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NUTRITION 2000

By Ann Louise Gittleman, N.D., M.S.

Stroll down any food aisle in any grocery, store and the number of products still marketed and sold as "Fat-Free" is overwhelming. Eating fats has become virtually taboo in our culture...the big no-no for people trying to maintain or lose weight. Unfortunately, as I have discussed in my books Beyond Pritikin and Eat Fat Lose Weight, people who fall for this all-or-nothing approach to dieting are greatly reducing their intake of essential fats that are vital to efficient and healthy functioning bodies.

Fat is making a comeback...the right kind of fat that is. We are in the midst of a paradigm shift in nutrition when it comes to weight loss and health. We need to create a new food strategy for the millennium. Introducing the right fats into our diet is an important first step.

One of the right fats is an invaluable fatty, acid called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). CLA was once prevalent in our diet when ruminant animals like cows and sheep produced CLA in their bodies from their grass fed diets. Consequently, beef and dairy products were naturally enriched with CLA. In the last 30 years, however, two things happened which significantly reduced our CLA intake. The first was that most animals are no longer grass-fed and thus are unable to make the conversion of linoleic acid to CLA. Secondly, Americans have substantially reduced the amount of beef and dairy products they consume. The result of both factors is an estimated 80-percent reduction of CLA in the current diet. But thanks to a scientific breakthrough in 1987, when scientists at the University of Wisconsin isolated CLA and proceeded to investigate its roles in the human body, CLA is now available in a form commonly derived from sunflower and safflower oil as a nutritional supplement.

What exactly does CLA do to benefit the body? Probably the benefit that will capture most American's attention is that CLA can make you look and feel better by helping to reduce body fat and increase lean muscle tissue. Scientists have found that CLA inhibits lipoprotein lipase, an enzyme that breaks down fat globules so they can be absorbed and stored as fat cells in the body. By inhibiting this enzyme, CLA helps reduce the amount of fat deposited and stored throughout the body.

CLA also contributes to the body's ability to metabolize existing fat deposits. By stimulating hormone sensitive lipase, CLA helps break down stored fat which returns to the blood stream where it is used as energy by muscle cells and the liver. Reducing body fat is only one side of the coin, however, as CLA also increases lean muscle mass tissue in the body. So while helping to maximize the body's fat-burning potential, CLA also works to improve muscle tone. Muscle tissue is more dense and more compact than body fat, which results in people being firmer and thinner and feeling more energetic. Muscle tissue also burns more calories than fat tissue in the body.

This positive effect on body composition has been verified in a number of clinical studies. For example, one study conducted in Norway gave subjects three grams of CLA for 90 days. The study monitored body fat and found by the end of the trial a 20 percent decrease in body fat percentage with no change in body weight. This suggests that lean muscle was enhanced by five percent. Overall, recent clinical studies have found statistically significant reduction in body fat as measured by BMI, decrease in waistline measured in inches, a positive result for weight loss in mildly overweight subjects and an increase in strength.

CLA's mechanisms of action in the body are not completely understood but because it has been shown to affect a wide variety of enzymes and hormones in the body, multiple mechanisms are likely at play. Numerous human studies are in progress to fully understand the benefits of CLA and there is good reason to believe that research will show additionally no regain of weight for people who fall off of their diet plan. This indicates that CLA will prevent body fat from returning.

More Than a Diet Supplement Amazingly, the ability of CLA to reduce body fat and add lean muscle mass was discovered serendipitously while investigating its other health applications.

Originally pegged for potential anticancer actions, CLA has been shown in various studies to reduce the incidence of cancer tumors in animal models by 20 percent. Dietary CLA also seems to be protective

against human mammary tumors, as demonstrated in a large French study. When breast tissue was collected at time of surgery, higher levels of CLA in the control group of the study suggested CLA's protective effect against breast cancer.

 

Research bas also indicated that CLA holds vast potential for the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis (the build-up of fatty deposits in the artery wall). But one of CLAs most important benefits could possibly be its ability to affect and treat some types of diabetes, According to researchers from Purdue University and Penn State University, CLA normalizes impaired glucose tolerance in noninsulin-dependent diabetes. Clinical studies are scheduled at many universities worldwide to further explore the possibilities of using CLA for diabetes treatment.

Lastly, research at the University of Wisconsin revealed the immune boosting potential of CLA and it is the only known dietary factor that both enhances the immune system and protects against the catabolic effects of immune stimulation. Additionally, research suggests that CLA may modulate the inflammatory events associated with immune challenge. As you can see, the enormous benefits of supplemental CLA are only beginning to be realized and you can expect to see more promising results from this previously unrecognized nutrient.

However, a person on this type of diet plan is doomed to failure. When you eat far less than the body requires, it senses that food has become scarce and automatically reasons that it must be time to start storing fat for lean times. Instead of burning calories at its normal rate, the body actually slows its metabolism.

The biggest diet trend of the last 20 years is the no-fat diet. And what have been tine results of eating less fat? As a nation we are fatter than ever before. In large part this is because no-fat diets have led to increased intake of sugar and increased intake of carbohydrates to fill tine hole in your diet left by not eating foods with fat. (How else do you think it is possible for 'non-fat' food products to maintain some semblance of taste?)

Many carbohydrates trigger the quick release of glucose into the bloodstream. This causes a rapid rise in blood sugar which in turn signals the pancreas to produce insulin, the hormone that removes excess sugar from the bloodstream and signals the body to store fat. What this means is that you end up gaining weight in the form of fat.

 

Other consequences of a no-fat diet include: loss of energy, fatigue, food allergies, bloating, mood swings, uncontrollable sugar cravings.

The simple and incontrovertible fact is that our bodies need essential fatty acids which are necessary for the production of a group of hormone-like chemicals called prostaglandins. ,Prostaglandins are needed for the entire body's cellular functioning and to boost the functioning of the cardiovascular, reproductive, immune and central nervous systems. Another benefit of a fatty acid like conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is that it with the put an end to the cycle of losing weight and then gaining it back.

Rather than promoting weight loss per se, CLA basically helps turn fat to muscle. The goal of most no-fat diets is to lose weight but most of the weight lost is muscle or water~ things the body shouldn't lose. A better Solution is to create a healthier toned body with a lower percentage of body fat. While starvation diets (restricted calorie intake) result in lost muscle tissue, CLA helps increase lean muscle mass, decrease body fat and improve the body's ability to metabolize fat. The issue is not necessarily what one weighs but rather the body's ratio of fat to muscle. Improved muscle tone and less body fat helps people look thinner and live healthier. CLA is available as a nutritional supplement under the brand name CLA in health food stores, mass merchants, grocers and pharmacies nationwide.

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