Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA)

USAGE AND EFFECTIVENESS

Usage	Effectiveness
High Blood Pressure	Effective (Reduces blood pressure) Shown in one strong clinical study that when CLA is taken with blood pressure medicine (ramipril), it may reduce blood pressure further as compared to taking ramipril alone. One strong clinical study to support the point above.
Obesity	Mild effectiveness (Improve body composition in obese individuals) Several clinical studies showing improvement in body composition - reduction in body fat/ increase in lean weight, lower abdominal fat, reduce hunger, and improve feeling of fullness; effects on other parameters like body mass index, weight are not evident; more evidence is needed to support the above.
Allergic Rhinitis	Mild effectiveness (Improves overall well-being) One clinical study showing improvement in overall well-being but not eye allergy or overall symptoms; more evidence is needed to support the above.
Asthma	Mild effectiveness (Improve airway sensitivity) One clinical study showing improvement in airway sensitivity, and stamina for exercise, but does not reduce the need for rescue bronchodilators or improve lung capcity; more evidence is needed to support the above.
Sports Performance	Mild effectiveness (Delay time to exhaustion) One clinical study showed that usage of CLA may delay time to exhaustion during exercise by close to 3 minutes but may not decrease the time to feeling of physical exertion; other small studies did not show that it helps with other parameters like endurance and muscle power; more evidence is needed to support the above.
Cognitive Function	Mild effectiveness (Improve verbal learning and recall) One small clinical study showing improvement in verbal learning and recall in men but not women; more evidence is needed to support the above.
Colorectal Cancer	Mild effectiveness (Reduce risk of colorectal cancer) One population study showing taking large amount of CLA may be associated with a reduction in risk of colorectal cancer; more evidence is needed to support the above.
Metabolic Syndrome	Mild effectiveness (Decrease body fat mass) One small clinical study showing decrease in body fat mass, but not blood lipids levels or blood pressure; more evidence is needed to support the above.
Muscle Strength	Mild effectiveness (Enhance strength improvement and lean tissue mass) One clinical study showing enhancement in strength improvement, lean tissue mass, but not body composition or strength in resistance-trained athletes; more evidence is needed to support the above.
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease	Mild effectiveness (Improve related lab test results) One clinical study showed that CLA may reduce fat mass, cholesterol levels, alanine transferase levels (test which correlate with liver damage), glycated haemoglobin (a measure of blood sugar control) and increase in muscle mass while it may not reduce fasting sugar; more evidence is needed to support the above.
Rheumatoid Arthritis	Mild effectiveness (Reduce symptoms) One clinical study showing reduction in pain and morning stiffness, and reduce erythocyte sedimentation rate (a test to detect inflammation generated by the disease); more evidence is needed to support the above.
Breast Cancer	Unclear effectiveness One population study showed that CLA may be associated with lower risk of breast cancer, while others showed that CLA may not reduce risk or may even increase risk slightly. More evidence is needed.
Common Cold	Unclear effectiveness Not shown to be effective to reduce risk of catching a cold or reduce symptoms in 1 clinical study.
Diabetes	Unclear effectiveness Not shown to be effective in managing fasting sugar level in 2 clinical studies.
High Cholesterol	Unclear effectiveness Not shown to be effective in managing cholesterol levels in 2 clinical studies.

General Safety

• Generally safe when consumes appropriately as food and supplements.

Pregnant/Breastfeeding

• Generally safe when consumes as food; unknown safety when used as supplement during pregnancy and for breastfeeding women.

Children

• Generally safe when consumes appropriately as food and supplements.

Elderly

• Little data to show it is safe or otherwise; avoid supplementation if possible; as food, avoidance is not needed.

Special to Note

• Individuals are advised to not take the supplement 2 weeks before the operation.

Contraindications

• Details:
  • May increase risk of bleeding in individuals with bleeding disorders
  • May increase insulin resistance in individuals with diabetes
  • May worsen individuals with metabolic syndrome
  • May interfere with bleeding during surgery

Side Effects

• Generally safe; side effects may include:
  • Heart:May cause increase in cholesterol levels
  • Hormone System:May cause increase in insulin resistance, and blood sugar levels and decrease insulin sensitivity
  • Digestive System:May cause diarrhoea, nausea, loose stools, indigestion, bloating, and gas; One case of esophageal irritation was reported
  • Blood:May decrease blood clotting function
  • Liver:One case of liver toxicity characterized by weakness, jaundice, and itch was reported with abnormal liver enzyme levels; One case of liver toxicity presented as acute liver liver and characterized by loss of appetite, nausea, jaundice and presence of bile in urine was reported
  • Muscle/Skeletal:One case of backache was reported
  • Brain/CNS:May cause headache or fatigue; One case of headache and stroke due to reversible blood vessel tightening syndrome was reported
  • Others:One case of oral bad smell was reported

• Medicines
  Medium severity interactions with medicines for blood clotting and high blood pressure
• Supplements
  Medium to High severity interactions with herbs and supplements with blood clotting effects (e.g dang gui (angelica), clove, danshen, garlic, ginger, ginkgo, Panax ginseng and others), lowering blood pressure effects (e.g andrographis, casein peptides, cat's claw, coenzyme Q-10, fish oil, L-arginine, lycium, stinging nettle, theanine and others), vitamin A, and vitamin E
• Food
  None known
• Lab Tests
  Interactions with lab test for bleeding time and cholesterol levels

• Allergic Rhinitis (Adults)
  Consume 2 grams conjugated linoleic acid daily for 12 weeks
• Asthma (Adults)
  Consume 4.5 grams conjugated linoleic acid daily for 12 weeks
• Sports Performance (Adults)
  Consume 900mg conjugated linoleic acid daily for 14 days
• Cognitive Function (Adults)
  Conume 1.75 grams conjugated linoleic acid twice daily for 6 weeks
• High Blood Pressure (Adults)
  Consume 4.5 grams conjugated linoleic acid daily for 12 weeks
• Metabolic Syndrome (Adults)
  Consume 3 grams conjugated linoleic acid daily for 90 days
• Muscle Strength (Adults)
  Consme 5 grams conjugated linoleic acid daily for 7 weeks; Consume 6 grams conjugated linoleic acid daily along with 9 grams creatine daily and 36 grams whey protein daily for 12 weeks
• Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (Adults)
  Consume 1 gram conjugated linoleic acid three times daily for 8 weeks
• Obesity (Adults)
  Consume 1.6 to 1.8 grams of conjugated linoleic acid per day
• Rheumatoid Arthritis (Adults)
  Consume 2.5 grams conjugated linoleic acid daily alone or along with 400mg vitamin E daily for 12 weeks
• Obesity (Children)
  Consume 3 grams conjugated linoleic acid daily for 7 months in overweight children aged 6 to 10 years

• General Information
  • Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) can be found in milk, meat from cows and goats, safflower oil and other vegetable oils such as hydrogenated soybean oil.
• How does it work?
  • Contains chemicals that have antiaging effects, reduces allergy, bacterial infection, blood sugar level, inflammation, anticancer, and antioxidant properties, modulation of immune system, and weight loss effect and have effects on heart, skin, digestive system, liver, muscle, bone, brain, kidney.