Submitted on July 17, 2003
Revised on August 19, 2003
Accepted on August 16, 2003
Efficacy and safety of dietary supplements containing conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) for the treatment of obesity: evidence from animal and human studies
Thomas M. Larsen, Søren Toubro, and Arne Astrup
Department of Human Nutrition, Center for Advanced Food Studies, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Frederiksberg 1958
Corresponding Author: tml{at}kvl.dk
Dietary supplements containing CLA are widely promoted as weight loss agents available over the counter and via the Internet. In this review we evaluate the efficacy and safety of CLA supplementation based on peer reviewed published results from randomized placebo-controlled human intervention trials lasting more than 4 weeks. We also review findings from experimental studies in animals and studies performed in vitro. Overall, CLA appears to produce loss of fat mass and increase lean tissue mass in rodents, but the results from 13 randomized, controlled short term (<6 months) trials in humans revealed only little evidence to support that CLA reduces body weight or promotes repartitioning of body fat into fat free mass in man. However, from mice and human studies there is increasing evidence that the CLA isomer t10,c12 may produce liver hypertrophy and insulin resistance via a redistribution of fat deposition that resembles lipodystrophy. CLA also decreases the fat content of the milk among lactating women and cows. In conclusion, although CLA may attenuate increases in body weight and body fat in several animal models, CLA isomers sold as dietary supplements does not prove effective as weight loss agents in humans and may actually adversely affect human health.
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