The ECA Stack for Fat Loss: Dosage, Benefits & Dangers

 Written by 

Julien Raby

 Last updated on 

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The weight loss supplement industry is huge. You might have seen a lot of ads for weight loss products. Unfortunately, many of them don’t work. However, the ECA stack is one of the most effective fat-burning compounds. So, what is the ECA stack? How does it work?

In this article, we’re going to talk about the ECA stack, its benefits, dangers, and what you need to know about it. Also, we are going to talk about the ECA stack dosage and how it was subsequently banned. Let’s get started.

ECA stacks on a table
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What Is ECA Stack?

The ECA stack has been used by millions of people for decades all around the world. It’s a thermogenic for fat burning. It’s a drug combination of three constituents: ephedrine, caffeine, and aspirin. 

The ECA stack was wildly popular in the late 80s, all through the 90s, and then into the early 2000s. It is utilized by everyone actually from the regular person through fitness people up to pros. Bodybuilders definitely used this! 

You could walk into any supermarket around the country in the United States and find it in the weight loss section or the supplement section. You could easily find any of those popularly named weight loss ephedrine products. And they all contained a combination of ephedrine, caffeine, and aspirin.

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And if you could lose consistently to 2-4 pounds a month regularly with a sustainable diet with some kind of an agent like this, that would be amazing. If it’s actually not dangerous for you.

How does ECA Stack works?
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How ECA Stack Works

The E stands for a 25-milligram dose of ephedrine hydrochloride (ephedrine alkaloids). The C stands for caffeine and that was in a 200-milligram dose. And then the A stands for dose of aspirin and it was actually a baby aspirin 81 milligrams. 

The combination of the three was taken three times per day. And the synergistic potential impact of those three compounds together was amazing to shred body fat, especially if you made it while following a good diet and training program.

So, what do ephedrine and caffeine do? How do they work together to create the ultimate fat-loss tool?

Ephedrine

Ephedrine is a synthetic nervous system stimulant. It’s the component in Ephedra which is naturally derived. And in the class medical utility, it’s a sympathomimetic which means that it’s going to hit alpha and beta receptors. So, it’s a simple stimulant type of drug. 

This medication will stimulate across the board all receptors. It’s not selective. So, you’re going to get an increase in heart rate and blood pressure. And there’s the overlap and they spill over into the increase in cellular metabolism.  And slight heat generation reminds us of a weaker DNP. 

How do we use it? It’s used to get the blood pressure up. If someone has low blood pressure in their auto static which means they’re standing up there moving around and they have low pressure, we can use this more chronically to keep their blood pressure up.

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Caffeine

Caffeine is a stimulant that almost everyone knows about. But here’s the fact that you might not know: caffeine is the world’s most widely used psychoactive drug. Yes! Caffeine pills are drugs! 

Caffeine does a lot of great things: it suppresses our hunger which is why a lot of people who do intermittent fasting drink coffee in the morning. Because that caffeine mixture suppresses your hunger. It helps you last longer without eating. It gives us energy and makes us more alert and focused.

So, how do ephedrine and caffeine work together?

Ephedrine component does not have any direct effects on caffeine. But on the other hand, caffeine completely changes the way ephedrine works. It makes it more effective and helps it last longer. As a result, a combination with caffeine may help you burn more fat.

The main thing that caffeine consumption is going to help is with fat cell utilization. So, you’re going to burn more fat just doing what you’re normally doing. Just because your body’s relying more on fat cells.

Aspirin

Generally, aspirin is a pain reliever. Adding aspirin to that combination of ephedrine and caffeine prevents norepinephrine levels from declining. So, it just makes that stack of ephedrine and caffeine more sustainable and more potent. It actually affects the metabolism of this and it makes it more sustainable keeping some of those post-metabolites active.

So, there are two reasons why aspirin is used in the ECA stack:

  1. To help prolong the life of the ephedrine and caffeine;
  2. Another thing is that ephedrine and caffeine can raise our blood pressure. And aspirin thins our blood, lowering our blood pressure. It makes it safer.
A tape to illustrate the weight loss as a benefit of eca stack
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ECA Stack Results: Benefits of Using ECA Stack

1. It Burns Fat

Ephedrine causes us to rely more on fat for fuel and energy so we burn more fat. It also raises our body temperature which can raise our metabolism by up to 5%.

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  • Tested for purity and safety
  • Creatine has no known side effects
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2. Faster Metabolism

Doses of caffeine can cause a thermogenic effect. It means that we burn more calories when we digest food because our body temperature rises slightly. Generally, it can raise our metabolism by up to 10%.

3. More Energy

Another great thing is it gives you a lot of energy. It’s a great pre-workout. 

When you’re dieting for a long time, something that tends to happen is your energy tends to drop. With the ECA stack, your strength gains because you’ll have the energy to lift heavy weights. It’s going to feel not hard at all and like you have the same amount of energy.

4. Strength Gains

In fact, you might even see strength gains because you’re just so focused, alert, and energized.

5. It Preserves Lean Muscle Mass

The next great thing about this stack is it also helps you preserve lean muscle mass. You’ll be dropping fat and holding on the lean muscle mass. 

6. Easier to Stick to a Diet

The hardest part about weight loss is sticking to a diet because you get hungry. If you don’t feel hungry, the weight loss diet is going to feel great. So, it just makes the process a whole lot easier. 

Let’s talk about the legal aspect of this.

