When you take in more calories through food than you burn off through exercise, all those extra energy units have to go somewhere and if you're like a lot of folks, they wind up being deposited into your fat cells. Not only are jam-packed fat cells responsible for the dreaded disappearing waistline effect, but they also promote unhealthy changes in blood pressure, cholesterol levels and other markers of possible hazards to your continued well - being.
CLA helps make life miserable for fat cells in several ways. First, it inhibits an enzyme called lipoprotein lipase that shuttles fat molecules from the bloodstream into the cells. It encourages lipolysis, or the breakdown of fat that's already in storage. Finally, in some studies CLA has shown an ability to actually encourage fat cells to commit a form of cellular suicide called apoptosis - which results in fewer places for fat to hide. At the same time, CLA promotes the transport of fat into exercising muscle cells, helping them both burn off calories and become more toned (and shapely).
While CLA is the subject of ongoing research, early human trials have produced promising results. In Norway, for example, scientist from five separate institutions teamed up for a study involving people who were healthy but overweight. For the first year some of the individuals took CLA while the others took placebo (lookalike) softgels that contained olive oil instead; in the second year, every one took CLA. At the end of two years, all the people in this study showed significant reductions in body fat, body mass index (BMI), a standard measure of obesity, and weight (Journal of Nutrtion 4/05).
