Sports Research CLA – 1250mg with Active Conjugated Linoleic Acid for Men and Women | Non-GMO, Soy & Gluten Free – 95% (90 Softgels)

It just works!
This review is extremely overdue,but better later than never, right?!I’d been weight training, some cardio and a mostly OK diet. I’d tried CLA from several other brands in the past–off and on–spanning several years. The list of brands is too long to name, I’ve used that many! For the longest I’d been loyal to Primaforce, though not anymore.In Nov 2019, I purchased–for the first time–and started taking Research Team’s 95% CLA, about 3 weeks before Thanksgiving. My normal way of eating was low to moderate carb and in favor of higher protein and fat (recomp diet). I went to visit family for Thanksgiving with the expectation of having to go hard on my training and some serious caloric reduction/macronutrient changes to offset holiday weight/body changes once I returned. To my suprise, I looked even fitter–after eating how I felt was poorly–in comparison to my usual diet. While on my holiday, I ate a huge breakfast every morning (not the norm): 3/4 cup of plain oatmeal, topped with a banana, raisins and 2 tablespoons of peanut butter; 2-3 strips of bacon and a boiled egg; half a bagel; 1 cup of cantaloupe and honey dew melon,combined, or an apple; and some green tea and water. I didn’t feel hungry enough for a full meal again until about 7PM! My rectus abominus and obliques were poppin, and glutes were looking as good as they did the day I finished bootcamp! I took pics but hesitant to post here because I use one on another site and prefer to keep things separated.Now I must admit, I still kept up my lifting workouts and some cardio; in fact I remember putting my brother through a killer leg workout that had us both wanting to puke! 😂 What can I say, I’ve been a gym rat for a couple decades!Since Nov 2019, I’ve used CLA from different brands w/o a second thought – I just figured they all worked about the same and so I bought which ever brand had stock on the shelf and could be delivered w/in days of my ordering it, reasonably priced of course. Well, after using about 3-4 different brands since the last time I purchased this one, I haven’t experienced anywhere near similar results, even with a low carb and intermittent fasting diet!Well, after going back to look at my purchase history and tying results I’d been seeing to different periods I’d been using various CLA brands I realized this CLA is the one that has worked the best of all the CLA-only products I’ve used. I specify CLA-only because I’ve used some supplements that have included CLA as part of a combo, like BPI’s CLA with carnitine (too much vitamin D in the formula but otherwise a great product.)Fast forward to March 2022 and I’m in need of a replacement for the CLA formulation I’ve been taking for about 3 months, which contains flaxseed. I’d started noticing hormonal symptoms that point to estrogen being higher than it needs to be for my body chemisty – actually had a scare with being called back in for additional testing after some lab results that were different from prior results that were being used a baseline for tracking noticeable changes. To err on the side of caution and because I’d had better results with Research Team’s 95% CLA-only product, I’m back to stay–as long as they keep making it, don’t alter it, and I can get my hands on it. 😉I’m starting another recomp – build muscle while shedding fat.I’m not hung up on weight on the scale because muscle weighs more than fat and one can be skinny-fat while thinking they’re healthy because the scale shows weight was lost (it’s typically muscle and water that’s lost, rather than fat.) You want to hang onto muscle because the more you have the higher your metabolism, as muscle is a lot more metabolically active (burning calories) than fat. Of course, if I were someone whose weight was affecting my joints or cardiovascular health, then I’d have a reason to care about weight on a scale, but that would still be in addition to overall body composition – lean body mass vs bodyfat%. Fun fact, bodyfat can make sex hormones (estrogen anyone?) and if you have an issue with estrogen being too high and symptoms that come with or testosterone being on the low side, focusing on losing bodyfat vs watching numbers on the scale might be worth considering as a non-medical way to address the this. No, I’m not a doctor, just someone who reads a lot peer-reviewed research from journals along with conducting my own, where N=1 😉. The FDA has not approved anything I’ve written in this review so take what I’ve said with a grain of salt along with doing your own research/due dilligence.Update (June 2023):Still using Research Team’s CLA. I’ve had some great workouts with the addition of carnitine (l-carnitine l- tartrate and acetyl l carnitine),CoQ10 and aframomum melegueta/grains of paradise, a.ka. paradoxine. The carnitine has helped improve my VO² max, so cardio is actually enjoyable and the paradoxine increases thermogenesis and makes a person sweat heavily! I’m considering goung back to doing twice daily workouts (separate cardui and lifting sessions.)I recently had a semi-annual physical exam and according to my PCP, my last set of labs from Sept. 2022 looked good. So the doc didn’t see a need to order any new ones. I suppose looking at how the various lab results have trended over time were enough for the doc to arrive at that decision. Perhaps I’m doing somethings right. 💪🙂

High quality product, consistent with standards.
Sports research has been a go-to brand for me for a while. Quality and standards are high, dosing is always manageable in comparison to some other brands, where they may require 2×3 times the amount of pills or scoops. Always at a reasonable price. Does not leave any aftertaste.

It doesn’t work! And one of the worst products I ever purchased!

great product works as described