Recently known for an extreme level of obesity, America has literally become a nation of obesity. Obesity is now the rule instead of the exception to. In a fast food nation, we are pressed for time and the motivation to work out and eat healthier. There are some who believe that CLA(conjugated linoleic acid) can help us to lose weight and gain lean muscle mass at the same time. But others, such as Professor Earl Mindell, believe that our apparent lack of CLA in our diets is directly responsible for our obesity epidemic. Some countries who are not surrounded by a body of water or a plentiful supply of fish and maintain low levels of obesity as well as those who have plentiful supplies of CLA in their diets and are surrounded by water, yet still have high levels of obesity may disagree with this assessment. But science has proposed some interesting theories.
Mindell claims that one of our favorite past times is literally dieting. We like it, but we don’t like making permanent lifestyle changes. And despite this love of dieting, we are somehow managing to get fatter. One out of 3 Americans is 30% over their ideal body weight and therefore obese. Obesity can also be measured by literal body measurements with a tape measure and BMI. They claim that our bodies are actually not taking in enough fat all together in order to maintain and provide weight loss. In particular, we are not eating enough “good fat” such as CLA, which can be found largely in fish, but can also be found in red meat, lamb, and dairy. The problem with all sources besides fish is that they contain high caloric levels and are associated with high levels of bad fat and heart disease.
There are quite a few products that are not promoting themselves as “good fat” diet pills. Many of them use sesamin or sesame oil, which actually has no connection to weight loss at all. The only “good fat” with that particular element is CLA. But nonetheless, it may put the body into a higher level of balance if used in high levels such as 4500mg.
So why can’t we produce our own CLA? We understand that we can’t produce certain things, because we are not plants. But many proteins and fats, we produce on our own. A Dr Howenstine clams that we our bodies do not convert linoleic acid into CLA at a high enough rate to provide the elements we need.
If you are looking for a miracle pill that will allow you to eat what you want and not exercise, CLA is not the one for you. In fact no pill is. But that aside, CLA studies, even with high doses such as 4500mg, have only shown extremely gradual weight and lean muscle mass changes, such as about 2-4 lbs in one year. The weight tends to stay off. But considering 2 lbs of fat can be achieved in a weeks time for most on the right schedule, this is not significant enough for the majority of individuals.