# Conjugated Linolenic Acid



## Tez3 (Oct 16, 2010)

That's a mouthful to say!

Last week I was training at an open mat run by an MMA gym run by friends, they had the guy there from a supplements company with freebies etc. One that caught my eye was 'CLA500', I got a free sample of three days worth of the tablets, haven't taken them yet as I'm wondering about it. The bit that attracted me was where it said it can enhance your immune system which as mine is shot sounds good. There's other things too it's supposed to help like improving your body's ability to burn fat and increasing your metabolic rate which sound also pretty good to me but does anyone know if they work and are they suitable for anyone to take. I could ask the company of course but I'd prefer an answer from people who aren't wanting to flog anything to me! Google told me scientific facts which I freely admit left me boggled. Ta in advance!


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## Bill Mattocks (Oct 16, 2010)

Tez3 said:


> That's a mouthful to say!
> 
> Last week I was training at an open mat run by an MMA gym run by friends, they had the guy there from a supplements company with freebies etc. One that caught my eye was 'CLA500', I got a free sample of three days worth of the tablets, haven't taken them yet as I'm wondering about it. The bit that attracted me was where it said it can enhance your immune system which as mine is shot sounds good. There's other things too it's supposed to help like improving your body's ability to burn fat and increasing your metabolic rate which sound also pretty good to me but does anyone know if they work and are they suitable for anyone to take. I could ask the company of course but I'd prefer an answer from people who aren't wanting to flog anything to me! Google told me scientific facts which I freely admit left me boggled. Ta in advance!



A) Just because something is labeled as something doesn't mean it is.
B) Just because someone tells me that a pill will do this or that doesn't mean it will.
C) Until the FDA (in the USA) tells me that it does anything beneficial, I'm not taking it - and perhaps not even then.
D) I sincerely doubt that a 3-day supply of anything but pure poison would have any noticeable effect; which leaves one to either decide it doesn't work or it does work based on what THEY WANT TO BELIEVE.

Wikipedia says this about CLA (not about the 'CLA500' mind you):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjugated_linoleic_acid


> *Possible adverse effects of CLA in humans*
> 
> There are concerns that the use of CLA supplements by overweight  people may tend to cause or to aggravate insulin resistance, which may  increase their risk of developing diabetes.[8]  Most supplements contain mixtures of two CLA isomers: the cis-9,  trans-11 isomer (the predominant CLA isomer in milk and beef) as well as  the trans-10, cis-12 (t10c12) isomer. It is the trans-10, cis-12 isomer  that is linked to many adverse side effects. Research indicates that  supplementation with t10c12 CLA dramatically increases rates of  oxidative stress, to levels considerably higher than that observed in  heavy smokers.[8]  However, the evidence is controversial, and some studies using a  mixture of c9t11 and t10c12 CLA showed no changes in insulin  sensitivity.[31][32]  Although researchers are still not sure of the long term health effects  of consuming CLA from supplements, foods naturally enriched in CLA,  such as beef and dairy, are a safe alternative.
> In one study t10c12 CLA produced a 32% increase in biliary cholesterol concentration which increases the chance of gallstone formation.[33]


My tendency is to believe that any supplement sold by anybody is bunk.  It could be the greatest miracle since aspirin, but this my life we're talking about.  Self-defense, remember?  I would not smoke a funny cigarette someone passed me, but if they put a pill in a bottle and slap a label on it, I'll just gobble it down?  Good lord no.

I don't trust the supplement industry.  They have only one interest, and that is profit. Which is fine, but my interest is not their profit, it's my health.  It has been my experience that they will say or do anything in order to get that profit - in the USA, that means even doing and saying things that THEY KNOW will hurt or kill people.  Because they know that once they're found out, chances are they'll just have to pay a fine and stop doing it; but they'll have made their money by that time and moved on to some newer wonder supplement.  My opinion only.

http://www.theatlantic.com/food/arc...juice-health-claims-arent-so-wonderful/63704/



> The newly alive Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says  POM Wonderful must stop making unscientific claims about the health  benefits of pomegranate juice. POM juice, the FTC says, has not been  shown to prevent or treat heart disease, prostate cancer, or erectile  dysfunction, as the company claims:
> 
> &#8226;  "SUPER HEALTH POWERS! ... 100% PURE POMEGRANATE JUICE. ...  Backed by $25 million in medical research. Proven to fight for  cardiovascular, prostate and erectile health."
> 
> ...


But their ads are all over TV still.  In fact, they just changed the ads to say it's great stuff; only now they don't say why.  They just want to sell the stuff, and if they have to lie to do it, oh well.  Again, my opinion.

I think they're all liars.  People who need deeply to believe in whatever it is they claim to fix will believe something else.  I can't tell people what to believe, but I will keep my money in my pockets and won't take pills people hand to me in a gym.


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## Carol (Oct 16, 2010)

As a fellow shift worker...I don't think CLAs are going to do anything for your immune system.  The biggest factor that knocks people like us out is lack of sleep, because the rest of the world does not work on our schedule.  

Keep a lot of germs and viruses away with a bottle of hand sanitizer...its possible to find a bottle that can be clipped to a key chain.  Use it religiously.  Couple that with a good amount of sleep every night (or day), a good multi-vitamin with some extra vitamin C, and diet that includes generous amounts of leafy greens.  

Exercise is important too but methinks you have that covered.


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## Tez3 (Oct 16, 2010)

Carol said:


> As a fellow shift worker...I don't think CLAs are going to do anything for your immune system. The biggest factor that knocks people like us out is lack of sleep, because the rest of the world does not work on our schedule.
> 
> Keep a lot of germs and viruses away with a bottle of hand sanitizer...its possible to find a bottle that can be clipped to a key chain. Use it religiously. Couple that with a good amount of sleep every night (or day), a good multi-vitamin with some extra vitamin C, and diet that includes generous amounts of leafy greens.
> 
> Exercise is important too but methinks you have that covered.


 

Cheers for that! Much appreciated.

We are issued with hand sanitisers as they worry we will all go off sick at the same time though that only happens when England wins the World Cup lol, sadly it's not just the shift work that means my immune system is shot, it's also the MS plus the under active thyroid. Ah poor me, falling apart! At least nothing is actually falling off though LOL!

I don't take anything until it's proved it works, I like to know the ins and outs of stuff and as I said not from the salesmen.


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## Carol (Oct 16, 2010)

I knew about your thyroid, I didn't know MS was in the picture too.   I'm sorry


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## Tez3 (Oct 16, 2010)

Carol said:


> I knew about your thyroid, I didn't know MS was in the picture too. I'm sorry


 


Had it for donkey's years, it's relapsing remitting so it's not bad for me, just another cross I bear, sigh LOL!  No, seriously it's not too bad, though I suspect it led to the thyroid though that's a totally unscientific observation. I have to blame the weight gain on something!


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## teekin (Oct 17, 2010)

CLA I don't know too much about but chromium and cinnamon ( get the dark whole ground spice kind) will help regulate insulin spikes. Of course both are common and fairly cheap so there is no great buzz about them. Next eat as many whole raw foods as possible and as many deeply colored foods as possible. ( the darker green the better, the brighter orange, the darker blue, deeper red) These are the sources of the natural vitamins. An excellent supplement is of all things Cod Liver oil. Sorry. Well any cold water fish. Again very cheap and not too glamerous but very effective. Eating the way we are genetically programed to keeps us the healthiest. The saying is " don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognise as food". 

Lori


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