Ephedrine is a plant alkaloid isolated from plants of the genus Ephedra which has β-adrenergic properties in mammals. Ephedrine supplementation has been shown to have weight loss effects in humans, that are particularly beneficial because ephedrine appears to not only cause fat loss but also maintains lean body mass. Ephedrine, like all β-adrenergic receptor agonists causes lipolysis from adipose tissue, something that is enhanced by low insulin levels. Because carbohydrate ingestion is the main causes of insulin secretion, restriction of carbohydrates also causes lipolysis from adipose tissue. Because both ephedrine and carbohydrate increase the use of triglycerides from adipose tissue, it might be assumed that a combination of a low carbohydrate diet with ephedrine supplementation would be an effective weight loss strategy. In fact, research shows that this combination is just as effective as ephedrine plus energy restriction.
For example, researchers1 have assessed the effects of total energy restriction plus ephedrine or carbohydrate restriction plus ephedrine on 5 healthy individuals. Energy restriction involved an 84h fast, whereas carbohydrate restriction involved consuming a mixed meal, followed by an 84h fast during which infusion of soybean oil, phospholipids and glycerol occurred. Following both protocols infusion of 0.015µg per kg per min Ephedrine was administered, and lipolysis estimated by the rate of glycerol appearance in plasma. Plasma adrenaline and noradrenaline concentrations were not different at baseline or during the ephedrine infusion. Ephedrine infusion caused and increase in plasma glycerol and an increase in the rate of glycerol appearance following infusion of ephedrine. However, there was no difference between the two treatments with regard glycerol concentrations or the rate of appearance, suggesting that total energy restriction was not the cause of the lipolysis.
These results suggest that energy restriction is no more effective at causing lipolysis during ephedrine administration that carbohydrate restriction. However, it is unclear how these two treatments would differ from fasting or carbohydrate restriction in the absence of ephedrine, as this control was not performed in the study. Care must be taken with interpreting these results because they do not mimic the way that ephedrine is taken as a weight loss supplement. However, they provide useful insights because they suggest that low insulin levels are the driving force that allows lipolysis to occur, and this supports evidence showing the success of low carbohydrate diets in the treatment of obesity. Further, it could be assumed that because total energy restriction often involves a restriction in carbohydrate, that it is the carbohydrate restriction that causes much of the metabolic change that leads to weight loss.
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