Could Fat Make You Lean?

Imagine this strange scenario: You’ve just sat down to enjoy a nice, healthful dinner. You’re looking to lose a few stubborn pounds, so right before you dig in, you reach for a spray bottle and cover your food with a thin, slightly gooey liquid. What’s in the spray? Fat. But this particular fat might be a potent weight-loss helper.

The spray is called CLAmor, and it contains conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a fatty acid found naturally in beef and dairy products. The fat was once hailed as a possible miracle drug to fight cancer, diabetes, and high cholesterol, but eventually that research fizzled. Meanwhile, CLA has shown promise for reshaping the body. In the most recent trial, overweight people who took 3.5 grams of CLA every day for 2 years lost an average of 4 pounds in the first year, and they maintained the loss in the second year. Four pounds over 2 years is nothing exciting, to be sure, but the supplement’s effect on body composition was: Testers lost 7 to 9 percent of their body fat, while gaining 1 to 2 percent more muscle. That change likely speeds up your metabolism, preventing the yo-yo-like weight regain so typical of most diets. Perhaps best of all, the testers continued to eat whatever they wanted.

Results from other studies have been mixed, however. And safety has been a persistent question. Some trials have suggested that CLA can raise cholesterol or cause insulin resistance, which can lead to problems like diabetes and high blood pressure. In this study, LDL (bad) cholesterol went up at first but then returned to normal. The authors say reducing body fat likely counteracts these risks.

Another question: This and other studies used CLA in capsule form, the way CLA is most often sold. With CLAmor, you get your daily dose from five pumps of the spray, which comes in four flavors—butter, garlic, olive oil, and plain. CLAmor uses the same CLA preparation as many capsule products, but because no studies of the spray have been published yet, experts are withholding judgment. “My immediate reaction is that capsules have the advantage, since they deliver CLA at known doses,” says Jean-Michel Gaullier, PhD, a leading CLA researcher. The spray is an original idea, he adds, but it’s impossible to know yet how it measures up to capsules.
If swallowing pills sounds more palatable to you, CLA capsules are widely available online and at pharmacies. Of the many brands available, ConsumerLab (a company that independently tests health and nutrition products) recommends products by Nature Made, Vitamin World, and NOW Foods. In ConsumerLab’s analyses, these brands contained as much CLA as the label claimed.

Interesting theory…..

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