Weight loss supplement may have both good and bad effects


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Taking conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) may help people los weight, but it could have certain side-effects in those who use the supplement, according to new animal studies.

The studies by researchers at Ohio State University show that CLA helps lose weight in mice, but boost accumulation of fat in the liver whereas CLA did not help lose weight in rats, but it reduced the liver fat.

Accumulation of fat in the liver could be a sign of insulin resistance, a hallmark of diabetes, according to the researchers.

The study of mice appears in a recent issue of the Journal of Lipid Research, while the rat study is scheduled to appear in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry.

CLA is found in trace amounts in beef, lamb and milk. Previous studies have suggested that taking CLA supplements may help reduce body fat, risk of diabetes and certain types of cancer.

Martha Belury, the lead author of both studies and an associate professor of human nutrition at Ohio State University and colleagues wanted to know how mice and rats responded to CLA supplements.

The study of mice shows that a CLA supplemented diet indeed helped lose weight in mice very rapidly, but in the meantime accumulate excessive of fat in their livers - a common side-effect of rapid weight loss. This means that the treated mice were be more sensitive to insulin.

In the study of rats, CLA did not seem to help rats lose weight gained prior to taking the CLA supplements. But interestingly, it did help reduce the amount of fat accumulated in the liver due to the prior weight gain. This means that the treated rats were less sensitive to insulin.

"Many people take CLA as a supplement in hopes of trimming body fat, and it seems to work," Belury said. "But we're not sure what else it does to the body. Studying CLA's effects in two different animal models may help us to better understand any additional effects in humans.

"It seems that these mice and rats represent a continuum of possible side effects induced by CLA," she continued. "The question is, are humans more like mice or rats? We're probably somewhere in between."

Clinical trials are underway to determine how the human body responds to CLA supplements. Belury and colleagues are conducting a clinical trial to examine the effects of CLA on women with diabetes.