What is CLA?
Conjugated Linoleic Acid, or CLA, is a fatty
acid that has become popular in a variety of
dietary supplements on the market today.
Naturally available in meat and dairy
products, it has become common to use it as
a supplement for weight loss and general
wellness. In this way, CLA participates in
the trend on the market to use more natural
ingredients your body needs anyway rather
than a bunch of synthetics and stimulants.
Beyond weight loss considerations, CLA is
thought to deliver antioxidants to the body.
You might be interested to know that CLA is
often advertised as an anti-abdominal-fat
solution. Typically, we are not convinced by
claims about localized weight loss like
this, but CLA might be different.
CLA is a group of thirteen isomers of
Linoleic Acid. As noted above, it is
naturally available in a variety of foods,
but especially in the meat and dairy
products of grass-fed ruminants.
Unfortunately, we eat mostly grain-fed
ruminants, because grain feeding is more
efficient. Because of this, CLA
supplementation might be a good idea even if
you don’t have a lot of belly fat to lose.
CLA is well-tolerated and assists several
important fat metabolising enzyme systems
including Carnitine palmitoyltransferase
(PCT) and lipase. There is also evidence
that CLA may actually help to reduce the
number of fat cells (adipocytes). It is
suitable for long term use, as part of a
weight management programme and is suitable
for inclusion in a High Protein/Low Calorie
diet programme.
CLA is, of course, nothing to argue about.
It is natural to foods and the body uses it
but taking more CLA on top of your normal
dietary intake might be something to
consider. If you can put your mind to rest
about the possible risks, and don’t get your
hopes up too high about abdominal-fat
reduction, CLA supplementation might be a
boon to your health.
