Tonalin CLA Studies & Research
Does CLA Work?
CLA has become a rather popular dietary supplement for controlling weight and for helping with fat loss. You can learn about what is conjugated linoleic acid here in detail. There are lots of claims made for CLA supplements, and unlike many other supplements out there, CLA actually has numerous scientific studies to back up its many claims including reducing body fat mass, improving body composition, increasing lean body mass, and preventing weight gain. There are many studies done, and we can't list them all here; however, we will highlight a few of them that were performed using human subjects. We will also mention a few animal studies, but our main focus is on studies using human participants.
Tonalin CLA Study 1:
This is an early study done on CLA
effects on mice by Louisiana Stat University. They
fed several groups of mice CLA for 12 weeks, and each
group received different amounts of CLA. Here's what
they found after 12 weeks:
- Mice that were fed no CLA had
9.9g of body fat
- Mice fed 0.25% of CLA as part
of their diet had 9.3g of body fat
- Mice fed 0.5% of CLA as part
of their diet had 7.5g of body fat
- Mice fed 1% of CLA as part of
their diet had 5.7g of body fat
Conclusion of their research: Supplementing
CLA helps reduce body fat, and higher doses of CLA
helped to reduce more body fat.
Tonalin CLA Research 2:
In a published study in the Journal
of Nutrition, the Scandinavian research team looked
at a group of healthy men and women with BMI
(body mass index) between 25 to 35. They were
then broken into 5 groups: placebo group, and 4 groups
which were given different amounts of CLA as follows:
1.7g, 3.4g, 5.1g, and 6.8g. Here are the findings:
- None of the groups had significant
changes in body weight or BMI
- All 4 groups which took CLA showed
significant reduction in body fat mass and increase
in lean muscle mass - this was even more significant
for the 5.1g and 6.8g groups
- The 6.8g group also had the greatest
lean mass gains
- All CLA groups showed a reduction
in blood fat and cholesterol
- There was a case of stomach
upsets which is attributed to using CLA
- Subjects also noted a improvement
in quality of life due to improved health conditions
Tonalin CLA Research 3:
In a study conducted by the department
of public health of Uppsala University in Sweden,
Riseus et al. performed research involving 25 obese
men with BMI of 30 to 34, and between ages of 39 to
64 for 4 weeks - to determine CLA effects on abdominal
fat. 14 men received 4.2g per day of CLA and 10 men
were the placebo group.
After 4 weeks, they found a significant
decrease in the "Sagittal Abdominal Diameter (SAD)"
of the CLA group. SAD is a measure of visceral obesity - fat in the gut region. In other words, the CLA group lost
a good chunk of fat around the waist. The CLA group
had an average loss in waist diameter of 1.4cm. [1]
Tonalin CLA Research 4:
Six months supplementation with conjugated linoleic acid induces regional-specific fat mass decreases in overweight and obese.
Studies have shown that long term supplementation with CLA helps to reduce body fat mass and increase lean body mass. This study evaluated the effects of CLA on different regions of the body. In this study, 118 human subjects with a BMI of 28 to 32 participated in a double blind, placebo controlled trial. The participants were given either a 3 x 4g per day of CLA or Placebo for a period of 6 months.
The results found that CLA supplementation significantly decreased body fat mass at month 3 and 6 months compared to placebo. More importantly, this study found that the reduction of fat mass was located largely in the legs for the female subjects. It also found that the waist to hip ratio decreased significantly. The study concluded that supplementation with CLA in healthy, overweight and obese adults decreases body fat mass in specific regions such as (legs and waist area) and is well tolerated. [2]
There are many similar studies where the results found conjugated linolelic acid to have limited effect on overall body weight, but had significant benefits for reducing body fat mass [3] and increasing lean body mass. This loss in fat and gain in lean mass is what could explain the little changes in overall body weight. However, the end result is that the subjects end up with much healthier body compositions. More interesting, is that there are several studies that have found CLA to help specifically reduce fat around tough areas such as the waist and leg areas.
There are many Tonalin CLA
studies, and I can't list them all. The 1st one is
an older one done on animals, and the others are more
recent studies done on human participants. Even though
there are some (but few) studies that do not find support for
benefits of supplementing CLA, the overwhelming number
of studies showing positive benefits of CLA is enough
for us to conclude that CLA is definitely a worth
while product - not just for weight loss but for an
overall improvement in health. With that said, I would suggest getting enough CLA to last for at least 1 month, but preferable 3 months or longer. CLA is rather inexpensive, so it's not an issue to get extra supply to last a longer period. The two CLA products I recommend are MRM CLA and Optimum CLA. These are two CLA products I like based on their advantageous pricing. The MRM CLA has an edge over Optimum in terms or cost effectiveness.
>> Click here to view all CLA products
1 Riserus U, Berglund L, Vessby
B - Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) reduced abdominal
adipose tissue in obese middle-aged men with signs
of the metabolic syndrome: a randomised controlled
trial
2 Six months supplementation with conjugated linoleic acid induces regional-specific fat mass decreases in overweight and obese.
Gaullier JM, Halse J, Høivik HO, Høye K, Syvertsen C, Nurminiemi M, Hassfeld C, Einerhand A, O'Shea M, Gudmundsen O.
3. Br J Nutr. 2007 Oct;98(4):860-7. Epub 2007 Jul 11.
Effects of milk supplementation with conjugated linoleic acid (isomers cis-9, trans-11 and trans-10, cis-12) on body composition and metabolic syndrome components.
Laso N, Brugué E, Vidal J, Ros E, Arnaiz JA, Carné X, Vidal S, Mas S, Deulofeu R, Lafuente A.