Some ECA stack under the legal status
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ECA Stack: Legal Status

First off, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stepped in 2004. They banned supplement companies from including ephedra alkaloids in their products and marketing for that. So, ephedrine HCI was banned initially as dietary supplements but was still allowed in asthma medication with a prescription.

Then the FDA came in 2005 with the Methamphetamine Epidemic Act where they banned over-the-counter formulations of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. They said that they’re going to make it controlled. 

As a result, ephedrine HCI changed to a conditional controlled over-the-counter substance wherein the US government tracks each sale (I.D. must be used) as well as the amount.

Today, you can go out and buy the ECA stack but you’re going to see that it’s going to be controlled. Although it’s still over-the-counter. To buy ephedrine or Primatene tablets, you have to show your license.

Why did they ban this and what happened to this medication? Let’s talk about the ECA stack dosage and the dangers of it.

What Are the ECA Stack Side Effects?

It sounds like it’s the perfect thing you could take to lose weight but you gotta be aware of some things. There are a lot of adverse effects. It can be really dangerous if not used properly and without the proper dosage. 

And there’s a reason why you can’t buy an ECA stack in a store and you have to show an ID to even get a pack. It is banned in the United States because people misused it.

One thing to note is that an ECA stack is not a substitute for a proper healthy diet and a proper exercise regimen. It only helps to make it more efficient and get to your fat loss goals faster. Diet and exercise are still the most important!

The problem is that aspirin tablets when used on a regular basis can have a lot of adverse side effects such as stomach pain, heart disease, heart attacks, difficulty breathing, decreased frequency of urine, change in consciousness, and headache.

Here are the most common side effects of the ECA stack:

1. It Raises Heart Rate

ECA stack can raise our heart rate to high levels. And some people might have heart disease, heart fluttering, and heart palpitations. If any of this ever occurs, immediately stop usage. Fat loss is not worth dying over. 

2. It Causes Overheating

Another thing is that it can cause overheating. Almost all deaths due to ECA stack are caused by overheating. If you’re in a warm climate or you’re in a room doing high-intensity interval training a lot, then you shouldn’t be taking an ECA stack.

A woman experiencing insomnia due to eca stack
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3. Insomnia

It can cause you to not get enough sleep because of all the caffeine inside. You want to make sure that you take the last dosage at least 6-7 hours before you go to sleep.

4. Anxiety and Nervousness

ECA stack can cause panic attacks, anxiety, and rare psychotic episodes. Also, pre existing anxiety can be made worse with the ECA stack.

ECA Stacks for Bodybuilding

Most effective dietary supplements over the years have first gone through the “lab” in the gym and have been used by bodybuilders before going mainstream.

The ECA stack was standard among bodybuilders both enhanced and natural. It was also a standard among athletes who needed to drop body fat. It was standard among actors, actresses, and anybody who needed to or wanted to lose body fat.

If you’re a bodybuilder or someone doing a fitness competition, you must stop usage a week before you compete because it is on the banned substance list for competitions.

An athlete using the irght eca stack dosage
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How to Use an ECA Stack: ECA Stack Dosage

You cannot buy an ECA stack on Amazon or buy it from the grocery store. The only place you can get it is in pharmacies.

However, you can’t buy ephedrine in pure form. The only way you can get it is if you buy other products that have ephedrine in it.

More is not better. There’s a limit. That’s why you can’t take more. That’s where you want to stay safe. And that brings us to the dosage. 

The ECA Stack Dosage

You can’t buy more than one ECA Stack every 5 or 6 weeks. ECA stack is taken for 6-8 weeks cycles. After you do two weeks of building up, you’ll be at the full ECA stack dosage for 4-6 weeks. And then after that 6-8 weeks, you’re going to take a 2-4 week break to let your body basically flush it all out. And so when you take it again, all the effects will be there again. 

We don’t recommend taking this more than you need to use it. If you’d like to see fat loss results faster, it’s not a substitute for a proper diet.

It’s taking three times a day:

  1. one in the morning;
  2. one – 4 hours later;
  3. one – 4 hours later after that.

Some people think that three doses are too high. Just do what works for you.

Our Tip

When you take the ECA stack, you want to make sure that your Potassium levels are high enough. And you want to take a Potassium supplement or you want to eat bananas, avocados, chicken, chia seeds, coconut water, anything that has Potassium. Make sure you put it into your diet to counteract side effects.

What Safer Alternatives Are Available?

There are a lot of fat-burning energizers. We recommend using non-aspirin products. It’s safer to use only ephedrine and caffeine.

However, there is an option you can still use it. Use baby aspirin which is low-dose. It means it’s going to be fewer negative effects in the long run.

There are alternatives to eca stack
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ECA Stack: FAQs

What to expect from the ECA stack?

The ECA stack is an effective and clinically-proven tool to lose weight. Evidence-based data support that the combination of ephedrine and caffeine increases fat loss in obese people. Going back for decades, there are data showing that you could lose up to about a kilogram of fat per month. These are real studies and real numbers!

What is the use of the ECA stack?

It is a fat-loss stack that has been used for a long time. Basically, on their own, each ingredient does not really have a significant impact on weight loss. But when used together, they’ve become the ultimate fat loss tool.

About

Julien Raby is the owner of BoxLife. He owns a bachelor in literature and a certificate in marketing from Concordia. He's Crossfit Level 1 certified and has been involved in Crossfit since 2010. In 2023 he finally made it to Crossfit Open Quarterfinals for the first time. LinkedIn Instagram Facebook

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