3 ms·

What kind of Magnesium are you taking? There’s a huge differential of bioavailability of different magnesium types.

entangledqubit 7y ago
People mentioning their experiences here should definitely mention what form they're taking. Magnesium oxide is pretty commonly sold but it doesn't get absorbed very well - to the point where I think it should not be sold at all. I've had good experience with chelated magnesium.
- hurrdurr2 7y ago
  Exactly this. Magnesium oxide is terrible at being absorbed, people need to take chelated Mg.
- erdwick 7y ago
  IIRC, Magnesium Oxide can be useful because it's poorly absorbed, making it a better osmotic laxative than chelated forms / free magnesium. I agree it shouldn't be advertised as benefiting anything other than that though. Chelated magnesium is definitely better, I've also felt benefits from free magnesium (you can buy drink mixes w/ MgCO3 + Citric acid that fizz off CO2 when mixed).
- SirensOfTitan 7y ago
  Magnesium biglycinate and Magnesium l-threonate generally have the best effect with the least laxative side-effects (unless you want that); however, l-threonate is quite expensive because of patents, and l-threonate can have (potentially desirable, however potentially dependence building) effects of its own. One form I haven't tried or researched yet is sucrosomial magnesium, which may have superior bio-availability to both biglycinate and l-threonate with relatively reasonable pricing characteristics. I personally stopped taking magnesium a little while back, as it seems any bioavailable form pretty reliably causes insomnia for me. YMMV with magnesium, but you gotta make sure you buy it from a reliable source in a good form if you want to give it a proper chance.
kevstev 7y ago
I don't have the bottle handy with me, being at work, but I do know I did some basic research on this and its "chelated", not sure what exact type it is beyond that. Agreed though that bioavailability of any nutritional supplement is always a highly debated topic, I see that the article cites a powdered form, other comments have liquid drops.

People mentioning their experiences here should definitely mention what form they're taking. Magnesium oxide is pretty commonly sold but it doesn't get absorbed very well - to the point where I think it should not be sold at all. I've had good experience with chelated magnesium.

hurrdurr2 7y ago
Exactly this. Magnesium oxide is terrible at being absorbed, people need to take chelated Mg.
erdwick 7y ago
IIRC, Magnesium Oxide can be useful because it's poorly absorbed, making it a better osmotic laxative than chelated forms / free magnesium. I agree it shouldn't be advertised as benefiting anything other than that though. Chelated magnesium is definitely better, I've also felt benefits from free magnesium (you can buy drink mixes w/ MgCO3 + Citric acid that fizz off CO2 when mixed).
SirensOfTitan 7y ago
Magnesium biglycinate and Magnesium l-threonate generally have the best effect with the least laxative side-effects (unless you want that); however, l-threonate is quite expensive because of patents, and l-threonate can have (potentially desirable, however potentially dependence building) effects of its own. One form I haven't tried or researched yet is sucrosomial magnesium, which may have superior bio-availability to both biglycinate and l-threonate with relatively reasonable pricing characteristics. I personally stopped taking magnesium a little while back, as it seems any bioavailable form pretty reliably causes insomnia for me. YMMV with magnesium, but you gotta make sure you buy it from a reliable source in a good form if you want to give it a proper chance.

kevstev 7y ago

I don't have the bottle handy with me, being at work, but I do know I did some basic research on this and its "chelated", not sure what exact type it is beyond that. Agreed though that bioavailability of any nutritional supplement is always a highly debated topic, I see that the article cites a powdered form, other comments have liquid drops.