Are you losing weight or have you already lost weight and are trying to keep it off now?
All of the studies so far show that CLA does nothing to help weight
loss. It's a common advertising ploy that the manufacturers use to sell more product. However, there are some studies that show that CLA can actually prevent weight
gain though those studies are somewhat inconclusive.
Here's a quote from the University of California, Berkeley
Quote:
Lately CLA supplements have been attracting the attention of scientists. It takes a brief chemistry lesson to explain what this substance is and what it might do. CLA stands for "conjugated linoleic acid," a group of polyunsaturated fatty acids derived from linoleic acid. It occurs in very small amounts in meats such as lamb or beef as well as in dairy products. Little is known about it. The foods that contain the highest level—cheese and beef—are not foods you should be consuming in large amounts.
The claim for CLA supplements is not that they produce weight loss by themselves, but that they make dieting easier and help keep fat off. We each have a certain number of fat cells, and we can never rid ourselves of them. But losing weight is a matter of reducing the amount of fat these cells contain, and there's some evidence that once you've reduced body fat by dieting, CLA may somehow keep you from filling up your fat cells again once you stop dieting. But research on this is only in its early stages, and studies in humans are scarce. One good study by scientists at the USDA and the University of California, Davis, found that CLA capsules did not affect body fat or weight.
There's other news about CLA from a few early studies. It may have antioxidant effects (like so many other substances in foods), reduce the risk of heart disease, and/or lower insulin levels. Its anti-cancer effects are under investigation. But this is all largely theoretical and comes mostly from animal studies.
If CLA produces any benefits, they would come only from large amounts—more than you can get from food. Nobody knows whether such high levels are safe. And no one understands the long-term benefits and risks.
Maybe in a few years, research will tell us more. CLA supplements may prove to be a useful for dieters or for other purposes. For now, it's too early to say, and we suggest that you wait and see.
Mrs. Which , 03-15-2004 02:19 PM
Suzanne 3FC , 03-15-2004 03:05 PM
Thank you so much for your experiences. Unfortunately, I just got in 180 tabs of Tomalin CLA; a result of my ignorance regarding them.
