Good Dietary Fats Help Reduce Weight
Polyunsaturated Fats Assist with Women’s Weight Loss
Jul 27, 2009
The two fats – linoleic acid and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) – cannot be made by the human body and must be obtained from food or dietary supplements.
Linoleic acid is found in safflower oil, commonly used for cooking, and CLA naturally occurs in beef, lamb and some dairy products.
Both are omega-6 fatty acids, important in the growth and maintenance of tissues and lipid metabolism.
The American Heart Association recently recommended that polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acids should be consumed for heart health.
Weight Loss Effect of Linoleic Acid for Women
Obese women with Type2 Diabetes trialling supplementation with these two forms of linoleic acid enjoyed weight loss, especially losing body fat in the abdominal area, as well as increased muscle tissue and lowered blood sugar levels.
The study of 35 women was undertaken by Dr Martha Belury, professor of human nutrition at Ohio State University and colleagues.
The women were consider obese, with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, were postmenopausal but were younger than 70, and had Type 2 diabetes but did not need insulin to treat it.
They took capsules of the oils for 16 weeks at a time, first with safflower oil and then with CLA, with a four week rest period between to allow the body to eliminate all the oil.
Each woman took just under two teaspoons a day of the designated oil.
During the study, they maintained their normal diets and exercise patterns, the only difference being the oil supplements.
On both sorts of oil, they experienced weight loss. With safflower oil they dropped between 2.6 and 4.2 pounds, while on CLA their BMI and total body fat count decreased, reducing their weight by an average of between 2.3 and 3.5 pounds.
Different Weight Loss Effects of CLA and Safflower Oil
While the women all experienced weight loss after 16 weeks on either oil, the two types of linoleic acid produced different results.
On CLA, the women’s total body fat count and BMI were lowered, and their overall weight loss was slightly lower than from safflower oil supplementation.
BMIs dropped by about half a point, and their total body fat decreased by an average of 3.2 percent, reducing the weight of the fat tissue by an average of between 2.3 and 3.5 pounds.
On safflower oil, while there was no effect on total body fat levels, the weight of their trunk fat tissue dropped by between 2.6 and 4.2 pounds, an average of 6.3 percent.
At the same time, their lean tissue, or muscle, increased by between an average of about 1.4 and 3 pounds. They had replaced fat with muscle.
Postmenopausal women tend to lose muscle at the same time that body fat starts to accumulates toward their middle.
"I never would have imagined such a finding", Dr Belury said. "This study is the first to show that such a modest amount of a linoleic acid-rich oil may have a profound effect on body composition in women."
Safflower Oil Lowers Blood Glucose Levels
An added benefit for the women taking safflower oil was the significant reduction in their fasting blood sugar levels by between 11 and 19 points.
This brought their blood sugar levels much closer to the normal reading of 110 milligrams per deciliter, at between 129 to 148.
"Lowering fasting glucose is important for these women,” Dr Belury said. “The overall effect in just 16 weeks wasn't bringing them back to normal, but safflower oil improved it significantly."
The study is published in the May 2009 issue of Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
You might also like: Good Dietary Fat Creates Healthy Skin
Avoid Trans Fats for Better Health
 |
