Lessons from ephedra

Let’s try to understand this herb a little. Ephedra sinica, also known as ma huang, is the plant most commonly used as a source of ephedra products. Ma huang has been used for thousands of years in Chinese medicine. Ephedra includes “ephedrine alkaloids”, which are naturally occurring compounds that are found in plants.  

There is a difference between ephedrine alkaloids and synthetic ephedrine. Ephedrine is only one of the naturally occurring alkaloids present in ephedra extracts. Other alkaloids include pseudoephedrine (which is less potent than ephedrine) and alkaloids that slow the absorption of ephedrine from the digestive tract and/or counteract the stimulant effects of the ephedrine in the extracts.