Ephedra looks harmless enough; it’s a trailing evergreen shrub with a leafless stem that grows in warm climates. But when ephedra gets ground up and put into vitamins or other weight loss and strength promising products, WATCH OUT!! That innocent looking plant can be deadly!

Ephedra is a hidden danger. Until recently, it was extremely hard to even find out if a particular supplement or product even contained Ephedra. Now due to all the recent news on it, every product that either contains Ephedra or is proud that they don’t, displays that information clearly on the bottle.

What Ephedra does is speed up your heart rate. Just as a car that’s racing too fast runs the risk of crashing, so does the human heart. A “racing” heart is especially dangerous for teenagers. Adolescence is a time when your body has not yet fully developed. Heavy and sudden pressure on your heart could cause death.

On February 17, 2003, 23 year-old Baltimore Oriole’s pitcher Steve Bechler died of an apparent heat stroke while practicing. In a more close examination, his death was linked to Ephedra use to increase his energy and strength level. There have been numerous other deaths with a possible connection to Ephedra use throughout pro and college sports. That’s why most professional sports leagues, starting with the NFL in 2001, now ban the use of Ephedra. Unfortunately, although many high schools have also banned the use of products containing ephedra, a lot of high school athletes are still using them as a way to lose weight or gain energy and strength.

Considering the side effects that come with consuming Ephedra, the few short-term benefits do not seem worth the risk. With most things in life, it’s smart to look before you leap. Researchers say that paying attention to nutrition labels of supplements or other products before using them is one of the brainiest things anybody can do.