Caffeine and Ephedra

Caffeine, also known as methyltheobromine, is an alkaloid found naturally in such foods as coffee beans, tea, kola nuts, and cacao beans. It has been used for thousands of years for its main pharmacological property, which is its ability to stimulate the central nervous system – essentially, this means that the user will have an increase in mental alertness. Moreover, caffeine can stimulate respiration, heart rate, and have a mild diuretic effect.

Because of caffeine’s ability to increase the activity of the central nervous system, the hormone epinephrine is released naturally by the body in response to the increase in nerve activity. This in turn increases heart rate, blood flow to the muscles and inner organs, and causes the release of glucose by the liver to be used by the muscles. Essentially, this is very beneficial to someone during exercise, since the muscles will have an increased blood supply (for more oxygen), and the blood will have more circulating glucose to be used by the muscles for energy.

Additionally, caffeine is a key component of the ECA stack, which is a combination of ephedra, caffeine, and aspirin. Each of these components adds their own advantages, but when used in conjunction with one another, a synergistic effect is achieved. Generally, an acceptable ratio is 25mg of ephedrine, 250mg of caffeine, and 80-300mg of aspirin; however the actual ratio can vary widely and is often changed from person to person depending on personal preference.