Conjugated Linoleic Acid

N

neenaw

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i bought some of these tablets today to try them out. i'm wondering if any of you have had good results from taking them?

i've been reading that what they do is help to alter your body composition - reduce fat, increase lean mass. i've read that in some studies a body fat % loss has been as much as 20% (of total body fat %). does anyone know anything about these studies? could the change in body fat % simply be due to healthy eating and exercise, with the tablets doing nothing?

also, i've read that they don't actually help in weight loss. how does that work? how can it decrease body fat % without losing weight as well? surely they can't be adding muscle?? i'm just a bit confused.

and... i've read before that these kinds of natural weight loss pills can only work as an aid to healthy eating and regular exercise. but what i'm wondering is, surely if they work, they work, no matter what your lifestyle is? i guess what i'm worried about is, if someone is eating healthy and exercising regularly then THAT will lose the weight - and then just cos they're taking these pills they attribute their success to them? say i'm eating and exercising in a way that maintains my current weight - shouldn't taking these tablets decrease body fat? that's not what i'm doing by the way, i am eating and exercising to lose weight but i'm just wondering.

one more question: it says on my pack that it should be taken for 3 months. does this mean it'll take 3 months to notice a difference or that you shouldn't take them for longer than 3 months?

phew, thanks for any knowledge you can share on this!
 
They work in the sense that they do make your body burn additional calories throughout the day (Thermogenics will usually buy you another 300 - 600 calories burned each day).

As far as "if they work no matter what your lifestyle is" - yes, they'll continue to help you burn calories - but you won't lose weight if you don't end up with a caloric defecit at the end of the day. So they will burn an additional 600 calories, for example, but if you're eating 5,000 calories a day, they're not going to help out much :)

If you're taking these pills while exercising and eating healthy, you will burn more calories, therefore you will reach your goals faster. Or, they can make up the difference if you're eating only-so-healthy and exercising irregularly. No one who knows what they're talking about would attribute their weight loss solely to a thermogenic.

If you're maintaining weight, yes, thermogenics will help you lose bodyfat, but the amount they burn each day is minimal enough that alone you will see relatively slow results.

In recent studies of CLA, they noticed that after 3 months of continuous ingestion of CLA, the benefits seemed to wear off. I would recommend a cycle of 3 months on, 1 month off, etc.

Here's more info I came across trying to find the answer to your last question:
 
excellent thanks for that Fil. it all makes sense now. i knew you'd be able to answer my questions! :)

at the moment i'm sticking to 1500 calories a day. sometimes it's as high as 1700 and then the odd day i just go off the rails and don't bother counting lol.

i think i'm just one of those unfortunate people that have to work harder than most to lose the weight. i put it on easily and lose it with difficulty. growing up, i eat and exercised just like my sister. my sister is so skinny she's verging on *too* skinny and i'm very much overweight and always have been. i think sometimes that's why i get discouraged so easily. i'll be eating well, exercising regularly and seeing very little change. it can be hard to keep motivated at times. that's why i'm giving this a try. i'll stick to my 1500 calories and hopefully i'll start seeing slightly faster improvement.

would it be ok to take this with chromium or can they not be mixed? would you recommend a thermogenic? (or is that what CLA is - a thermogenic? i'm not very well versed in this stuff)

thanks again for your help!
 
is ephedrine a thermogenic? is that the stuff that's been banned in the US? is it legal in the UK?

i'm sensitive to caffeine - it gives me the shakes and palpitations. would ephedrine do this?
 
There are two basic styles of thermogenics:
1. Stimulant - gives you energy (makes some sensitive people jittery)
2. Non-stimulant - doesn't give you energy

Most of the stimulant ones available are based off of a basic set of ingredients, typically bitter orange extract (synephrine) and caffeine. Others include ephedrine/ephedra (the latter of which was banned until just recently), and certain herbal formulas. My recommendation for stimulant ones are Xenadrine 8-hour release (for decent energy) or Tight (for insane energy).

Of the non-stimulants, you have two basic ones: Pyruvate and CLA. They can be taken together, do not give you any jitters, and as far as I'm aware have no adverse reactions with any other nutrient.

Alternatively, there are other ways to attack weight loss through supplementation as well:
1. Cortisol inhibitors: If you lead a stressful life, cortisol (a stress-released hormone) can cause you to store additional fat. Products like AminoSculpt, that work during bedtime, help you burn calories while you rest in this way

2. Appetite suppressants: Hoodia just hit the market and is very effective. It's made from the hoodia cactus the Sans people of the Sahara eat when they went on hunting expeditions. I've read reports of it suppressing appetite for up to 48 hours - which is handy if you're an overeater - with this you'll only eat becuase you know you have to.
 
is it ok to take a stimulant and a non-stimulant together?

what's the difference between ephedra and ephedrine? are neither of them banned now? when did this happen?

do the stimulants make you jittery? would they affect sleep? i'm assuming "8 hour release" means it works 8 hours so taking one in the morning would mean it wouldn't affect sleep? it's just cos of my sensitivity to caffeine i'm a bit worried about taking stimulants.

thanks again Fil
 
FWIW my wife and i tried hoodia for awhile, it's completely worthless, IMO. it didnt suppress either of our appetites at all.
 
neenaw said:
is it ok to take a stimulant and a non-stimulant together?
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Yes.

what's the difference between ephedra and ephedrine? are neither of them banned now? when did this happen?
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I'm going to point out something very funny about the way the FDA works: ephedra (the herb) was banned. Ephedrine (the chemical extract) was not. Ephedrine is what causes the benefits and side-effects of ephedra. So, basically, no real difference. Neither of them are banned. The ephedra ban was overturned in April.

do the stimulants make you jittery?
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They give you more energy. Some people get "jittery" (if they already have enough energy), some people just feel good (more energetic, sometimes only getting to what others would consider baseline levels).

would they affect sleep?
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Only if taken within 3-4 hours of bedtime (or so - different people may be more sensitive).

i'm assuming "8 hour release" means it works 8 hours so taking one in the morning would mean it wouldn't affect sleep? it's just cos of my sensitivity to caffeine i'm a bit worried about taking stimulants.
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If you're sensitive to caffeine, going the non-stimulant route may work best for you. The 8 hour release means it's specially "packaged" so that the nutrients are released over a long period of time. Slightly more expensive, but it means you just take one pill in the morning rather than taking 3 throughout the day.

No stimulant should affect sleep if you get it out of your system before bedtime. Like I said above - just don't take them within 3-4 hours before bed.
 
shimmering said:
FWIW my wife and i tried hoodia for awhile, it's completely worthless, IMO. it didnt suppress either of our appetites at all.
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Different things work for different people - our body's aren't all that simple, unfortunately. I obviously haven't heard back from the people who didn't like it, but we have lots of people coming *back* for hoodia on a very regular basis.
 
neenaw said:
what about that? it's an ECA stack. why is aspirin taken? is it safe?
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ECA stack = Ephedra / Caffeine / Aspirin.

It was supposed to be the single most potent weight loss supplement combination (stack) you could take. If I remember correctly, the ephedra and caffeine were the thermogenics, and something about the aspirin allowed the first two to operate better/longer in the body.

Obviously, however, there are a lot of health risks associated with aspirin use - and up until recently ephedra was banned so it's unlikely that you'll find many such products still on the market. You could mix your own, but it's a bit riskier than I usually like.
 
thanks for that info! think i'm just going to stick with the CLA for now. i would like to try ephedra but i can't find a type that has it on its own without caffeine and aspirin. the aspirin thing sounds too dodgy for me!

it's mad how some people have amazing effects from something while others have little or no effect at all!
 
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