CLA may help you get across the weight loss "plateau"
Every weight loss campaign sooner or later comes to what is known as the "plateau". After an initial period of successfully shedding pounds progress just comes to a stop. No matter how carefully you are watching the calories, nothing seems to be happening.
If this is your experience then first thing to do is relax and don't worry about it. The "plateau" happens to everyone who is seriously trying to lose weight. So long as you don't let it break your motivation, sooner or later you will start to lose weight again.
In the meantime there are a couple of tactics you can try to get things moving again. Try cutting back your calorie allowance by a further 100 calories per day. Or removing carbohydrates from your diet for a few days.
Alternatively you could try a supplement such as Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA). Over the last twenty years scientists and nutritionists have become increasingly excited about CLA and the effects it can have. Studies seem to show that it reduces fat while at the same time preserving muscle tissue.
It is wonderful news for overweight people who are trying to reduce their weight without falling into the old trap of losing muscle!
What exactly is CLA?
The scientific explanation is that it is a combination of positional and geometric isomers of linoleic acid. In layman's terms it is a naturally occurring free fatty acid found mainly in meat and dairy products. It was discovered by Michael W. Pariza of the University of Wisconsin in 1978. His research proved that CLA reduces body fat while at the same time building muscle as well as providing other important health benefits. However the quantities of meat and dairy products you would have to eat would be enormous before you started to see the effects of CLA. An additional factor was the way in which the meat was produced - meat animals fed on conserved feed do not have as much CLA as animals grazing on pasture.
Because of the practical limitations surrounding CLA in meat and dairy products many experts recommend taking CLA as a supplement. In recent years an economical and efficient process of producing CLA supplements has been devised. Through an advanced lipid technology, a CLA synthesising process allows for precision intake through pre-measured softgel capsules, allowing you to take precise CLA doses at specified time intervals without consuming high numbers of calories.
Other claims
Apart from the beneficial effects upon weightloss, CLA also appears to have several other important benefits:
Increases metabolic rate
Decreases abdominal fat
Lowers cholesterol and triglycerides levels
Reduces food-induced allergic reactions
Enhances immune system
Diabetes
In a study conducted at Purdue University in Indiana, CLA was found to improve insulin levels in about two-thirds of diabetic patients, and moderately reduced blood glucose levels and triglyceride levels.
CLA may help fight cancer.
Research is at a very early stage and the findings need to be treated with caution. However in animal studies, as little as one half of one percent CLA in the diet has reduced tumor burden by more than 50 percent.
CLA is not a magic formula
CLA has a very positive role to play in helping control weight in a way that is healthy and effective. It also has many other positive attributes that require serious investigation by the medical establishment. However you should bear in mind that it is not a magic formula that will work on its own. You need to have a sensible diet and a programme of regular exercise to ensure optimum health and well-being. CLA is an important tool for you to use, but you still need to do the basic work. Good luck and stay healthy!
