February, 2001

by Mary J. Shomon

Some additional information of interest on Tonalin from Duane Fimreite, Technical Manager for Natural, Inc., the manufacturer of Tonalin, the patented formula of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). Check your CLA. It should be a clear to yellowish oil much like vegetable oil. If you find a brown liquid, you should careful about taking it. According to Duane, "A product that is only 60 to 65% CLA in my opinion should be avoided as well there is speculation that in the lower concentrations of CLA there are isomers that are not good for you as well as trans, trans fats which are not good for your heart." Duane has said that if you cannot swallow pills, and were thinking that the only way to get CLA would be to open capsules and take the straight oil, you should consider Ultra CLA from Metagenics. This is a liquid form of CLA that does not have a bad taste. Metagenics only distributes through physicians and chiropractors, but their web site might help locate the nearest practitioner http://www.metagenics.com. According to Duane, the Safeway product, which is a 500mg capsule, is Tonalin but is mislabeled in regards to CLA content. It really has 375mg of CLA per capsule, so 9 capsules a day would be sufficient to get the 3400mg daily dose of CLA.