Conjugated Linoleic Acid, or CLA for short, has been one of the most popular fat loss supplements on the market for well over a decade now. 

CLA has a study showing it to be beneficial for aiding with fat loss at a dose of 3.2 grams per day. For the most part, this will be the study that supplement companies will use to promote any CLA products they may sell. CLA has also been shown in a study to be anti-catabolic.

Now with all of that said, CLA has more studies showing it to be not worth your money. A metaanalysis showed that CLA has no effect on reducing waist circumference in humans. Another study showed that CLA has no added benefits to overweight women when combined with aerobic exercise.

For the most part, CLA is not going to be worth supplementing with for fat loss purposes, although there may be health benefits to supplementing with CLA if you’re not getting it in your diet.

Typically, you will find CLA paired with other fat loss ingredients. Since CLA is not a stimulant, it is commonly found with other non-stim fat loss ingredients such as GBB, ALCAR, Grains of Paradise, and Forskolin.

Potential side effects with CLA include upset stomach, nausea, fatigue, headache, and diarrhea.

In the study mentioned above, 3.2 grams of CLA was used per day.