Finding Your Perfect Magnesium Match - An Essential Guide
Finding the right Magnesium is always confusing, here is a quick article to help you get the most important nutrient most of us are lacking.
Magnesium: A Comprehensive Guide
Magnesium, often dubbed the "relaxation mineral," plays a crucial role in numerous bodily functions, impacting sleep, muscle function, stress management, and energy production. Yet, choosing the right magnesium supplement form can leave many feeling bewildered. This guide aims to shed light on the different options and help you discover the best fit for your unique needs.
Unveiling the Magnesium Maze
Read any reddit thread you will find our pharmacist friends unpack several popular forms of magnesium, each with distinct characteristics:
- Magnesium Glycinate: This gentle giant boasts high bioavailability and shines for sleep, stress, and anxiety thanks to its calming effects. While slightly pricier, its effectiveness makes it a worthwhile choice.
- Magnesium Citrate: A budget-friendly option with good absorption and sleep-promoting properties. Be mindful of its potential laxative effect at higher doses.
- Magnesium Chloride: Available in various forms, it aids digestion and helps with constipation. Topical versions can be helpful for those with sensitive stomachs.
- Magnesium Malate: Combats fatigue by potentially boosting energy production, making it ideal for those feeling drained.
- Magnesium L-Threonate: This special form might benefit cognitive function and brain health, but further research is needed. You might find this a bit pricey as well.
- Magnesium Orotate & Magnesium Taurate: Both offer good absorption with minimal side effects, but their additional benefits and price point require careful consideration.
Our pick: Magnesium Glycinate or Citrate. Skip the rest!
Food First, Supplements as Needed
Remember, dietary sources like avocados, dark chocolate, legumes, nuts, and seeds are the gold standard for obtaining magnesium. However, with widespread deficiencies, supplementation can be crucial.
Beyond the List
The post wisely excludes forms with lower bioavailability or limited benefits. Always prioritize well-researched, high-quality brands and dosages tailored to your age, health, and any medications you might be taking.
Additional Info
MAGNESIUM GLYCINATE
Magnesium combined with glycine. A match made in heaven.
Glycine is an amino acid that is a supplement in its own right, with anti-inflammatory and sleep-boosting effects. Combined with magnesium, it creates a match made in sleep heaven.
The perfect salt form for improved sleep, it also helps reduce stress, anxiety, and depression.
Binding with an amino acid means that bioavailability is dependent on protein pathways, rather than solubility. This is why magnesium glycinate has one of the highest bioavailabilities of any magnesium form.
It has less of a laxative effect than others and generally fewer side effects, making it my overall favorite, especially for those wanting to improve their sleep.
It might be a bit more expensive than other forms, but it is worth the cost.
MAGNESIUM CITRATE
Citric acid is found naturally in citrus fruits and is what gives them the sour taste. Combining citric acid with magnesium forms magnesium citrate.
Probably the most popular form of magnesium supplement and with good reason. It has good bioavailability properties and has strong sleep-promoting effects.
Not quite as strong or bioavailable as glycinate, but is often cheaper.
It does have a laxative effect at higher doses, but I’ll let you decide if that’s a good thing or not.
Overall, it’s a good choice, especially if you want a cheaper option.
Take it with water to help absorption.
MAGNESIUM CHLORIDE
This is a magnesium salt that is formed with chlorine.
It’s a solid magnesium form, with very good absorption and helps with symptoms of low magnesium and constipation.
It comes in many forms, including tablets, capsules, ointments, and creams.
Interestingly, the oral forms can increase hydrochloric acid levels in the stomach, which is useful for those who have low stomach acid levels. It also improves general digestion and absorption.
The creams might be a good option if you suffer from stomach issues with magnesium, although magnesium glycinate will often be a good alternative too.
MAGNESIUM MALATE
Magnesium that is bound to malic acid, which occurs naturally in fruits and wine.
This has pretty good absorption and fewer laxative effects than others.
It stands out from the other forms when it comes to fighting fatigue. It may help to improve ATP production, and subsequently energy production, so if you’re suffering from fatigue/low energy, this might be the form for you.
MAGNESIUM L-THREONATE
Magnesium bound to threonic acid – metabolic product of vitamin C.
It has very good absorption like the others, but this may specifically help with certain brain problems such as age-related cognitive decline and depression.
This most likely occurs due to a better ability to cross the Blood-Brain Barrier, although the extent to which it has these effects is questionable.
MAGNESIUM OROTATE
This is magnesium bound with orotic acid, which is a substance involved in DNA production.
It's similar to Magnesium Glycinate in that it has very good absorption and minimal laxative effect.
It also has slight benefits for heart health and stamina. It’s popular with some athletes and may help people with heart problems, although the evidence is limited.
It’s also more expensive, with the questionable extra benefits probably not matching up with the price.
MAGNESIUM TAURATE
Very similar to Magnesium Orotate.
Good absorption, minimal laxative effects, and potentially has other benefits (helps manage blood pressure and blood sugar).
Again, the evidence is very limited as to these other benefits, and I would say it’s probably not worth the money.
FOOD
The best option, of course.
Avocados, dark chocolate, legumes, nuts, beans, and seeds are all great sources of magnesium.
Getting your vitamins from whole foods is always the best idea, but with such a large proportion of the population deficient in magnesium, it's clear that supplements are needed in many cases.
OTHER FORMS
I chose to include all of the other forms together because, well, all of the ones that I would recommend are written above.
The others either have poor absorption and bioavailability or don’t provide any benefits than some more cost-effective options.