Beef 'n' Butter Is it possible to prevent cancer AND reduce body fat by eating plenty of ground beef and butter? It just might be, provided it's the right kind of beef and the right kind of butter. The key to this potential cancer prevention is a fatty acid called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) found in meat and dairy products. But CLA supplements may also help reverse existing atherosclerosis, decrease progression of osteoporosis, and has been shown to aid in the management of glucose and insulin levels as well. So is CLA some kind of super supplement? At this point, it's too early to say for sure. But there's something going on here that would seem to be very beneficial to overall health. And as several HSI members have found, CLA may provide a welcome boost when it comes to getting rid of excess body fat, especially in the abdominal area. CLA is part of the omega-6 fatty acid family. And while the typical diet supplies more than enough omega-6, the mechanism of CLA's action apparently mimics that of omega-3 fatty acids. In the November 2000 issue of his Nutrition and Healing newsletter, Jonathan V. Wright, M.D., writes that even though CLA was discovered in the 1930s, it wasn't properly researched until the 1980s when it was identified as an anticarcinogenic factor in fried ground beef. Since then, the majority of CLA research - and there's been quite a bit - has been conducted on animals with very promising results. In addition to the health benefits mentioned above, studies also show that CLA may be a very effective tool in managing body fat. In 2000, a Norwegian study followed 60 overweight or obese subjects while they took different daily dosages of a CLA supplement or placebo. After 12 weeks, researchers found significantly greater reduction in body fat mass (BFM) among subjects who took either 3.4 grams of CLA daily, or 6.8 grams daily, compared to the group that took placebo. The data showed that CLA doses less than 3.4 grams were ineffective in reducing BFM. In another CLA study conducted at Maastricht University in The Netherlands in 2003, researchers examined the effects of CLA supplementation on 54 overweight subjects. For 13 weeks, subjects received 1.8 grams of CLA each day, 3.6 grams per day, or a placebo. Researchers found that among the CLA subjects, feelings of fullness and satiety were increased, while feelings of hunger decreased, compared to subjects taking placebo. And in a 2000 study from the University of Wisconsin- Madison, researchers found that when subjects taking CLA regained weight, they were more likely to regain it as muscle and not fat. These results are reflected in comments posted by HSI members in an HSI Forum thread titled "CLA." For instance, a member named Sunshinemar1 writes that he took one gram of CLA daily for about a year. He says, "My loss was very slow but I lost inches in the mid section which is the hardest fat to lose. Lost more in inches than in weight loss. I'm sure if I took one with each meal the results would have been much better". A member named Cork says she began taking CLA to help prevent a recurrence of breast cancer. She writes, "As a welcome side effect, I have lost about 18 pounds and have more stamina for exercise. The weight loss was quite gradual. I'm sure I've lost more than 18 pounds of fat and have gained muscle because I have gone from size 16 jeans to size 10." Note that Cork effectively combined exercise with her CLA regimen, as did a member named Cindy who says that although her fat loss has been gradual, she's convinced the CLA has helped. She writes, "Since adding the CLA I notice changes every week. Anybody who knows about losing body fat knows that it is a very gradual process. It's much easier to put it on than take it off." Whether you take CLA to help shed body fat, or as Cork did, to improve the odds in a fight against cancer, you can increase your intake of CLA through dietary sources, or by taking supplements. Good amounts of CLA can be found in butter, beef and whole milk, but only when these foods come from grass-fed cattle. When cattle are fed grain and hay the CLA content drops. And as I've addressed in previous e-Alerts, for optimum health, raw unpasteurized milk is always far preferable to the pasteurized milk you'll find on most grocery shelves. As for supplements, Dr. Wright recommends that his patients take 2 to 4 grams of CLA daily, but cautions that because CLA has not yet been researched extensively enough in humans, the possible side effects of higher doses are unknown. And if you do take the supplement route, you should also be sure to take a broad range of other fatty acids. For this, Dr. Wright suggests flaxseed oil, which contains a majority of omega-3 fatty acids, but also omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids. In addition, vitamin E (as alpha-tocopherol along with other tocopherols) should be taken with any fatty acid supplement to help keep the acids from oxidizing and forming free radicals. [As a side note, remember that men at high risk of prostate cancer should avoid using flaxseed oil, which may encourage growth of prostate cancer cells. In this case, freshly ground flaxseed provides a safe alternative.] Even though CLA has been studied extensively over the past 20 years, much more research is needed to fully understand how CLA may help prevent tumor growth, if it effectively lowers cholesterol and triglycerides, as some studies have shown, and if it can help manage insulin resistance. I'll continue to watch my sources closely for the latest studies, and I'll keep you posted. Sources:
"Clinical Tip 79: Preventing Cancer with Ground Beef and Butter?!" Jonathan V. Wright, M.D., Nutrition and Health Newsletter, November 2000, wrightnewsletter.com
"Health Benefits of CLA" Dr. Joseph Mercola, July 2001, mercola.com
"Conjugated Linoleic Acid Reduces Body Fat Mass in Overweight and Obese Humans" Journal of Nutrition, Vol. 130, 2000, nutrition.org
"Effect of Conjugated Linoleic Acid Supplementation After Weight Loss on Appetite and Food Intake in Overweight Subjects" European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 57, No. 10, October 2003, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
|
