Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) was first introduced to the UK in the late 1990’s by Maximuscle. At the time, there were only a few studies around to show that it helps you lose fat and build muscle. In the past few years, the research has continued to grow at a rapid rate. In fact, a recent issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (one of the most prestigious nutrition journals in the world) contains a whole section devoted to CLA.

Sports nutrition experts call CLA “the fat that burns fat.”
CLA is a naturally occurring fatty acid. Found in many dairy products and in beef, CLA has been studied extensively since it was discovered more than a decade ago. A recent study, conducted by a group from Uppsala University in Sweden, shows that CLA can help you shift stubborn belly fat [4]. A group of 25 men with high levels of abdominal fat took part in the four-week study. Half the group used 4.2 grams of CLA each day. The rest used a fake (placebo) 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. CLA acted almost completely on abdominal fat, with CLA users losing far more inches from their waist than subjects using placebo.

CLA has also been shown to help overweight adults lose fat and gain lean muscle. The study, published in the June 2004 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (pages 1118-1125) establishes the effectiveness of CLA at reducing body fat and increasing lean muscle over a 12-month period [3]. A group of 180 men and women, aged 18 to 65, took part in the study. One group received 4.5 grams per day of CLA. Group two received placebo. Researchers found a significant decrease in body fat in the groups receiving CLA. More interesting still, the CLA group also gained muscle compared to the placebo group.

Researchers are still unsure exactly how CLA works. But Dr. Michael Pariza, a CLA expert based at the University of Wisconsin, has some answers. According to Dr. Pariza, “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 a recent study at Purdue University, subjects who added six grams of CLA to their diets for eight weeks lost weight as well as lowering blood sugar levels. Researchers also found that higher levels of this fatty acid 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 research appears in the January 2003 issue of the Journal of Nutrition [2].

“In previous work, we found that CLA delayed the onset of diabetes in rats”, said Martha Belury, the senior author of the study and an associate professor of human nutrition at Ohio State University. “In this study, we found that it also helped improve the management of adult-onset diabetes in humans. The amount of CLA, how long it’s taken and the type taken all impact the fatty acid’s ability to affect obesity in humans, and therefore help manage diabetes,” she adds.

Previous trials show that CLA also has positive effects on muscle growth.
Scientists at Kent State University found that CLA users experienced a greater increase in arm size compared to subjects using a placebo supplement. And a study carried in the May 1998 edition of the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise reports that after six weeks of CLA supplementation, a group of novice bodybuilders were stronger than controls [1].

In a study conducted at the University of Wisconsin Beers-Murphy Clinical Nutrition Center, study subjects who received 6 grams of CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) lost a significant amount of body fat during a 12 week period on a very low calorie diet. The group taking CLA had a significant decrease in adverse effects typically associated with low calorie diets compared with those in the control group.

The study involved sixty obese men and women, who were randomly assigned to either the treatment or control group, and were on a low-calorie diet. The CLA group lost more weight overall and regained more lean body mass. Females in the CLA group lost more total weight and more fat weight. The weight loss process, overall, was 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.

The majority of all published, clinical research on CLA has been done with a high-quality form of CLA which contains standard amounts of two CLA isomers (cis-9, trans-11 and trans-10, cis-12). The cheaper CLA supplements found in many health food stores and supermarkets usually contain a low-quality form of CLA, and won’t work as well (if at all). CLA-1000 from Maximuscle and CLA 750 from Now Foods are two high-quality supplements we recommend

References
1. Conjugated linoleic acid enhances muscle size and strength gains in novice bodybuilders. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 30, May 1998, S182
2. Belury MA, Mahon A, Banni S. (2003). The conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) isomer,t10c12-CLA, is inversely associated with changes in body weight and serum leptin in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Journal of Nutrition, 133, 257S-260S
3. Gaullier JM, Halse J, Hoye K, Kristiansen K, Fagertun H, Vik H, Gudmundsen O. (2003). Conjugated linoleic acid supplementation for 1 y reduces body fat mass in healthy overweight humans. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 79, 1118-1125
4. Riserus U, Berglund L, Vessby B. (2001). Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) reduced abdominal adipose tissue in obese middle-aged men with signs of the metabolic syndrome: a randomised controlled trial. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders, 25, 1129-1135

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