Fat loss/ECA stack question

It is established that to lose weight/fat one must consume less calories than the body needs to maintain current bodyweight. It would stand to reason then that doing cardio and eating more food could be equivalent to eating sub-maintenance calories without cardio (give or take).

Recently I came across this explanation of how the ECA stack works:

“Ephedra, derived from the plant Ma Huang, is a central nervous system stimulant. It induces tachycardia, or increased heart rate, and a resultant rise in systolic blood pressure, among a variety of other physiological effects that result in a rise in core body temperature. This occurs as the body works harder to keep up with the increased workload created by a higher volume of blood moving through the circulatory system. This increased workload causes more calories to be burned than the body would at rest.”

If the above is accurate, couldn’t it be said that simply eating sub-maintenance calories could substitute for the effect ECA provides just like the cardio example?

I was under the impression that fat burners had the ability to mobilize fat stores exclusive of caloric restriction. This isn’t to say that I thought one could lose weight while eating a surplus, but I thought these fat burners had an additional ‘ability’. If all they do is basically make your heart/body burn more calories, then ultimately can’t one just eat less and skip the supps.?

Yup, you can lose fat with diet only, no supps or exercise.

The metabolism tends to slow a bit while dieting, and EC is one way to tip it back towards the pre-dieting metabolism.

Actually, it’s far more profound. Ephedrine, with synergistic drugs such as caffeine and also maybe tyrosine, really do make fat loss more efficient/effective.

[quote]dannyrat wrote:
Actually, it’s far more profound. Ephedrine, with synergistic drugs such as caffeine and also maybe tyrosine, really do make fat loss more efficient/effective.

[/quote]

I guess what i’m wondering is if it actually does anything other than increase caloric expenditure (via increased heart rate & body temp.). If that’s all it does, then to me you can just reduce caloric intake and not use the supplement. If however, it has the ability to help specifically metabolize fat stores with a maintenance caloric intake or has the ability to mobilize fat stores in some other fashion, then I think they are worth it.

I just don’t know the answer…

[quote]pikehunter wrote:

[quote]dannyrat wrote:
Actually, it’s far more profound. Ephedrine, with synergistic drugs such as caffeine and also maybe tyrosine, really do make fat loss more efficient/effective.

[/quote]

I guess what i’m wondering is if it actually does anything other than increase caloric expenditure (via increased heart rate & body temp.). If that’s all it does, then to me you can just reduce caloric intake and not use the supplement. If however, it has the ability to help specifically metabolize fat stores with a maintenance caloric intake or has the ability to mobilize fat stores in some other fashion, then I think they are worth it.

I just don’t know the answer…[/quote]

I originally posted an article, now removed. I guess it was a competitor website. It’s called ‘Pharmacological Approaches to Fat Loss: Targeting Beta-Adrenergic Receptors’.

There may be two major advantages to using a fat burner like an ECA stack over simple calorie reduction.

  • it may favorably burn body fat over lbm

  • it may be able to keep your metabolic rate from dropping

norepinephrine induced fat loss is different than calorie reduction…when you are in calorie reduction, your body burns energy because you are starving cells…when norepinephrine is released, it causes a chain of events that increases the rate of lipolysis in a more specific manner…

[quote]D Public wrote:
There may be two major advantages to using a fat burner like an ECA stack over simple calorie reduction.

  • it may favorably burn body fat over lbm

  • it may be able to keep your metabolic rate from dropping[/quote] Is it equally effective without the ‘A’ part ?

[quote]tolismann wrote:
without the ‘A’ part ?
[/quote]

yeah, pretty much. There are more negatives then positives, imo.

it may have benefit for obese people for some reason…possibly their body produces so many inflamatory hormones that the anti-inflamatories help them…

what supplements would you recommend for fat loss in your experience BBB?

[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
IME, ephedrine is a shitty drug. Why? Because it can drastically reduce insulin sensitivity, leading to ‘skinny fat’ syndrome.

So you might get a productive workout, etc, but for 3 or more days afterwards, your muscles are disproportionately sore, because they have not been able to get the nutrients needed for recovery.

Obviously this is not the case for everyone and indeed, didn’t use to be the case with me. But after prolonged use, my body developed an extreme dislike for the stuff.

BBB[/quote]

This is true for me too. Not a fan of the compound.

not if you use it in a fasting state :wink:

[quote]tolismann wrote:

[quote]D Public wrote:
There may be two major advantages to using a fat burner like an ECA stack over simple calorie reduction.

  • it may favorably burn body fat over lbm

  • it may be able to keep your metabolic rate from dropping[/quote] Is it equally effective without the ‘A’ part ?
    [/quote]

Yeah, but the A is there to keep heart attack at bay, so I wouldn’t go without it if you’re gonna use an ECA stack…

I always viewed ECA as the “MAG-10” of fat burners…the go-to stack that is now illegal or at least grey market. There are so many thermogenics now that offer up ‘science-y’ explanations as to how they pry tough fat from your body. It’s tough to make heads or tails of what is fact and what is fiction or exaggerated. HOT-ROX has worked pretty well for me too in the past.

[quote]D Public wrote:
There may be two major advantages to using a fat burner like an ECA stack over simple calorie reduction.

  • it may favorably burn body fat over lbm

  • it may be able to keep your metabolic rate from dropping

norepinephrine induced fat loss is different than calorie reduction…when you are in calorie reduction, your body burns energy because you are starving cells…when norepinephrine is released, it causes a chain of events that increases the rate of lipolysis in a more specific manner…

[/quote]
Thank you very much for explaining this…

If anyone wants a science-y explanation of how EC/ ECA/ ECT(!) works, google the article i mentioned. Seriously

well, I’m definitely aware that NE does induce some insulin resistance. However, it also increases fat burning, so it comes down to whether it is more beneficial than harmful.

I think it is somewhat useful for fat loss cycles. I wouldn’t use it on a long term basis as there are definitely negative side effects with chronic usage of these supplements.

BBB, what is your preferred source of Q10? Also, do you have an article or article(s) at hand on Q10? My scientific IQ is pretty low, so if it’s really technical it will probably go over my head… but I’m always interested in learning.

Thank you.