A study comparing how two common dietary oil supplements — safflower oil and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) — affect body composition suggests that both oils can lower body fat in obese postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes.
In the study, 16 weeks of supplementation with safflower oil reduced fat in the trunk area, lowered blood sugar and increased muscle tissue in the participants.
Conjugated linoleic acid supplementation for the same length of time, on the other hand, reduced total body fat and lowered the women’s body mass index (BMI), a common health measure of weight relative to height.
All of the women in the study took one oil for 16 weeks, followed by the other oil for an equal amount of time.