The beneficial results of conjugated linoleic acid and the CLA capsule

In order to achieve weight loss it is crucial to provide our body with less energy than it is depleting, because hereby the duly resulting energy shortage will be replenished from the reserves of our body, thus contributing to fat pad decomposition; and energy shortage can be controlled with adequate nutrient intake. Nutritional supplements can be of great service for us in controlling caloric intake, for example by their influence on reducing appetite, or by contributing to higher energy depletion with or without doing exercises. CLA capsule is also an excellent auxiliary in case you would like to lose weight — let the overweight be big or small. By reading this article you can learn what is the CLA capsule, what is it good for, how does it work and how you should use it to achieve maximum efficiency.

What is CLA?

CLA is the abbreviation of Conjugated Linoleic Acid. Linoleic acid is a fatty acid, its name originates from the word of linen, although linen is not the only source of this type of acid. Conjugated means cohesive.

Linseed oil is made of linseed that is a well-known source of one of the most efficient polyunsaturated fatty acids. Therefore, CLA is a source of the polyunsaturated essential fatty acids.

What is CLA suitable for?

Due to the immense consumption of meat of animal origin, as well as because of the bad heat-resistant attributes some vegetable oils have, we consume a very small amount of essential fatty acid sources, that would be important for our body due to many reasons. Although, fats have always been the enemies of the dietary menu and we like to get rid of them in the first round in order to lose weight, it is also important to know, that we should consume them to maintain our metabolism and its proper operation. The consumption of fats — and particularly essential fats — is very important for a number of reasons, like the cleanliness of our veins, the proper operation of blood circulation, the absorption of vitamins, the operation of the nervous system, and due to numerous other ends.

The muscle tissue is one of the constituents of our body that has the highest energy requirement. This feature of the muscle tissue is extremely favourable because in case we have a bigger muscle mass we can ingest more calories. However, if it does not get adequate energy supply, the body will decompose the muscle tissue as well. Meaning if we burn away our muscular system, our fat mass will not degrade sufficiently. This is the time when CLA can play an efficient role, because, due to its fatty acid content, it helps to sustain and preserve muscle mass during the course of a diet.

Research has shown that among those who used the CLA capsule, fat absorption and the growth of fat mass decreased, as well as burning fat became faster. Fat and protein metabolic control became better, and a leaner muscle mass was built up.

According to research, fat cells did not grow bigger in case of those who used CLA, as CLA probably prevented the enzymes accountable for growing fat cells from operating.

Research had great results in case of those as well, who were doing sports while taking the CLA capsules, and also in terms of those who were not doing exercises. Body fat percentage fell in case of both groups, however, in case of those who were doing sports, muscle growth was also apparent.

It is the effect of CLA that our body starts to dissimilate the stored body fat, which we thereafter use in the form of energy during exercise and our everyday life. At the same time, if no exercise was carried out, the result would not be significant, efficiency would decline substantially. As a conclusion, it is better to use the CLA capsule combined with exercise.

The beneficial results of CLA

1. Burning fat:

As it was mentioned before, CLA helps to decompose the stored fats and to exploit it in the form of energy, hereby contributing to the process of burning fat. However, its help in growing muscle mass also enhances the efficiency of CLA, because the energy requirement of the body increases, thus the energy supply equivalent to the former muscle mass produces further energy shortage, that results in additional weight loss; but only in case our diet is appropriate. CLA decreases the insulin level of the body as well, and, as this is the hormone of our body which is accountable for storing, less caloric compounds of the ingested foods will become stored in our body, and they will be more efficiently utilised during exercise and doing sports.

2. Asthma:

CLA increases the amount of DHA and EPA enzyme levels present in our body, and as these are omega 3 fatty acids, they are especially useful from the point of view of operating the body. These fatty acids are efficiently fighting against inflammations, which can be a contributive feature in case of patients suffering from asthma. The condition of the respiratory tracts becomes better, while taking a daily portion of 4,5 g of CLA reduces hyperactivity too. Leukotriene is produced in the bodies of those who suffer from asthma. It is a type of fat molecule in the immune system, which generates bronchospasm. CLA contributes to improve the conditions of those who suffer with asthma, in a way, that, without harming the veins, it inhibits the operation of molecules regulating leukotriene production.

3. Cancer, tumours:

Although, only animal experiments have had positive results so far in shrinking certain tumours by 50% with the help of CLA, experiments are promising. Such tumour types were the epidermoid, breast, and lung cancer, too. During the animal experiments, positive results were not only found in case of already existing tumours, but researchers also pointed out that dosing CLA efficiently diminished the risk of cancer formation, because CLA protected the cells from becoming cancerous in such circumstances that would rather support cancer formation.

