Safe and well-tolerated response to CLA supplementation

12/04/05 A two-year study just published in the April issue of the prestigious Journal of Nutrition 1 concludes that long-term supplementation with conjugated linoleic acid (Tonalin CLA) is safe and well-tolerated.  Furthermore, it confirms that taking CLA decreases BFM and maintains LBM, and so also aids weight management, reducing the potential ‘yo yo’ effect often associated with diet plans.

“This study is particularly exciting because it was intended to confirm the safety of Tonalin CLA, but it went an important step further demonstrating that the people taking CLA also maintained their lean body mass and didn’t regain the body fat they’d lost,” said Nina Likins, Tonalin CLA Marketing Manager at Cognis. “It’s hard enough top lose body fat and even more difficult to keep it off, so this new research will be welcome news to dieters and those that formulate clinically proven products for this population,” she explained.

Overweight subjects who took 3.4 grams of CLA per day lost body fat in the first 12 months of the study, and were able to avoid regaining that fat in the second 12 months.  The results of the study corroborate and expand upon earlier findings, published last spring in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, which revealed that CLA reduced body fat mass in overweight, but otherwise healthy, adults by as much as 9 percent.  They also reveal that people with the highest body mass index (BMI) and body fat mass (BFM), especially women were more likely to lose body fat than those with lower BFM.

Weight management is key, as research has shown that almost all dieters regain the weight they have lost within five years.  This study shows that healthy, overweight participants taking a conjugated linoleic acid  supplement (Tonalin CLA) for two years lost body fat and did not regain it.  “CLA helped study participants keep off lost weight while maintaining lean body mass – which keeps the metabolism going strong and burning calories, thereby reducing the chances of weight regain,” said Dr. Jean-Michel Gaullier of Scandinavian Clinical Research in Kjeller, Norway, and project manager of the CLA study.

“Having a product that reduces the health risks of going on and off diets - the ‘yo-yo’ effect - is groundbreaking. Interest in CLA has been spurred by consumers’ increased demand for safe, stimulant-free products for reducing unwanted inches,” said Dr. Michael W. Pariza, director of the Food Research Institute (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and a renowned CLA expert.

Another important finding is that CLA supplementation helps lower levels of leptin.  High levels of the hormone leptin are associated with increased body weight. Over the course of 24 months, leptin levels dropped 20-35 percent as study subjects lost body fat. 
This is the first study to document the long-term safety and efficacy of CLA supplementation over a two-year period without lifestyle or dietary restrictions.  It began as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study over a 12-month period, but was later extended by a further 12 months as open treatment.  Of the 157 subjects that completed the original study, 134 volunteered to participate in the extension, and 125 completed the entire 24-month study. The second 12 months were aimed at evaluating the safety of CLA and assessing its effects on body composition (body fat mass, lean body mass, bone mineral mass, body weight and BMI) over a prolonged period of time.