This is an educational label/status guide, not a ranking or dosing guide. A current label shows what a manufacturer claims; it does not independently establish which ephedrine alkaloids, if any, are actually present. FitFrek does not lab-test these products.
In 2004, the FDA's final rule declared dietary supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids adulterated because they present an unreasonable risk. The FDA's current ingredient-status information continues to state that dietary supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids cannot be legally sold or marketed in the U.S.
That is different from saying every product using the word “ephedra” necessarily contains ephedrine. The rule is about the alkaloids, not the word on the label.
The historical human evidence concerned ephedrine-alkaloid-containing products, usually alongside caffeine. NCCIH summarizes the historical benefit as modest short-term weight loss that did not outweigh the serious safety risks.
That evidence cannot simply be transferred to a modern extract represented as lacking those alkaloids. They are not necessarily the same preparation.
ECA refers historically to ephedrine + caffeine + aspirin, a combination that became popular in bodybuilding and weight-loss circles. This page covers its history and evidence; it does not provide an ECA dosing protocol.
Because dietary supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids cannot legally be marketed in the U.S. and ephedrine is a threshold anti-doping substance, treat historical ECA dosing as history, not instructions.
