After menopause, many women experience weight gain, which increases the risk of developing metabolic conditions. For women with type 2 diabetes, weight loss and glucose management can become extremely difficult to manage. Researchers found that both CLA and safflower oil proved particularly beneficial to postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes.

CLA, conjugated linoleic acid, is an unsaturated fatty acid found primarily in meat and dairy products of cows, goats and sheep. CLA has been known to help people wishing to build muscle, lose weight and prevent heart disease.

Safflower oil is a plant-based oil similar to sunflower oil that is used in cooking oils, salad dressings and some margarines. Safflower oil, SAF, is a colorless and flavorless source of omega-6 fatty acids, and has been known to promote healthier skin and hair, reduce cholesterol and boost the immune system.

Thirty-five women completed a 36-week study comparing the effects of CLA and safflower oil on weight and body mass. Each supplement was consumed for sixteen weeks. Participants took roughly two teaspoons of either oil daily.

CLA began to cut body fat and reduce BMI after just eight weeks. “This magnitude of reduction has not been reported in an intervention that used a linoleic acid-rich oil,” wrote lead authors Martha Belury and Leigh Norris, both from the Department of Human Nutrition at OSU.

Safflower oil, originally meant for baseline comparison, yielded exciting changes of its own. Safflower oil reduced trunk mass and increased lean muscle mass, resulting in an average loss of 6.3 percent of body fat. It also reduced insulin resistance and fasting blood glucose levels.

“I never would have imagined such a finding,” Belury says. “This study is the first to show that such a modest amount of linoleic acid-rich oil may have a profound effect on body composition in women."

Belury and associates are pleased with the results of their study, and hope to explore the effects further. They believe that CLA and safflower oil show great promise in weight and glucose management for women with type 2 diabetes.

“It is possible that further reductions in BMI are achievable with a longer length of supplementation,” the authors wrote. “The use of lower doses of CLA over longer durations of intervention may prove to be an effective weight-loss aid."

The study appears online in The Journal of Clinical Nutrition.