Malic Acid

Fruits and vegetables are rich in many types of organic acids. The malic acid is one such organic acid belonging to a class of acids known as an alpha-hydroxy acids or AHA in abbreviated form. Common fruits such as apples, grapes and cranberries are rich sources of malic acid; this acid can also be found in many types of vegetables. The use of malic acid and other alpha-hydroxy acids as skin exfoliant agents has become popular in recent times. Malic acid may well be one of the most beneficial of the AHA for human use. This acid takes an important part in the internal production of energy within the human body.

The physiological condition known as hypoxia, which is a failure in the delivery mechanism concerned with transporting oxygen to the cells of the muscle results in the rapid fatigue of muscles. Malic acid has an important physiological role in this regard, it is said to prevent the onset of hypoxia. The importance of malic acid in many physiological processes in the human body is recognized and the malic acid has been utilized as a treatment for the physical disorder known as fibromyalgia. In this condition, the affected person suffers from chronic exhaustion and complains of many vague aches and pains all over the body, the underlying physiological processes governing this disorder may be related to those responsible for hypoxia. Some researchers have attempted to find a link between malic acid and fibromyalgia. However, till date, the disorder called fibromyalgia remains incurable, and effective treatments options for this disorder are rather limited. The majority fibromyalgia patients are women - the reason for this is a mystery. Malic acid has been touted as being a possible remedy for the treatment of fibromyalgia. Clinical studies probing the possibility of using malic acid in the treatment of fibromyalgia have been attempted. A group of fifteen female fibromyalgia patients were tested in such a study, all the patients received regular administrations of malic acid at one thousand two hundred mg to two thousand four hundred mg doses a day, combined with three hundred to six hundred mg doses of the mineral magnesium for a test period of about six weeks. This was followed by a further six week period when the patients were put on placebos. The results were analyzed at the end of the trial, a significant reduction in symptomatic pain was said to have been evident in all the women within the first two days of the study. All the patients reported that the reduction in pain persisted as long as they were receiving doses of the malic acid. The pain returned within forty eight hours once the women were switched to the placebo. The result of this study is very significant and encouraging. Many clinicians hope that malic acid may turn out to be a breakthrough remedy for dealing with fibromyalgia in women. Malic acid may also be useful in treating other physical ailments that are brought on by hypoxia, including the dreaded chronic fatigue syndrome that affects so many people in North America.

Malic acid is also being investigated for other uses. Supplements of malic acid may prove beneficial to athletes; it is believed that malic acid can boost stamina and physical endurance in individuals involved in high physically demanding sports. Many studies have shown that malic acid could be useful in helping athletes increase their level of performance. The capacity of malic acid supplements to boost the production of energy and increase aerobic capacity has been displayed convincingly in animal studies conducted in many universities across the world. As malic acid plays a very significant part in the prevention of oxygen deficiency in muscle tissues, it is believed that supplements of this acid could help increase athletic performance by maximizing the production of energy in the body.