LifeSource’s CLA helps keep the weight off and maintain a weight efficient body. A natural source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) can decrease body fat while at the same time, increase lean muscle mass.

LifeSource’s CLA is...

The discovery of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) caused a scientific sensation some years ago. This fatty acid found in red meat and cheese showed strong anti-cancer properties, was particularly effective in inhibiting breast and prostate tumors, as well as colorectal, stomach, and skin cancer, including melanoma. Scientists found CLA to be more strongly anti-carcinogenic than other fatty acids. What made CLA especially unique is that even low concentrations significantly inhibited cancer cell growth.

CLA supplementation was also shown to improve the lean mass to body fat ratio, decreasing fat deposition, especially on the abdomen, and enhancing muscle growth. To achieve this, CLA reduces body fat is by enhancing insulin sensitivity so that fatty acids and glucose can pass through muscle cell membranes and away from fat tissue. This results in an improved muscle to fat ratio. Compelling evidence indicates that CLA can promote youthful metabolic function and reduce body fat. The unique mechanism by which this fatty acid protects against disease makes it an important addition to any supplement program.

Compared to the previous generations, Americans are deficient in CLA, because changes in cattle-feeding practices have decreased CLA content in meat and milk. For optimal CLA production, cows need to graze on grass rather than be artificially fattened in feed lots. The meat of grass-fed cows contains up to four times as much CLA. Today's dairy products have only about one third of the CLA content they used to have before 1960.

One big reason for the current obesity epidemic in America could be CLA deficiency. Several animal studies showed that adding CLA to the diet resulted in leaner, more muscular bodies. One 1996 study, for instance, showed as much as 58% lower body fat in CLA-supplemented mice.

CLA is the component of red meat that has been shown to prevent cancer. The FDA has published research attesting to the anti-cancer properties of CLA. CLA is used by body builders to drive glucose into muscle cells to produce anabolic effects. Dieters use this same sugar burning mechanism to prevent serum glucose from turning into body fat. The new CLA oil is about 50% stronger in the cis-9, trans- 11, isomer (which scientists consider the most active isomer).

CLA also has antioxidant properties, and has been shown to prevent muscle wasting (an anti-catabolic effect).

CLA is chemically related to linoleic acid, but appears to have opposite effects in certain important areas. For instance, linoleic acid stimulates fat formation (lipogenesis) in adipose tissue, while CLA inhibits fat formation; linoleic acid tends to promote tumor growth, while CLA is an excellent inhibitor of tumor growth; linoleic acid makes cholesterol more susceptible to oxidation, while CLA makes cholesterol more stable.

One of the greatest problems with the Western diet during the last fifty years has been excessive consumption of linoleic acid, due to the introduction of margarine, seed oils such as corn oil and safflower oil, and the modern artificial feeding methods of cattle that have raised the linoleic acid content of meat. At the same time, the consumption of beneficial fatty acids such as omega-3 fats (fish, flax, and perilla) and CLA has gone down. Because of the enormous impact that fatty acids have on our physiology, an excess of linoleic acid combined with a deficiency of CLA could have far-reaching effects on health and longevity.

Conjugated Linoleic acid (CLA) is a slightly altered form of Linoleic acid (LA), an omega-6 fatty acid important to human health. Omega-6 fatty acids are derived from the foods we eat (primarily from meats and dairy products). The average American ingests probably less than 1 gram of CLA a day.

In a study presented at the Experimental Biology 2002 meeting, CLA alone was shown to cause a substantial decrease in fat mass, and for those who received CLA plus Guarana, both adipocyte (fat cell) size and number were decreased by 50%. As an added benefit, sesame lignans have been shown to further increase the burning of fat by stimulating fatty acid oxidation in the liver. As with any fatty acid, CLA can be oxidized by free radicals once it has been ingested. Sesame lignans help prevent the oxidation of CLA, providing health benefits without negative impact.

Recently CLA has also become available in concentrated dietary supplement form. Extravagant claims abound for these supplements, including assertions that they can help burn fat, build muscle, and fight cancer. Although there has been promising research done over the past few decades, it has primarily been in small animals. In some studies, rats and mice fed CLA-supplemented diets experienced a reduction in appetite and in accumulated body fat. Some even experienced a reduction in tumors.

In perhaps the most exciting study done so far, a team of Swedish researchers reported in December, 2000 that CLA melts away fat while boosting muscle mass. The overweight and obese participants in the study experienced a reduction in body fat while taking 3.4 grams of CLA daily for 64 days. But none of them lost weight. Many also complained of nausea and of the difficulty in taking 12 capsules daily. Only 47 of the 60 participants completed the trial
As with any other diet pill, keep in mind that it's not a magic pill, and you will need to start a program of diet and exercise in order to successfully lose weight and keep it off the healthy way. Slow and steady is the best way to lose weight. Walk some at night, jog just a bit, keep moving, eat just a little less. Things like this go a long way when you combine them with our CLA or any dietary products.

Go to LifeSource’s Fitness page for tips for all weight loss programs. (coming soon)