seeking $600 million in damages from the manufacturer and distributor of Xenadrine, an ephedra-based diet aid found in the 23-year-old baseball player’s locker. As one of Bechler’s teammates put it, ‘‘Someone has to be held responsible for a young kid dying like that.’’ But the rush to condemn ephedra, which the Food and Drug Administration and members of Congress have threatened to ban, is not justified by the evidence. Bechler, who died of heatstroke, was overweight, had high blood pressure and abnormal liver function, and was exercising hard in hot, humid Florida weather to which he was not acclimated. Broward County Medical Examiner Joshua Perper concluded that ‘‘the toxicity of ephedra played a significant role in the death of Mr. Bechler, although it’s impossible to define mathematically the contribution of each one of the factors in his unfortunate death due to heatstroke.’’ Perper added, ‘‘I am not saying (ephedra) was the triggering factor, because I cannot identify the triggering factor. You have here a constellation of factors working together.’’ But if ephedra was not ‘‘the triggering factor,’’ it’s possible that Bechler would still be dead even if he hadn’t consumed the stimulant. That was the conclusion reached by the renowned forensic pathologist Michael Baden, whom Xenadrine’s manufacturer asked to review the case. ‘‘The coincidental toxicologic finding of ephedrine, which is not known to produce heat stroke, in my opinion should not have been linked to the death by the medical examiner,’’ Baden wrote in a letter to the House committee that heard testimony from Bechler’s parents. ‘‘It is my opinion, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, . . . that Xenadrine did not cause or contribute to Mr. Bechler’s death.’’ The Bechler case illustrates the peril of leaping to conclusions when someone dies after consuming an ephedra product. News reports frequently assert that ‘‘more than 100 deaths’’ have been ‘‘linked’’ to ephedra. Yet a RAND Corporation study of all the ‘‘adverse event’’ reports in the FDA’s files and in the medical literature that were available as of Sept. 30 found only two fatalities where there was an attempt to rule out other factors. RAND also identified ‘‘four myocardial infarctions, nine cerebrovascular accidents, one seizure, and three psychiatric cases’’ that fell into the same category. Even in such cases, the FDA concedes, the reports ‘‘may indicate a safety problem but do not prove that ephedra caused the adverse event. ... Other unmeasured factors may have contributed, and such serious adverse events are likely to happen (albeit at very low rates) among the millions of users of ephedra anyway.’’ With an estimated 12 million to 17 million Americans taking something like 3 billion doses of ephedra products a year, FDA Administrator Mark McClellan admits, ‘‘serious adverse events from ephedra appear to be infrequent.’’ That point is underlined by data from the federal government’s Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), which indicate that two deaths, or even 100, over a decade would not make ephedra stand out on a list of drugs mentioned by medical examiners. In 1999, the last year for which nationwide totals were reported by drug, DAWN counted 811 mentions for Valium, 641 for Benadryl, 427 for Tylenol, 305 for Prozac, and 104 for aspirin. No drug is completely safe, but ephedra seems considerably safer than many popular over-the-counter remedies and prescription drugs. The ephedra industry is vulnerable partly because it depends on a loophole in federal law that allows ‘‘dietary supplements,’’ including ‘‘herbs,’’ to be sold without the FDA approval required for pharmaceuticals. Hence manufacturers have to pretend their product is not a drug. This legalistic maneuver gives consumers a bit more freedom to self-medicate, but it also raises unreasonable expectations about safety. The dietary supplement route is not the only way for a psychoactive substance to escape regulation as a drug. Coffee is considered a food, for example, even though it contains caffeine. Indeed, the manufacturer of NoDoz, which is considered a drug, reassures consumers by telling them the caffeine pill is ‘‘safe as coffee.’’ It’s too bad for the ephedra industry that ‘‘Mormon tea,’’ an ephedra brew that Mormons used to drink instead of beverages containing caffeine, never really caught on. Jacob Sullum is a senior editor with Reason magazine and a nationally syndicated columnist. His column publishes on Saturday. With the recent steroid use controversy among MLB players, who knows what else played a role in his untimely death? HOME