4. Immune system:

Doing a lot of exercise, diets low on nutrients, and the vast number of deleterious substances that get into our body are very harmful to our immune system. Our body hints at its state of exhaustion by fatigue and also by becoming more susceptible to certain diseases, such as cold. Studies have shown that taking CLA helps the immune system to work efficiently, restrains the catabolic, or in other words, destructive processes breaking out in the body in case of an illness or a fever. By using CLA immune response also improves.

5. High blood pressure:

Diseases of the circulatory system — in addition to cancer — are among the leading causes of death in Hungary. And high pressure due to stress is striking out yet from these, too. According to research, CLA might contribute to making condition better under an appropriate diet, but naturally, it does not compensate a stressful life and the lack of coping with stress. It contributes to reduce the amount of body fat and to restrain the triglyceride level, that also causes accumulation in the blood vessels and constriction of the vessels. Constriction of the vessels is one of the causes of blood pressure becoming higher. Thanks to the complex effects of CLA, it contributes to reducing blood pressure.

6. Heart dieseases:

Previously it has already been pointed out how CLA can contribute to the maintenance of the  circulation and to stopping a degrading state. By reducing the triglyceride and cholesterol levels, blood flow becomes smoother, thereby oxygen- and nutriment-flow also become more effective, and CLA contributes to these effects. By using CLA, the risk of cardiovascular diseases connected to the insulin-resistant condition also becomes lower.

7. Gaining muscle:

CLA increases basic metabolism, hereby contributing to daily energy consumption, and decreasing our fat mass. However, studies have shown that reducing fat mass does not accompany total body mass reduction. The reason for this is that CLA helps and improves lean muscle mass growth, that results in a better muscle-fat proportion. Therefore, by increasing muscle mass, calorie requirement and consumption also grows in the body, and doing sports improve complexion and the aesthetics of muscles.

What kinds of foods contain CLA?

CLA can be found in numerous types of foods we usually eat every day. However, it represents a small portion of fat contents of the given foods. If we take a look at how much CLA is included in the fat contents of certain foods, we realise that we can only acquire the amount of CLA that is required for us to exploit its beneficial results, in case we eat loads of fat. And this, by no means, could result in exaggerated fat consumption. Therefore, although in theory it is possible to ingest enough CLA from foods, in practice this would result in substantial surplus calorie intake. This is the reason why it is particularly efficient to use supplementary nutrition in this case, so that to avoid unnecessary caloric intake. Usually, foods of animal origin contain CLA, therefore, vegetarians should also think about ingesting CLA in the form of supplementary nutrition. Beef and mutton, as well as cow’s milk and cottage-cheese contain 4,5-5,5 mg of CLA within 1 g of their fat content, while in terms of cheese, cheddar contains a bigger amount, namely 3,6 mg of CLA / 1 g of fat. In the same time, in case of chicken or pork, not a single mg of CLA is included within 1 g of their fat content.

CLA content in the fat content of different foods:

• Beef: 4,2 mg / 1 g fat

• Mutton: 5,6 mg / 1 g fat

• Chicken: 0,9 mg / 1 g fat

• Pork: 0,6 mg / 1 g fat

• Cow’s milk: 5,5 mg / 1 g fat

• Cottage-cheese: 4,5 mg / 1 g fat

• Cheddar cheese: 3,6 mg / 1 g fat

How should you dose CLA?

Research generally used CLA amounts between 1-2 g. Sometimes research applied doses above the amount of 3 g, and yet no side effects were found, nor any enhanced effects were experienced, therefore it is unnecessary to increase the dose to such an extent. In terms of overdosing it, no toxic or harmful effects were found with regard to health, however revving up metabolism may have unpleasant symptoms, as well as in case an exaggerated level of consumption of fat or oil is present.

CLA can be used for a long time because of its positive effects on health.

Its use is recommended in the doses detailed before, at different times during the day, after two meals, for example after lunch and dinner or after other substantial meals.

CLA is ready to be consumed both by those who have a healthy body weight and would like to sustain it, or, by those who would like to lose weight or improve their body composition. Although, this type of fatty acid can be found in foods, the thereby accessible amount is not enough to reach our goal, thus it is hard to ingest the required dose only by extracting it from foods. It is recommended to use it in the form of a nutritional supplement especially in these cases.