Hippocrates was possibly the first person to record the benefits of white willow bark. He did it in the 5th century BC In 1828 a French pharmacist, Henri Leroux, and an Italian chemist, Raffaele Piria, succeeded in isolating a compound in the grayish-brown bark of the white willow (Salix alba) known as salicin. Since then, salicylic acid, an active derivative of salicin, has spread further and found a home as one of the main ingredients in aspirin.
In an effort to get bigger, better and faster, the bodybuilding industry popularized the concept of “stacking” or combining certain ingredients to take advantage of their synergistic effect. Synergy occurs whenever ingredients are combined and the specific combination of those ingredients provides a greater benefit than the individual benefits that could be obtained if each of those ingredients were taken independently.
For decades, the ECA stack reigned in popularity in the auto body building industry. This was a “stack” that combined ephedra, caffeine, and aspirin. Although the ratio of this combination varied, 25 milligrams of ephedra was commonly combined with 200 milligrams of caffeine and 325 milligrams of aspirin. Unfortunately, this combination became extremely difficult to put together when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the sale of all dietary supplements containing ephedra on February 6, 2004. Despite numerous studies showing the safety of ephedra in controlled doses, the FDA would not back down from its finding that ephedra posed an “unreasonable risk of illness or injury.” On August 17, 2006, after being challenged in federal appeals court, the FDA upheld the ephedra ban with a 133,000-page report citing 19,000 individual adverse reactions. As a result of this dilemma, alternatives to ephedra were quickly found to combine with caffeine and aspirin.
Conceptually, the ECA stack effectively helps with weight loss and increased energy. Certain stimulants, such as ephedra, are known to be “beta agonists,” meaning they work by turning on a certain gene in the body (by targeting “adrenergic receptor beta-2” or “ADRB2”) to unlock a specific response. genetics. Three responses that are thought to be unblocked are increased levels of norepinephrine, increased levels of epinephrine, and increased levels of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP).
Norepinephrine and epinephrine are quite similar. Both are common neurotransmitters in the brain that also function as hormones in the body. As the levels of norepinephrine and cAMP increase, the heart rate increases, triggering the release of glucose from stored energy in the body. When taken in conjunction with caffeine and aspirin, this chain of events increases blood flow to muscle tissue and increases body temperature, creating a thermogenic effect in the body. It is also believed that during this process, the body begins to burn white adipose tissue, suppressing appetite and reducing fatigue as energy levels increase.
When a stack of stimulants and aspirin (or white willow bark) enter the body, a little light goes on (not literally) telling the body that it has just been stimulated as metabolism begins to increase. In response, the body begins to produce phosphodiesterase inside the cells and prostaglandins outside the cells of the body. Both of these reactions lower cAMP levels, which slows down the increased metabolism of the ACE stack.
Caffeine prevents cAMP levels from declining by blocking the production of phosphodiesterase within cells, while further increasing the body’s production of epinephrine, which again helps raise cAMP levels. Aspirin (or white willow bark) prevents cAMP levels from falling by blocking the production of prostaglandins outside of the body’s cells. Through these specific actions of caffeine and aspirin (or white willow bark), thermogenesis is sustained for longer periods of time while metabolism is maintained at a higher rate, allowing the body to burn more calories longer.
Taking this combination of ingredients before exercise should also help with a better workout, as the body will not fatigue as quickly and the muscles will recover and feel refreshed faster. All that said, remember that your body is not designed to burn stored fat for fuel if you are eating more calories each day than your body burns for fuel. Taking a dietary supplement can help your body burn more calories, but don’t expect dramatic long-term changes in your body shape without also making changes to your lifestyle, eating and exercise habits.
