On your next visit to the gym, take a look around. You’ll notice that a quality physique is hard to find - a combination of impressive muscularity with low body fat is rare.

The rarity of a ’six-pack’ testifies to the difficulty (or most commonly lack of know how) involved in actually getting one. It takes effort, self-discipline and an effective training and nutrition programme to drop your body fat percentage into single digits. However, there's one extremely popular and effective fat-loss supplement that could supposedly make the whole process a lot faster and easier. It's called CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid), a naturally occurring fatty acid found in many dairy products and in beef.

CLA has been studied intensively since it was discovered more than a decade ago, and there's an exciting and rapidly growing body of evidence to show that it's a highly effective way to shed fat and get lean while preserving (or even building) lean muscle tissue.

Before we take a closer look at the latest research, it's important to understand a little more about how your body stores and burns fat. Your body contains millions of tiny fat cells. To lose weight, you have to literally drain the fat out of the cell and burn it for energy. Unfortunately, every fat cell in your body is literally programmed to store fat. And the less fat you have, the harder your body will fight to hold on to every last pound of it. According to Dr. Michael Pariza, a CLA expert based at the University of Wisconsin, “every fat cell in the body wants to get big. What the CLA does is force that fat cell to stay little by affecting a number of enzymes that are ordinarily responsible for filling it with lipids.” In other words, CLA literally diverts the calories you eat AWAY from fat and into muscle tissue. For instance, scientists from Sweden took a group of 60 overweight subjects, and gave them different doses of CLA for 12 weeks 1. The amounts varied from 1.7 to 6.8 grams daily. Subjects took 3 capsules with breakfast, lunch and dinner. The results showed that CLA (in a daily dosage of at least 3.4 grams per day) increased fat loss. Those who didn’t use CLA gained weight! More interesting still, CLA users also gained muscle - despite the fact they followed only a very “light” training programme.

In another six-month U.S study, conducted at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where 80 overweight people took part, The participants dieted and exercised and, as expected, most initially lost weight. But, as often happens, many regained some of the weight lost when they stopped their diets. The people who did not take CLA put weight back on at a ratio of 75 percent fat to 25 percent lean muscle, which is typical for most people, points out Dr.Pariza, one of the researchers on the study. For the people taking CLA, less fat was regained and more muscle mass was retained. “The ratio was more like 50:50 - 50 percent fat and 50 percent muscle,” according to Dr. Pariza. “That is very significant. It leads to the idea that CLA could be useful in weight management,” he said. “Our results also showed that CLA made it easier for people to stay on their diets.” In a carefully controlled study conducted at the University of Wisconsin Beers-Murphy Clinical Nutrition Centre, study subjects who received 6 grams of CLA lost a significant amount of body fat during a 12 week period on a very low calorie diet. The really good news is that the group taking CLA had a significant decrease in adverse effects typically associated with low calorie diets compared with those in the control group. “Dieting is challenging for a lot of people, especially those who have unrealistic expectations about how long it will take to lose weight. Additionally, low calorie diets, although resulting in fat loss alone, can negatively affect people both psychologically and physically,” says study author Katinka Abbenbroek. “This study indicates that CLA helps people address some of those issues and feel better while they lose weight.”

The low calorie and CLA study involved 60 obese men and women, who were randomly assigned to either a treatment or control group, and were on a low-calorie diet. The CLA group lost more weight overall and regained more lean muscle. Females in the CLA group lost more total weight and more fat weight. Additionally, those in the CLA group reported significantly fewer occurrences of adverse side effects typically associated with dieting, such as irritability, anger and feelings of depression.

The weight loss process, overall, was found to be more pleasant and easier to sustain for the CLA group. Safety analyses including metabolic variables, liver and renal function did not differ thus CLA was found to be safe. Results from this ongoing research programme have been presented at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, American Oil Chemist Society and Vitafoods 2003.

