Hello,
Metabolic contains the following ingredients: Guarana Concentrate
(seed) (40 mg naturally-occuring caffeine); Ma Huang Concentrate
(aerial part) (12 mg naturally-occuring ephedrines); Bee Pollen;
Ginseng (root); Ginger (root); Lecithin; Bovine Complex; Damiana
(Leaf); Sarsaparilla (root); Golden Seal (aerial part); Nettle (leaf);
Gotu Kola (leaf); Spirulina; Royal Jelly
Many of these are harmless and some can even be beneficial in various
ways, although I’m not sure how well they would influence weight loss.
The two ingredients that are of potential concern are guarana and ma
huang.
Guarana is simply another form of caffeine. Despite the frequent
claims you see made by sellers of products containing guarana, the
caffeine it contains does not differ from the caffeine in coffee.
Therefore, if you are sensitive to the effects of coffee, you will
most likely be sensitive to guarana. For example, a paper which
appeared last year in the Medical Journal of Australia (issue of May
21, p. 520-521, Caffeine-induced cardiac arrhythmia: an unrecognised
danger of healthfood products. by
Cannon ME, Cooke CT, McCarthy JS. of the Department of Emergency
Medicine, Fremantle Hospital, Western Australia) describes how a
25-year-old woman with a pre-existing heart defect developed a very
abnormal heart beat after drinking an energy drink which contained
guarana, ie something like Red Bull. Basically, if coffee does not
suit you, this product will not suit you either.
The other ingredient of concern, and probably of greater concern than
guarana is the ma huang. This contains ephedrine, which is a natural
compound that is similar to amphetamine. It stimulates the nervous
system and increases heart rate and blood pressure. According to the
FDA, 17 people have died from taking ephedrine in the period since
1993, and 800 have suffered side effects. Unfortunately there is no
indication of what proportion this is of the total number of people
who used ephedrine. The FDA recommends that ephedrine-containing
products carry a warning that they could cause heart attack, stroke,
seizure, or death if taken in too large doses. Other side effects can
include dizziness, headache, gastrointestinal distress, irregular
heartbeat, heart palpitations, restlessness, insomnia, psychosis,
memory loss and muscle injury. Again it is very much an individual
reaction depending on the level of tolerance that a person has to
ephedrine. It is thought that the effects of ephedrine are increased
by the simultaneous use of caffeine. 21 states in the USA have
imposed stricter control on products containing ephedrine than those
imposed by the FDA. These include making it prescription only and
forbidding any claims regarding weight loss or improved performance to
be made on the labels. Ephedrine is considered to be more dangerous
in people with high blood pressure, diabetes, or thyroid problems,
those taking antidepressants, and it is not recommended during
breast-feeding (from the Ephedrine FAQ at Health Care Reality Check:
http://www.hcrc.org/faqs/ephedrine.html ) A paper published in the
Mayo Clinic Proceedings (January 2002, vol. 77 p. 12-16 Adverse
cardiovascular events temporally associated with ma huang, an herbal
source of ephedrine by Samenuk D, Link MS, Homoud MK, Contreras R,
Theohardes TC, Wang PJ, Estes NA of the 3rd.
Division of Cardiology, New England Medical Center, Boston, MA 02111,
USA.) found that from 1995 to 1997 there were 926 cases of possible ma
huang side effects reported to the FDA. In 37 patients, use of ma
huang was related to stroke, myocardial infarction or sudden death. 36
of these 37 patients had used ma huang in accordance with the
manufacturers' dosing guidelines. Underlying heart or vascular disease
was not a prerequisite for ma huang-related adverse events and the
toxic effects associated with ma huang were not limited to massive
doses.
However, it must also be said that a study carried out at Obesity
Research Center, St Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center and Department of
Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New
York 10025, USA by Boozer CN, Nasser JA, Heymsfield SB, Wang V, Chen
G, Solomon JL (An herbal supplement containing Ma Huang-Guarana for
weight loss: a randomized, double-blind trial, International Journal
of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders, March 2001 issue, volume
25 p. 316-24) did find that a product containing these two ingredients
did find it was more effective than no treatment in promoting weight
and fat loss, reduction in hip meaasurements and reduction in serum
triglyceride (fat) levels. These authors found no side effects of any
concern in people using this product from 6 months (Herbal
ephedra/caffeine for weight loss: a 6-month randomized safety and
efficacy trial. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic
Disorders, May 2002 issue, volume 26 p593-604.
Therefore, this product could cause adverse effects in some people,
especially those less tolerant to caffeine and ephedrine, but on the
other hand it could also have positive effects on weight loss.
Search strategy: on Google: Metabolic, “Mason Vitamins”, ephedrine,
ma huang
on medline at http://nlm.nih.gov guarana, ma huang, ephedrine |
