"Hit The Road 'Fat', and Don't Ya Come Back No More.."

I’ve never been a huge fan of supplements. While other trainers were taking creatine or glutamine to optimize muscle growth, I kind of steered away from anything stronger than a calcium chew or a multi-vitamin.
But, about 10 years ago, I read about a supplement thought to decrease body fat while increasing muscle tone. Having spent a lot of time working on my fat loss and muscle gain with diet and exercise, I figured it couldn’t hurt to try and keep things working!
CLA (Conjugated Linoliec Acid) is a special form of the fatty acid, linoliec acid. Scientists believe that it helps you keep body fat off once you have dieted or exercised it away. CLA occurs naturally in meat and animal fats and in dairy products, such as milk (not skim) and some cheeses, but most of us don’t really get enough from the foods we eat. A University of Wisconsin study showed that a group taking a CLA supplement (3 grams a day of 80% CLA) had a 5 % drop in fat mass in seven months over a group taking a placebo. It works by inhibiting fat cell filling, meaning it prevents fat cells from getting larger, but doesn’t actually cause the loss of existing body fat.
So, what does that mean for you? Well, CLA is useful for preventing fat gain once you’ve lost it, and it spares lean muscle typically lost when dieting. It helps reduce your whole body fat percentages and preserves and aids the growth of lean muscle. Several studies have also touted the antioxidant, immune-enhancement and anti-cancer benefits of CLA, but the test groups are limited.
CLA is typically sold in a softgel form and sometimes called Tonalin, a patented vegetarian source of CLA. Aim for 3-4 grams per day to retain muscle and prevent rebound after dieting.
Also, I’ve tried different brands and there IS a difference between high quality health food or supplement store brands and the ones at the drug and discount stores (Be especially careful of fillers some brands use). My current favorite is Iron-Tek CLA soft gels.
However, if you hate pills, Old Home Foods in St. Paul, Minnesota has just launched a new product called Safflower Power Yogurt with Clarinol CLA, with the benefits of both yogurt and CLA. A 6 oz. serving is 160 calories and contains 1.5 grams of CLA. Eight different flavors are currently available in Minnesota. To read more about the product, go to http://www.safflowerpower.com
As a CLA guinea pig myself, I can say that the softgels have worked for me, but the jury is still out on the yogurt! I’ve not read of or experienced any negative side effects either. If you’ve worked hard to get in shape, it might be worth a try.