More interesting still, in a recent study conducted this year at Purdue University, subjects who added six grams of CLA to their diets for eight weeks had a lower body weight as well as lower blood sugar levels 2. Researchers also found that higher levels of CLA in the bloodstream meant lower levels of leptin, a hormone thought to regulate fat levels. Scientists think that high leptin levels may play a role in obesity, one of the biggest risk factors for adult-onset diabetes. The study appears in the January 2003 issue of the Journal of Nutrition. Research from Sweden also shows that CLA can help you shift that stubborn 'belly' body fat that sometimes feels like it’s glued to your stomach. A group of 25 men with high levels of abdominal fat took part in the four-week study 3. Half the group used 4.2 grams of CLA each day. The rest used a placebo (fake) supplement that had no real effect. To ensure that the results were not biased neither the subjects nor the researchers knew who was using the CLA (called double blind). Results showed that CLA acted very effectively on abdominal fat with CLA users losing far more inches from their waist than subjects using the placebo supplement. Previous trials show that CLA also has positive effects on muscle growth. Scientists at Kent State University found that CLA users experienced a significant increase in arm size compared to subjects using a placebo supplement. Researchers at the University of Memphis showed that CLA led to 223% greater strength gains after just 28 days of training. A study carried in the May 1998 edition of the prestigious journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise reports that after six weeks of CLA supplementation, a group of novice bodybuilders were 202% stronger than controls 4. Pretty impressive stuff this CLA?. If you want to add this amazing research proven supplement to your training regime, it is vital you buy the best quality product. High-quality CLA is usually found in dark (such as amber or brown) soft gel capsules. CLA should not come in a clear bottle, as UV light will oxidise and destroy the CLA. Beware of extremely cheap sources of CLA that don’t list the amounts of CLA contained in each capsule. Tests show they often contain little of the active ingredient. The best CLA is a product called Tonalin CLA, which has had the bad taste removed and comes in potent powder and liquid forms for the inclusion in bars, powders and capsules.

CLA is not a stimulant, and most experts consider it to be safe to use for extended periods of time. For maximum results, you need 5-6 grams of CLA daily. Maximuscle is one of the few companies to sell 1000mg CLA capsules. Many do not, so always check the labels and packaging conditions.

Combined with a good diet and an effective exercise programme, CLA will help you lose at least 2 pounds of fat each and every week. What’s more, you’ll gain muscle strength and size at the same time. CLA will also help you keep the weight off once you’ve lost it in the first place, by diverting calories in the food you eat away from fat and towards muscle tissue. If you don't fancy the idea of taking 6 + capsules daily and like the idea of combining CLA with your whey protein, Maximuscle has launched a superb new 'slimming' meal replacement supplement, called Slim-Meal, a high protein, low carb, high CLA containing meal. If you're trying to lose weight on any kind of lowcarbohydrate diet, such as the Atkins Diet, you’ll know how difficult it is to find low carbohydrate foods you can 'eat on the run' as part of a busy lifestyle. Most portable meals and snacks (such as sandwiches) are too high in refined carbohydrate. That's where using two servings of Slim-Meal each day can help.

Slim-Meal is one of the most effective highprotein, low-carbohydrate meal replacement supplements designed specially for helping you achieve your fat loss goals fast. Each serving contains 40 grams of high-quality whey protein - roughly the same amount of protein in a large chicken breast – and just 10.4 grams of carbohydrates, along with 1500mg of CLA per serving.

For best results, just replace two meals a day with two 60g servings of Slim-Meal. Because Slim-Meal contains the finest instantised whey protein, your drink won’t be lumpy. The formulation is designed to mix with water, whilst tasting great and not watery! It comes in two delicious flavours – chocolate or strawberry. To ensure Slim-Meal is super potent, a collection of powerful and proven 'fat-burning' nutrients and herbs are included in each serving, these being; CLA, Green tea extract, Forskolin, Garcinia cambogia (HCA), Gymnema Sylvestra, and Chromium Polynicotinate… reducing your need for extra capsules, if you don't want.

You'll find Slim-Meal perfect for busy people, like you who want to lose weight, but don't want the hassle of weighing food or counting calories or having to eat bad tasting cereal bars or 'milk based' shakes. Try Slim Meal as recommended for just 4-6 weeks, in combination with a 3 day a week weight training regime and healthy diet, and there's no reason why you won't be stepping on the scales almost 10 pounds lighter. What’s more, thanks to CLA, the weight you lose should be fat, instead of muscle!

Note: Many people choose to add 3 capsules of CLA and Thermobol (or Thermokick) for even greater results. High protein Slim-meal bars with 1500mg of CLA should be out before the end of 2003!, making your fat loss goals even easier!

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