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Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a slightly altered form of the essential fatty acid linoleic acid. It’s processed from natural safflower oil and it’s showing tremendous promise in the promotion of good health. It naturally occurs in meat and dairy products when cattle consume a diet rich in grasses. Now that livestock are primarily grain fed however, the CLA has virtually disappeared out of the dairy and meat products we consume. As a result, we may be increasing our risk for obesity, heart disease and even cancer.

Conjugated linoleic acid was discovered in 1978 when Michael Pariza, PhD and other researchers at the University of Wisconsin were seeking possible cancer-causing compounds in meat. Instead, they found an anticancer compound. Preliminary animal and test tube studies have shown that it might reduce the risk of cancer at several sites, including breast, prostate, colorectal, lung, skin and stomach. Researchers are optimistic that it will produce a similar protective effect in humans.

Weight-Loss Winner

Over 200 studies have shown that conjugated linoleic acid may play a very important role not only against cancer, but also in helping fight diabetes, obesity and hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis). Particularly exciting is research showing that CLA supplementation can help promote weight loss.

University of Wisconsin researchers recruited 80 obese people and had half of them take 3,000 mg of CLA daily while the other half took a placebo. They were all put on a diet program and encouraged to exercise. Weight loss was about the same for both groups, averaging five pounds. So why take it? Those taking conjugated linoleic acid reported less fatigue, dizziness and nausea than those on the placebo. But the real advantage was that while people taking the placebo put weight back on mainly as fat, people taking CLA who put weight back on did so primarily as lean muscle. In other words, conjugated linoleic acid promoted an increase in lean muscle mass and a decrease in the percentage of body fat. Similar results were found in a study conducted at the Lund University in Sweden.

Researchers believe that it promotes and maintains weight loss by helping block fat cells in the body from filling up with fat. It does this by interfering with a fat-storing enzyme known as lipoprotein lipase. It also increases the sensitivity of cells to the hormone insulin and is believed to help burn fat by revving up muscle metabolism and helping increase lean muscle mass. The more muscle you have, the more calories your body uses to function, thereby speeding up the fat-burning process.

Supplemental Solutions

The typical North American diet does not deliver enough conjugated linoleic acid to get the weight-loss benefits. To get the level used in research studies (1,000 mg with meals three times daily) you would have to eat about 5.8 pounds of fresh ground beef, 53 ounces of American cheese or 1.7 gallons of vanilla ice cream! Simply stated, you cannot get the amount needed for weight loss from your diet. Fortunately, scientists are able to convert the linoleic acid of pure safflower oil into CLA to make it available as a nutritional supplement.

No side-effects or drug interactions have been reported with conjugated linoleic acid supplementation, but since its effects during pregnancy and lactation have not been sufficiently evaluated, it should not be used then.

Michael T. Murray is a graduate, faculty member and trustee of Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington. He has written over 20 books, including the best-selling Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine.

Source: alive #224, June 2001