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The EC Stack, In Depth.
EC, or ephedrine + caffeine, is one of the best over the counter fat loss options that we have. It is effective to the point it was initially thought to be dangerous. More time and study has only shown the opposite. Athletes: please know that ephedrine is banned by the NCAA, MLB, NFL, PGA, and WNBF.
It was brought to market as a bronchodilator, and in the United States is now only to legal to sell as such (or as prescribed). It is readily available on supplement store shelves elsewhere, such as in Canada.
ECA is quite stimulatory, and by itself Ephedrine is a fairly potent B2 agonist. To potentiate its effects we combine it with a methylxanthine, the most readily available and effective of which is caffeine. The combination of the two is what works the real magic [1]
This is most often taken as: 200mg caffeine +25mg ephedrine
Some people like to still incorporate a baby aspirin with their first dose (The ECA stack) but this is totally unnecessary to get the results. It could be of benefit for those with concerns for side effects by preventing platelet aggregation (and its overall cardiac risk preventative effects) as EC use does liberate a lot of FFAs (fatty free acids) into the bloodstream as well. That said, EC alone should be safe in healthy individuals, this is what most have progressed to using.
For those who have not tried it, know that this kicks a lot harder (stimulant effect) than caffeine alone. Using EC or ECA can and does initially raise blood pressure and heart rate, among other things all reported at this reference [2]
The Results:
We have studies in a variety of test populations now, and with HR and BP being primary concerns one would think it may be unsafe for the obese. But we did that study [4] in obese women for 8 weeks.
Results: the E + C group lost 4.5 kg more body fat and 2.8 kg less fat-free mass (FFM).
It was also safe at 24 weeks in a much larger obese group [3] Also losing statistically greater amounts of FFM.
And again here over the span of 6 months [5]
Results: Mean weight loss was found to be 16.6 kg after 6 months when E+C was provided as an adjuvant to an efficient hypoenergetic diet, which was 3.4 kg higher than in the placebo group.
That is HUGE for popping some pills, and it had no real drawbacks for most. From that same study: ” after 8 weeks blood pressures were indistinguishable from those of the placebo group. E+C has no adverse effect on glucose and lipid metabolism, but has been shown to prevent the decline in HDL-cholesterol caused by weight loss’
Long term EC use can actually lower your blood pressure, secondary to weight loss.
Let’s take a closer look here:
Diagram is from the full text of [5]
Pretty clear-cut that you lose weight faster with EC, this is also demonstrating the reason we always want caffeine to be used in tandem. Combine that with what we know from above that this (as a b-agonist should) can lead to increases of lean mass (or the more likely result of more lean mass preserved, as one would generally be in a calorie deficit set to lose weight overall), EC seems to be a dream come true for anyone looking to lower body fat.
It also has lab indications of positive effects in both WAT/BAT, but these studies were in rats and it’s something we simply know to now always transfer to the human model. [6] I wouldn’t put too much weight on this, but we know we are getting the desired end result regardless.
It is worth noting that effects of the EC stack will be just up stream of cAMP, as well.
It is thought, and actually shown in vivo now to be synergistic to also elevate cAMP by other means while EC is hitting your b-2 receptors. [7] One way to do this as shown there is via Forskolin, which is your best bet at raising cAMP and the most studied ingredient for it.
References:
1- Magkos, F.; Kavouras, S. A. (2004). Caffeine and ephedrine: Physiological, metabolic and performance-enhancing effects. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) 34 (13): 871–889. doi:10.2165/00007256-200434130-00002. PMID 15487903.
2- "Ephedrine". The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Retrieved Apr 2016
3-Toubro S, et al Safety and efficacy of long-term treatment with ephedrine, caffeine and an ephedrine/caffeine mixture . Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. (1993)
4-Astrup A1, Buemann B, Christensen NJ, Toubro S, Thorbek G, Victor OJ, Quaade F. The Effect of ephedrine/caffeine mixture on energy expenditure and body composition in obese women. Metabolism. 1992 Jul;41(7):686-8.
5-Something Obes Res. 1995 Nov;3 Suppl 4:537S-540S. Pharmacological and clinical studies of ephedrine and other thermogenic agonists. Astrup A1, Breum L, Toubro S.
6-J. Himms-Hagen, J. Cui, E. Danforth Jr., D.J. Taatjes, S.S. Lang, B.L. Waters, T.H. Claus Effect of CL-316,243, a thermogenic beta 3-agonist, on energy balance and brown and white adipose tissues in rats Am. J. Physiol., 266 (1994), pp. R1371–R1382
7-Staffan Enoksson', Ellen Blaak' and Peter Arner. Forskolin Potentiates Isoprenaline-Induced Glycerol Output and Local Blood Flow in Human Adipose Tissue in vivo Department of Vascular Surgery, 2Department of Medicine and Research Center, Huddinge University Hospital at Karolinska Institute, S-141 86 Huddinge, Sweden (Received February 18, 1997; Accepted May 13, 1997)
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I thought I saw where Hi Tech still carried ephedra, but may be mistaken. 
