Dietary Fatty Acids As Complementary Therapy in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

The purpose of the study is to see how a dietary oil called conjugated linoleic acid, or CLA, might be useful in combination with diabetes medication. Some studies show that CLA can modestly reduce body weight and body fat. Our research idea is that taking CLA will reduce body weight and body fat without interfering with the diabetes medications' effects on blood sugar.

The long term goal of this research is to develop effective complementary strategies to aid in the management of type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Our central hypothesis is that CLA reduces body weight and body fat mass when administered concomitantly with oral diabetes medication, The rationale of this study is that using CLA to reduce body weight and body fat in people with T2DM may improve efficacy and longevity of the oral diabetes medications in the management of T2DM. We plan to test our central hypothesis and accomplish the overall objective of this research by pursuing the following three specific aims. Specific Aim 1: Determine the ability of CLA to reduce body weight and body fat mass in people using oral diabetes medication for management of T2DM. Specific Aim 2: Determine the ability of CLA to modulate insulin sensitivity when combined with oral diabetes medication. Specific Aim 3: Determine the safety and tolerability of CLA in combination with oral diabetes medication.