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Conjugated linoleic acid ("CLA") is a fatty acid related to the omega-6 fatty acids which is one of the three types of essential fatty acids. CLA occurs naturally in meat and dairy products, but most people do not consume adequate amounts of CLA through diet alone. Because of the changes over the last 30 years to cattle farming, in addition to the low-fat dairy products being consumed, the amount of CLA people acquire through diet has been drastically reduced. Thus, individuals are seeking the benefits of CLA through supplementation. CLA is known for promoting a decrease in body fat, supporting an increase in lean body mass, maintaining a healthy inflammation response, enhancing immune function, and providing antioxidant protection. CLA supplementation has been shown to improve the lean body mass to body fat ratio, decreasing fat disposition, most especially in the abdomen and also enhancing muscle growth.
The University of Wisconsin released results of a key six-month study involving 89 overweight people. Individuals who supplemented their diets with CLA were better able to lose weight and maintain goal weight, with less fat regained and more muscle mass retained. Another study conducted by the Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences/Geriatrics of Uppsala University in Sweden reported that supplementation with CLA induced a number of physiological effects in experimental animals, including reduced body fat content, decreased aortic lipid deposition, and improved serum lipid profile. The results suggest that supplementation with CLA may reduce the proportion of body fat in humans and that CLA affects fatty acid metabolism. In a random-double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 20 healthy humans of normal body weight and BMI of less than 25, who did standardized physical exercise in a gym for 90 minutes three times a week, CLA dramatically reduced body fat. Participants took either placebos or CLA .6 milligrams, three times a day, during meals for 12 weeks. Body fat measured, using near infrared light, was significantly reduced in the CLA group during the study, but not in the placebo group. In another study of the metabolic benefits of CLA, 53 men and women, aged 23-63, were randomly assigned to supplementation with CLA during a 12-week period in a double-blind fashion. The promotion of body fat decreased in the CLA-treated group with a significant difference from the control group. In a 2000 study, people who took CLA had significant reductions in body fat gain without any serious side effects. The findings reported that people taking this supplement lost an average of six pounds and statistically significant amounts of weight without otherwise changing their diets. In this study, 60 overweight people were randomly assigned to take a placebo or CLA for 12 weeks. The main objectives were to investigate the effects of different doses of CLA, from 1.7 grams to 6.8 grams per day, compared to placebo. The study indicated that 3.4 grams of CLA per day is enough to obtain all of the beneficial effects on body fat. |