[purchase problems]

[overnight shipping]

FOR OVERNIGHT DELIVERY, SELECT THE CHECK BOX AT THE TOP OF THE CHECKOUT PAGE
THAT STATES "RUSH ORDER FEE [ ] YES" WHEN YOU ARE DONE SHOPPING.  ADD ALL
THE PRODUCTS TO THE SHOPPING CART AND CHECK OUT.  THEN SELECT THE CHECK BOX
FOR RUSH ORDER.  NO NEED TO SEND US AN EMAIL TO LET US KNOW IN ADVANCE.
OVERNIGHT ORDERS ACCEPTED UNTIL 6:00PM EASTERN STANDARD TIME FROM MONDAY TO FRIDAY AND 12:30PM ON SATURDAYS. ALL SUNDAY OVERNIGHT ORDERS WILL BE SENT ON MONDAY.

[why buy from us]

When considering the purchase of a natural ephedra supplements, always read it's Supplements Facts label. Before you make the purchase, ensure that the ECA (Ephedrine, Caffeine and Aspirin) stack, is present in the following amounts: 200 mg Caffeine (in it's natural herbal form it is known as Kola Nut, Green Tea, Guarana, etc.) 20-25 mg Ephedrine per serving (Ephedra, Ma Huang, Sida Cordifolia, etc.) 81 mg Aspirin (or 1/2 adult aspirin in the form of White Willow Bark or Salicin). It is also very important to note the serving size that provides these amounts. Many of the new ECA stack supplements that you will see advertised elsewhere come in increasing sizes for a good reason. You will note by carefully reading the serving suggestions that 6 or even up to 12 pills are recommended daily. Don't be fooled by the quantity of pills in a bottle. Always ensure that you get the 20mgs or 25mgs of Ephedrine per serving or you will be spending more and getting less. Most of our ephedra supplements provide the ECA stack at its optimal ratio at one pill per serving. There are an increasing number of companies selling fake ephedra. Use the following rule of thumb. If after 45 minutes of taking 1 serving of the ephedrine supplement you do not get 7 to 10 hours of continuous energy, then you probably got a fake. If you have been an avid user of ephedrine, then your body might be used to the effects. If this is the case, then the effects will last less but it is still working as effectively as before. In this situation, your dose has to be increased. The maximum amount of ephedrine allowed per day is 100mgs. Do not exceed this amount under any circumstances. In order to get the same effects back, take 2 to 3 weeks off while taking L-Tyrosine. It is an amino acid which can be purchase at your local health food store for about $10 a bottle. Next time you buy a bottle of an ECA stack supplement, make sure you get more servings of 20-25mgs of ephedra for your money to last you throughout your diet. As to which one is the best ephedrine supplement in the market, only your body knows. Try a few different brands and stick with the one you like. Surely they will all raise your metabolism, curve your appetite, increase your energy, help you breathe better and ultimately burn the fat. But which one is the absolute best without overdosing in ephedra? It all depends on which one your body can tolerate better at the 20-25mg ephedra dose. Some will give you a headache, some the jitters and nervousness, and some are very smooth from start to finish. The ECA stack is not for everyone so consult with your physician before starting a diet with it. If you are going to, then by all means follow the directions exactly as stated. If you are looking for a plain and simple ephedrine supplement then we recommend a pure ECA Stack. It is called Red Cutz and has a patented formula and is scientifically proven to work. It is a super classic which was made popular by bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts to stay in shape and get ripped for competition. Well tolerated by users who are more sensitive to too junk ingredients. The effects are very smooth from start to finish. You can get it by clicking here! If you want a pure ECA Stack, we would highly recommend the RED CUTZ Ephedra. It is the all time favorite of bodybuilders and dieters alike. No junk ingredients that can cause stomach upsets like with other ephedrine stacks. This one has only the scientifically proven Ephedrine, Caffeine and Aspirin in optimal amounts. Provides fat burning, appetite suppression and energy for 8 hours in just one caplet! Get it by clicking here!