Ultimate Hellfire Guide to Buying Ephedra

150 mg ephedra extract, 150 mg caffeine anhydrous. One capsule, 90 to a bottle. Hellfire EPH 150, from Innovative Bio Laboratories.

What is on the Hellfire EPH 150 label?

Ephedra extract (leaves), Thermo-Z brand, 150mg. Caffeine anhydrous, 150mg.

Then a proprietary blend “with Thermo-Rx and Extend-Rx Technology.” Senegalia berlandieri extract (leaves), black tea extract, higenamine HCl, Rauwolfia serpentine extract (bark), evodiamine, rutacarpine, peppermint extract, black pepper extract (98% piperine).

Eight blend ingredients. Zero amounts.

What does the Senegalia berlandieri line yield?

Phenylethylamine alkaloids, per the label. Four by name: methylsynephrine, B-phenylethylamine, N-methyl-B-phenylethylamine, N-phenethyldimethylamine.

Lipodrene carries the same Senegalia line and the same Thermo-Rx and Extend-Rx name. Its label gives 225mg for the alkaloids. Hellfire’s gives none.

Pawar and Grundel, of FDA’s CFSAN, reviewed phenethylamines in supplements in 2017. Their review names naturally occurring sources “Ephedra, Citrus aurantium, Acacia.”

The Hellfire page pitches Senegalia as a stand-in for DMAA. DMAA “is an amphetamine derivative that has been marketed in sports performance and weight loss products,” per the FDA.

How much caffeine is in a Hellfire capsule?

150 mg, anhydrous. Shop page directions: “1 capsule taken once daily,” “in the morning or early afternoon.”

Black tea extract adds more, with no figure. “Green tea and other forms of tea also contain caffeine,” says ODS.

FDA: “400 milligrams” a day for most adults. Toxic effects, like seizures, with “rapid consumption of around 1,200 milligrams of caffeine.” From the FDA caffeine page.

Bryan Thomas, who runs Live Lean Today, has tried diet pills. “The strong stimulant ones you can definitely feel,” he says. Part of that comes down to “ability to tolerate caffeine.”

What trial does the Hellfire page cite?

Boozer and colleagues, International Journal of Obesity, 2002. Volume 26, pages 593 to 604.

ODS writes up a trial with “167 participants with overweight or obesity (BMI 25–40).” Kola nut gave “192 mg/day caffeine,” ma huang “90 mg/day ephedrine.” Six months.

Ephedrine by weight in that study. Ephedra extract by weight on Hellfire.

Caffeine weight loss trials “have all been short and have used combination products,” ODS adds.

How does Hellfire compare with other ephedra pills?

High Octane Ephedra 100: ephedra leaves 100 mg, caffeine anhydrous 300 mg. 100 capsules. $37.46.

Lipodrene: ephedra extract 25mg, caffeine 100mg. 100 tablets. $39.95.

Hellfire, 150 and 150.

Shoppers asking for Stacker 2 get pointed to Lipodrene, Hellfire and Black Mamba, Bryan says. High Octane 100, by his account, comes in three versions from one lab under different brand names.

Where are the Hellfire EPH 150 numbers listed?

150 mg ephedra extract and 150 mg caffeine in 1 capsule, plus eight blend ingredients with no amounts. Its Senegalia line matches Lipodrene’s. The product page prints the full Supplement Facts panel and the Boozer citation, and ODS has a 167-person ephedra and caffeine trial in its weight loss fact sheet. Ephedra vs ephedrine, on the Live Lean Today blog, covers the plant and the drug.