Is there an effective weight loss supplement with Ephedra? What is it called and where can I get it?

Ephedra is an alkaloid chemical compound traditionally obtained from the plant Ephedra sinica.[1] E. sinica, known in Chinese as ma huang , has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for 5,000 years for the treatment of asthma and hay fever, as well as for the common cold.[2] Several additional species belonging to the genus Ephedra have traditionally been used for a variety of medicinal purposes, and are a possible candidate for the Soma plant of Indo-Iranian religion.[3] Native Americans and Mormon pioneers drank a tea brewed from an Ephedra, called Mormon Tea.

In recent years, the safety of ephedra-containing dietary supplements has been questioned by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and the medical community as a result of a high rate of serious side effects and ephedra-related deaths. In response to accumulating evidence of adverse effects and deaths related to ephedra, the FDA banned the sale of ephedra-containing supplements on April 12, 2004.[9] A suit by an ephedra manufacturer was upheld by a Federal District Court judge in Utah on April 14, 2005. [10] The FDA appealed this ruling, and on August 17, 2006 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upheld the FDA’s ban of ephedra.[11] However, the sale of ephedrine, which is regulated as a drug rather than as a supplement, remains legal. As of February 2007, the sale of ephedra-containing dietary supplements remains illegal in the United States. The FDA has stated that:

…No dosage of dietary supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids is safe, and the sale of these products in the United States is illegal and subject to FDA enforcement action.[11]