Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is one of the healthier fatty acids and is abundantly present in dairy products and meat but only in low amounts in the human body.

Cutting down on dietary saturated fatty acids and including high amounts of unsaturated fatty acids like CLA can prevent the development of diabetes, atherosclerosis, chronic inflammation and colon cancer.

According to Dr. Helen Roche, a senior lecturer in molecular nutrition in Trinity College Dublin:

"CLA seems to protect cells programmed to become diabetic against development of diabetes and it also prevents disease processes that lead to atherosclerosis, chronic inflammation and colon cancer."

[Classified as a nutraceutical or nutritional supplement, CLA is thought to change the balance between fat cells and muscle cells in the body and is currently on sale in health shops as a supplement to help people improve their body tone.]

Commercial CLA supplement, explains Dr. Paul Evans (a researcher with the Centre for Synthesis and Chemical Biology), contains two of its isomers: cis-9-trans-11 CLA which has beneficial effects and the other form trans-10-cis-12 CLA, can be detrimental and could induce a diabetic state.

Therefore the challenge would be finding a selective way of synthesizing cis-9-trans-11 CLA.

While working at the School of Chemistry in Trinity College Dublin, Dr. Evans and his group were able to discover a way to selectively synthesise the beneficial cis-9-trans-11 CLA in large quantities and in the process also found a method for making trans-vaccenic acid (TVA), the precursor to CLA.

[Evidence suggests that TVA is converted into CLA by an enzyme in the bovine mammary gland and muscle and by a bacterial enzyme in the human intestine.]

In conjunction, Teagasc is also conducted studies to increase the concentration of CLA in livestock and is studying the conversion of TVA into CLA by livestock in order to fully explain the health benefits of CLA.

According to Dr. Paul Evans:

"This collaborative approach paves the way for developing a pure nutraceutical which could be incorporated into our diet to help protect us against heart disease and diabetes."

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