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Dairy Council Digest Archives
Emerging Health Benefits Of CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid)
Summary
CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) is a collective term used to describe one or more positional and geometric isomers of linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid. Recent attention focused on CLA can be explained by the plethora of potential health benefits attributed to this unique fatty acid.
Dairy products and other foods derived from ruminant animals are the main dietary sources of CLA. The cis-9, trans-11 isomer is the predominant biologically active CLA isomer in bovine milkfat and in the overall diet of humans. Biological activity for other isomers, particularly the trans-10, cis-12 isomer, has recently been demonstrated.
A variety of factors, such as the cow's diet, can influence the CLA content of milkfat. Because the CLA content of dairy products is related to their fat content, CLA levels are greater in higher fat than in lower fat products. The finding that various dietary manipulations can increase the CLA content of milkfat may open the door for CLA-enriched dairy foods.
In vitro and experimental animal studies document a growing number of potential health benefits for CLA. These include:
- Anticarcinogenic Effects. CLA inhibits the proliferation of some cancers such as mammary, colorectal, prostate, and forestomach cancers. Virtually all studies have used synthetic mixtures of CLA. For the first time, an anticarcinogenic effect has been demonstrated for naturally-occurring CLA in food (butter).
- Antiatherogenic Effects. CLA lowers total and LDL cholesterol as well as triglyceride levels and reduces the severity of atherosclerotic lesions in the aortas of experimental animals.
- Body Composition Changes. Intake of CLA reduces body fat and increases lean body mass in several species of growing animals.
- Enhanced Immune Function. CLA enhances select immune responses in experimental animals, while at the same time protecting against immune-induced cachexia or body wasting.
- Increased Bone Formation. CLA intake by growing animals increases the rate of bone formation by influencing factors that regulate bone metabolism.
- Anti-Diabetic Effects. CLA improves glucose utilization and reverses symp-toms of diabetes in laboratory animals genetically at risk for this disease.
Much remains to be learned about the underlying mechanism(s) by which CLA exerts its diverse physiological effects. A variety of mechanisms are likely to be involved. The wide spectrum of CLA's biological effects may be explained, in part, by the unique biological effects of specific CLA isomers. Although the cis-9, trans-11 CLA isomer appears to be responsible for a number of the potential health benefits attributed to CLA, new findings indicate that CLA's effects on lipid metabolism and body composition are due largely to the trans-10, cis-12 isomer. Albeit promising, the health benefits of CLA must be considered preliminary until confirmed in humans.
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