CLA is one of those products that seems to have more and more uses every time we read about it. CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) is a group of eight fatty acid isomers that naturally occur (in low levels) in dairy and meat products. Over the last decade CLA has become a popular weight-management supplement. More recently research conducted at Penn State University has indicated that it may be useful in the management of diabetes as well. Now research conducted by the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio has found that CLA may also be helpful in maintaining bone health.6
In this study, researchers divided middle-aged female mice into two groups: a control group fed a standard diet with 10% corn oil, and a test group that fed a standard diet with 9.5% corn oil and 0.5% Clarinol® brand CLA. After the ten-week intervention, it was found that those which received the CLA had higher bone-mineral density than those not given the CLA. The researchers attributed the higher bone-mineral density to a reduced activity in pro-inflammatory cytokines (signaling compounds). The researchers also found that the CLA-fed mice had significantly lower fat mass and significantly greater muscle mass than the control mice. "Our present findings indicate that CLA has the potential to be a safe and economically feasible dietary supplement that could serve as an alternative medical approach to preventing bone loss associated with inflammation during aging," the researchers wrote in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry1.
A 2005 study found a bone health benefit among post-menopausal women taking CLA, it was the basis for this more recent study.
1. Rahman, M. M., A. Bhattacharya, et al. (2006). "Conjugated linoleic acid protects against age-associated bone loss in C57BL/6 female mice." J Nutr Biochem.
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