CLA is causing quite a stir in the diet and health research communities these days. It’s not surprising, because anything that produces weight loss, whether healthy or not, quickly becomes a desired product and too many people will take anything they hear works without finding out about possible sides effects or damaging results. CLA is just that.

CLA, conjugated linoleic acid, is a fatty acid found in trace amounts in food like beef and lamb and in dairy foods. It is harmless when consumed as part of these foods and beverages, but when taken as a supplement for weight loss the result may be much different. To give you an idea of how trace CLA is in our food, you would have to consume nine quarts of low-fat milk a day to get the same amount found in supplement form.

It was beginning to look like CLA was a viable weight loss tool so scientist at the University of Barcelona in Spain began to fortify skim milk with CLA and give it to weight loss patients on a daily basis. They found that overweight subjects who drank the fortified milk daily for 12 weeks had a 3 percent reduction in body fat. They reported that there was no significant weight loss in obese subjects who drank the same amounts of the CLA fortified milk.

While this team reported no apparent safety issues from drinking the increased doses of CLA, researchers at Oho State University strongly disagree. Martha Belury, the lead author of both studies and an associate professor of human nutrition at Ohio State University says that their studies of CLA when given to both mice and rats shows that there are very serious possible side effects.

The mice in the Ohio State research showed rapid body weight loss which may be equal to the human weight loss in the torso documented in Spain. However, Ohio State research also confirmed that those same mice had a significant weigh that accumulated in the tissue of their livers, a common side effect of rapid weight loss. Excessive fat accumulation in the liver is also linked to insulin resistance, a hallmark of Type 2 diabetes.

The rats in the Ohio State research didn’t show any weight loss. Could this be the same results found in overweight and obese subjects? The mice in the OSU research were fattened up before undergoing the CLA ingestion, so they could be considered overweight but not obese.

While the verdict is still out, there is evidence to suggest that CLA may not be a safe weight loss option. There are currently no known plans to fortify skim milk with CLA, but it is marketed by certain companies in supplement form.

Related Articles
	How to Safely Lose Weight in a Short Amount of Time It’s common to want to lose a certain amount of weight so we look our best at an event or while out on the beach. While it’s only natural to want to look amazing in whatever outfit or swimsuit you put on, the problem lies in how to lose the extra weight in a short amount of time. Instead of turning   ...Read more		Common Dieting Mistakes Dieting isn’t easy and if you’ve ever tried to follow or stick to a diet, you know what a challenge it is to follow the rules. Many times dieters break the rules and make mistakes without even knowing it. If you’re thinking about pursuing the diet path to aid in weight loss or to improve your health   ...Read more