Interest and involvement in nutraceutical research is starting to expand globally, as more and more scientists are starting to recognize and appreciate the true potential of nutraceuticals (both native and animal) and the health benefits offered. The term nutraceutical is a hybrid of the words nutrition and pharmaceutical. Dr. DeFelice and the Foundation of Innovation Medicine, Crawford, NJ reportedly coined the term in 1989. (Wildman, et.al, 2007) These animal products and indigenous plant chemical compounds can be said to have the potential to offer health improvements that may be directly related to the health benefits offered by various small molecule pharmaceutical compounds. Foods enriched with these nutraceuticals from various food and plant sources are often classified as “functional foods,” which are foods that now have the ability to provide some sort of health-promoting function to promote one's well-being. According to the International Food Information Council (IFIC) functional foods are “foods or dietary components that may provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition” (IFIC, 2011; Wildman et.al, 2007)2.0 Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA )Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a mixture of geometric and positional isomers of linoleic acid or more commonly known omega-6 fatty acid. They are long-chain (C18) fatty acids with two C=C double bonds most commonly located at C9 (-cis type) and C11 (-trans type) or C10 (-trans type) C12 (-cis type) (see Figure 1 ). These two omega-6 isomers (CLA) are most commonly found in nature. CLA is an essential fatty acid for humans. (Cheridan, 2006)Figure 1: Chemical structures of conjugated linoleic acid (Ω-6)(above) and its two......in the center of the paper......to increase the rate of metabolism of fats and boost muscle mass during heavy weight training, there are other health benefits offered by CLA. These include: 4.1 Role of CLA and cancer prevention: Some scientists suggest that CLA has sufficient bioactive potential to prevent the onset of cancer cell development. CLA exhibits inhibitory effects against multistage carcinogenesis at relatively low dietary requirements. Numerous in vitro studies have been conducted to investigate the potential of CLA against the malignant proliferation of breast, lung, colon and liver carcinomas. In vivo experiments revealed that one gram per 100 g of dietary CLA feed reduces proliferation of terminal bud structures and lobuloalveolar buds, the sites where tumors form in both rat and human mammary tumors in mouse models. Additionally, CLA can reduce arachidonate-derived eicosanoids such as prostaglandin-E2, PGF2