{"id":2889,"date":"2021-11-04T22:46:08","date_gmt":"2021-11-04T22:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ultimatehealthreport.com\/are-cla-supplements-healthy\/"},"modified":"2021-11-04T22:46:08","modified_gmt":"2021-11-04T22:46:08","slug":"are-cla-supplements-healthy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ultimatehealthreport.com\/are-cla-supplements-healthy\/","title":{"rendered":"Are CLA Supplements Healthy?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CLA, or conjugated linoleic acid, is the \u201cgood\u201d trans-fat that occurs naturally in meat and dairy, especially from grass-fed animals. In the stomach of ruminants like cows, sheep, or goats, millions upon millions of bacteria help the animal digest its food. They also help convert dietary grass-based linoleic fatty acids into saturated fatty acids. Well, that conversion takes several steps, and one of the steps is the creation of CLA, some of which never gets fully saturated and instead shows up in the animal\u2019s body and milk fat.<\/p>\n
Twenty-eight different CLA isomers, or structural arrangements of the molecules, appear in CLA-rich animal fat. It\u2019s very complex and quite different from trans-fat created by partially hydrogenating vegetable oils. Those lab-created trans-fats have definite negative metabolic and health effects, while the panoply of various CLA isomers from grass-fed dairy and meat seem to be beneficial.<\/p>\n
What about CLA supplements? Is synthetic CLA just as good for you as naturally-occurring CLA?<\/p>\n
Conjugated linoleic acid production is a booming industry with many players. You\u2019ve got the new guys creating the stuff on a massive scale, getting their hands dirty in the lab, converting linoleic acid derived from safflower or sunflower oil into various isomers of CLA. Then there are the stalwarts, those ruminant stomachs filled with microscopic bacterial sweatshops toiling away as they convert unsaturated fats to saturated fats and make various CLA isomers in the process. An isomer called cis-9, trans-11 (or c9, t11) isomer is the primary one. CLA with a trans-10, cis-12 isomer is also evident, but in far scanter quantities. Same type of molecules \u2013 different arrangement. In fact, c9, t11 CLA\u00a0 accounts for between 80-95% of the CLA in ruminant and dairy fat, with t10, c12 making up most of the remainder. Supplement makers have the luxury of focusing on other isomers, of course, so they typically produce CLA supplements containing equal amounts c9, t11 and t10, c12.<\/p>\n
At first glance, they seem effective in isolated in vitro studies and can help people lose body fat.<\/p>\n
However, while the t10,c12 isomer looks to be better at burning body fat, it comes at a cost.\u00a0In a totally unsurprising twist, results change when you start feeding the stuff to live organisms and paying attention to the full effects (beyond just \u201cdoes it result in 2% more fat loss?\u201d). Let\u2019s take a look at a few examples.<\/p>\n
To sum up, while t10, c12 supplementation can decrease fat mass, it can also raise LDL, lower HDL, and overall worsen the cholesterol profile, as well as increase insulin resistance, blood glucose levels, and insulin. C9, t11, on the other hand, seems to improve lipid metabolism overall.<\/p>\n
Are you noticing a pattern? Again and again, individual CLA isomers appear to be protective or beneficial in isolated studies, usually in vitro, but when you actually feed an animal or a human a CLA supplement with the same isomer ratios, the benefits either disappear or get counterbalanced by a negative effect.<\/strong> You might burn some body fat, but you\u2019ll also become insulin resistant. You may keep off the baby weight, but your breast milk will contain less fat as a consequence. I\u2019m a big supporter of supplementation, but in my opinion, CLA supplementation simply isn\u2019t worth it.<\/strong><\/p>\n The right CLA supplement employing the right isomers in grass-fed ruminant-fat proportions could be helpful, but after taking an admittedly brief look at the top CLA supplements results on Amazon, I couldn\u2019t point you toward any that fit that description. They may exist. Heck, they probably do exist, but it\u2019s not obvious. I think you\u2019d be better served simply eating grass-fed animal products: butter, cheese, and meat with fat intact.<\/strong><\/p>\n In fact, we have good evidence that these \u201cCLA supplements\u201d are the healthiest available and give real benefits.<\/p>\n As so often is the case, food is the best way to get your nutrients. Supplements have a place, but only if they emulate the natural form. Supplements with novel forms of nutrients should be viewed with suspicion and confirmed with research.<\/p>\n\n