Does safflower oil slim down?
Natural safflower oil is beneficial, but its slimming capsule version has adverse effects.
Does safflower oil slim down? To understand the answer to this question, you first need to understand what conjugated linoleic acid is.
Conjugated linoleic acid, known as CLA, is a type of polyunsaturated fatty acid used as a weight loss supplement. CLA is found naturally in foods such as flaxseed and walnuts. The type found in supplements is produced from a chemical alteration of a fat found in vegetable oils such as safflower oil.
Some people believe that safflower oil consumed as a supplement helps to lose weight, decreasing waist size and appetite; imagined that safflower oil is a good source of CLA.
However, there are significant differences between natural safflower oil and its supplement form, the latter being unhealthy consuming safflower oil.
Commercially produced CLA (found in supplements) has a different fatty acid profile than natural CLA, being much richer in trans fats.
Although vegetable oil-derived CLA has been linked to weight loss in some studies, the results are lower than expected. A review of 18 studies, for example, showed that people who supplemented vegetable oil-derived CLA lost only 0.05 kg per week compared to a placebo group.
Likewise, another review found that doses of CLA, ranging from two to six grams over six to 12 months, led to an average weight loss of just 1.33 kg.
Another study found that CLA-containing supplements did not reduce waist circumference in men and women.
Another study of obese women showed that taking 3.2 grams of CLA supplements a day for eight weeks had no effect on reducing body fat, including belly fat.
And what does CLA have to do with safflower oil? Many people think that safflower oil slims down as a source of CLA. However, natural safflower oil contains only 0.7 mg of CLA per gram. More than 70% of natural safflower oil is made up of linoleic acid, a type of polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acid; and there are no significant studies that claim that safflower oil loses weight, despite it, in its natural form, providing benefits, which you can see in the article: "Safflower oil: what it is for, benefits and properties".
On the other hand, chemically manipulated safflower oil supplements may have more than 80% of their composition made up of CLA.
In addition, studies have linked the consumption of CLA supplements to various adverse effects. Large doses of CLA, such as amounts found in supplements, have been associated with insulin resistance (which increases the risk of diabetes), decreased HDL (good cholesterol), increased inflammatory processes, intestinal disorders, and increased liver fat ( check out the studies here: 1, 2).
So, if you choose to consume safflower oil, keep in mind that it, in its natural form, does not lose weight; its chemically altered form (in capsules, containing large amounts of CLA) may even help to lose weight, but perhaps the adverse effects do not compensate.
