M
morecowbell
Guest
Hey all! 
I know many of our members are well read on dietary supplements, and I wanted to know if anyone has had experience with Safflower Oil?
There was a study conducted in 2009 that showed some really interesting results... Obese post menopausal women took Safflower oil as a supplement without changing dietary and exercise habits, and lost weight (while gaining lean muscle!). It sounds like the science behind it is pretty well founded, so I started taking a tablespoon with my breakfast (having a 'fatty' breakfast has been shown to speed up metabolism for that day). It's far too soon to notice any changes, but I would really love to hear if anyone else is taking this.
(as a side note, I've stopped using my facial moisturizer in favor of a few drops of safflower oil on a wet face... OMG, the difference is astounding)
This is an article I copied (because I know we can't link), I do not own this material and stand to gain absolutely no monetary benefit from posting it here.
"You may have heard that some dietary oils can help you trim extra inches, but are the rumors true?
Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) and Safflower oil (SAF) are being used as dietary supplements because clinical studies show that they reduce body weight and promote fat loss. A study published in September 2009 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition compared the effect of linoleic acid and safflower oil on weight loss in obese post menopausal women.
Researching Linoleic Acid And Safflower Oil for Weight Loss
A total of 55 overweight, postmenopausal women from the Columbus area participated in the study.
They were all clinically obese, each with a body mass index (BMI) of more than 30.
Each participant took a total of 8 grams of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) or safflower oil (SAF) daily in the form of 8 capsules: 2 capsules with each meal and 2 capsules at night. SAF is a natural source of palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid and linoleic acid and therefore SAF capsules consisted of a mixture of these oils . CLA capluses contained mainly conjugated linoleic acid.
The study ran for 36 weeks: two 16-week dieting periods separated by a 4-week resting period.
Can Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) And Safflower (SAF) Oil Help You Lose Weight?
Linoleic acid (conjugated) did better at reducing participants’ all-over body fat, while safflower oil did better at reducing fat in the torso.
Safflower oil participants lost an average of 6.3 percent of their torso fat and gained lean mass. That’s particularly significant because the risk of losing lean tissue muscle mass increases in women after menopause.
Linoleic acid participants lost weight as well, but they didn’t add any lean mass.
It is noteworthy that these effects occurred without any change in diet or exercise habits.
During the course of the study, the participants’ weight loss didn’t slow or stop, as usually happens to anyone who sets out to lose weight. The researchers suspect that people who take dietary oil supplements for an even longer period of time could lose even more weight.
Here is an excerpt from the study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition:
“This study is the first to show that such a modest amount (~1 teaspoon or 8 mL) of a linoleic acid–rich oil may have a profound effect on body composition in women. Although CLA reduced total body adiposity, SAF reduced trunk adipose mass in both diet periods. The loss observed in our study (1.20 and 1.90 kg) translates to an average loss of 6.3% of starting adipose mass of the trunk region. To our knowledge, this magnitude of reduction has not been reported in an intervention that used a linoleic acid–rich oil. Furthermore, SAF increased total body lean tissue mass (gains averaging 1.4 and 0.6 kg, an ~1.6% increase from starting lean mass). Importantly, the effect of SAF was independent of diet or activity changes.”
Not Just Weight Loss
Better Insulin Sensitivity – Lower Glucose Levels
Safflower oil lowered the levels of glucose in participants’ blood, and improved their insulin sensitivity. Because both elevated glucose and insulin resistance can be caused by excess stomach fat, safflower oil could have caused the reduction of glucose and insulin resistance by burning stomach fat.
Increased Adiponectin Levels
Those who took safflower oil showed a 20 percent increase in the levels of adiponectin, a hormone that regulates fatty acid catabolism. Generally, losing weight greatly increases the amount of adiponectin found in your bloodstream. Participants who took linoleic acid didn’t experience any significant changes in their adiponectin levels."
I know many of our members are well read on dietary supplements, and I wanted to know if anyone has had experience with Safflower Oil?
There was a study conducted in 2009 that showed some really interesting results... Obese post menopausal women took Safflower oil as a supplement without changing dietary and exercise habits, and lost weight (while gaining lean muscle!). It sounds like the science behind it is pretty well founded, so I started taking a tablespoon with my breakfast (having a 'fatty' breakfast has been shown to speed up metabolism for that day). It's far too soon to notice any changes, but I would really love to hear if anyone else is taking this.
(as a side note, I've stopped using my facial moisturizer in favor of a few drops of safflower oil on a wet face... OMG, the difference is astounding)
This is an article I copied (because I know we can't link), I do not own this material and stand to gain absolutely no monetary benefit from posting it here.
"You may have heard that some dietary oils can help you trim extra inches, but are the rumors true?
Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) and Safflower oil (SAF) are being used as dietary supplements because clinical studies show that they reduce body weight and promote fat loss. A study published in September 2009 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition compared the effect of linoleic acid and safflower oil on weight loss in obese post menopausal women.
Researching Linoleic Acid And Safflower Oil for Weight Loss
A total of 55 overweight, postmenopausal women from the Columbus area participated in the study.
They were all clinically obese, each with a body mass index (BMI) of more than 30.
Each participant took a total of 8 grams of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) or safflower oil (SAF) daily in the form of 8 capsules: 2 capsules with each meal and 2 capsules at night. SAF is a natural source of palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid and linoleic acid and therefore SAF capsules consisted of a mixture of these oils . CLA capluses contained mainly conjugated linoleic acid.
The study ran for 36 weeks: two 16-week dieting periods separated by a 4-week resting period.
Can Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) And Safflower (SAF) Oil Help You Lose Weight?
Linoleic acid (conjugated) did better at reducing participants’ all-over body fat, while safflower oil did better at reducing fat in the torso.
Safflower oil participants lost an average of 6.3 percent of their torso fat and gained lean mass. That’s particularly significant because the risk of losing lean tissue muscle mass increases in women after menopause.
Linoleic acid participants lost weight as well, but they didn’t add any lean mass.
It is noteworthy that these effects occurred without any change in diet or exercise habits.
During the course of the study, the participants’ weight loss didn’t slow or stop, as usually happens to anyone who sets out to lose weight. The researchers suspect that people who take dietary oil supplements for an even longer period of time could lose even more weight.
Here is an excerpt from the study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition:
“This study is the first to show that such a modest amount (~1 teaspoon or 8 mL) of a linoleic acid–rich oil may have a profound effect on body composition in women. Although CLA reduced total body adiposity, SAF reduced trunk adipose mass in both diet periods. The loss observed in our study (1.20 and 1.90 kg) translates to an average loss of 6.3% of starting adipose mass of the trunk region. To our knowledge, this magnitude of reduction has not been reported in an intervention that used a linoleic acid–rich oil. Furthermore, SAF increased total body lean tissue mass (gains averaging 1.4 and 0.6 kg, an ~1.6% increase from starting lean mass). Importantly, the effect of SAF was independent of diet or activity changes.”
Not Just Weight Loss
Better Insulin Sensitivity – Lower Glucose Levels
Safflower oil lowered the levels of glucose in participants’ blood, and improved their insulin sensitivity. Because both elevated glucose and insulin resistance can be caused by excess stomach fat, safflower oil could have caused the reduction of glucose and insulin resistance by burning stomach fat.
Increased Adiponectin Levels
Those who took safflower oil showed a 20 percent increase in the levels of adiponectin, a hormone that regulates fatty acid catabolism. Generally, losing weight greatly increases the amount of adiponectin found in your bloodstream. Participants who took linoleic acid didn’t experience any significant changes in their adiponectin levels."