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Since the body
can’t produce CLA on its own, we must get it
from our diet. (Chief sources are beef, milk,
and dairy products.) But researchers have found
the CLA content of these foods, if produced in
the U.S., has fallen to almost zilch since 1950.
That’s around the time farmers began feeding
cattle and dairy cows in feedlots, instead of
grazing them on grass pastures. By comparison,
the pasture-fed beef of Australia contains 400%
more CLA than ours!
To make matters
worse, Americans are eating less beef and dairy
products in an effort to slim down. But this is
having a backfire effect, because it further
reduces their CLA levels. As a result, it’s even
harder to lose weight!
But eating more of
these foods won’t help either. You still won’t
get enough CLA unless the products are
pasture-raised, which can be pretty pricey.
The best short-term
solution is CLA in supplement form. Some pretty
impressive research has shown they can produce a
dramatic reduction in body fat. Early
experiments with mice found that adding CLA to
their diet caused an 88% reduction in body fat
in just 6 weeks. And human studies are also
amazing.
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In both men and women, CLA
supplements produced body
fat reductions of 20
percent, on average, in just
12 weeks. More dramatic
results are possible with a
few eating changes and a
little exercise.
New CLA studies are
currently underway and
ALTERNATIVES will be
following them closely. A
few cutting-edge companies
are experimenting with ways
to increase CLA levels in
milk, butter, cheese, eggs,
and beef. But it still will
be years before any of these
products are ready for the
market. |
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