Metabothin Ephedra American Generic Labs

Metabothin by American Generic Labs is one caplet per serving, 90 servings to a bottle. The proprietary blend weighs 730 mg, and the first thing in it is Ephedra Extract at 10 mg, from leaves.

Ephedra extract is not ephedrine

We get this question a lot. Ephedra is a plant. Ephedrine is a single compound. On Live Lean Today, ephedrine HCl is its own product line. Bryan Thomas, who owns the store, has heard the names mixed up for years. "Ephedrine is completely different from ephedra and the names get used interchangeably, creating confusion," he said. For that ephedrine HCl line, he requires "a driver's license on file and an ephedrine form filled out before shipping," and they "follow all regulations on quantity per order and per 30-day span." This caplet does not use that process. Bryan also said, in these exact words, "we do not sell ephedrine for weight loss." He was talking about the ephedrine HCl products, which we keep in their own section.

On its ephedra page, NCCIH describes the plant as "a low evergreen shrub with small, scaly leaves." The herb "usually comes from the stem and branches of the Ephedra sinica species," they write. Metabothin's label just says leaves. No species is named.

Bryan's take on why this keeps coming up: "consumer confusion over the different versions of ephedra or ephedrine." He says the store's value is that we're "willing to give honest answers to the consumer," and that we'll "give honest information or data on each of the different products." That's the reason this distinction is on the page.

Printed amounts

The panel does print two stimulant amounts: 40mg of caffeine from guarana seed, and 25mg of synephrine from Citrus aurantium (bitter orange). We left a link to NCCIH's bitter orange page for their full write-up.

Yohimbe extract (bark) is the last item in the blend. The panel leaves the yohimbine amount blank. NCCIH has a plain line on that, on its yohimbe page: "Most yohimbe products don't say how much yohimbine they contain." Bryan has felt it in products he's taken: "if it has yohimbe in it, you can feel how your body ... has kind of a tingling sensation." Some people notice that more than others.

Acacia rigidula extract (leaves) sits in the blend too. Even a 2012 talk by researcher Patrick Jacobs at the Arnold Classic, an unpublished slide deck, noted "there is little information in the published scientific literature regarding the effects of Acacia rigidula."

Vitamin E, calcium, magnesium, zinc and chromium sit in a short section above the blend. Ginger root, damiana leaf, royal jelly and spirulina are under it, and so are green tea extract and phenylethylamine HCL. Those last two don't have amounts.

Supplement Facts
Serving Size: 1 caplet
Servings per container: 90

Amount per caplet:

Vitamin E (as di-alpha tocopheryl acetate) 6 i.u. 20% Calcium (as Calcium Carbonate) 100mg 10% Magnesium (as Magnesium Chelate) 75mg 18% Zinc (as Zinc Chelate) 5mg 33% Chromium (as Chromium Piccolinate) 75mg 62%

Proprietary Blend: 730 mg Ephedra Extract 10 mg (leaves), Guarana seed (Paullinia cupana) (40mg Caffeine), Acacia Rigidula Extract (leaves), Citrus aurantium (25mg synephrine), Eleutherococcus senticosus root, Lecithin, Ginger root, Sarsaparilla root, Damiana leaf, Bovine complex, Nettles leaf, Royal Jelly, Goldenseal, Spirulina, Gotu Kila, Theobroma Cocoa Extract (seed), Phenylethylamine HCL, Green Tea Extract (leaves), Yohimbe Extract (bark)

Other Ingredients: Dextrose, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Hydroxy Propyl Methylcellulose, Stearic Acid, Magnesium Stearate, Sodium Starch Glucolate, Starch, Triacetin, Titanium Dioxide, Silica.