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Be warned, magnesium oxide and magnesium citrate can double as laxatives until you get used to them. I recommend starting them on a weekend where you can run to

Be warned, magnesium oxide and magnesium citrate can double as laxatives until you get used to them. I recommend starting them on a weekend where you can run to your own bathroom. For the magnesium bound to other things like glycine for better absorbability, this is usually less of an issue. Usually. Personally I just got a 4 pound bag of food grade magnesium chloride for $25 several years ago. I’ll throw a dash of lite-salt (half sodium, half potassium) and a teensy scoop (something like 1/16th-1/32rd of a teaspoon) of mag-chloride into my water bottle for electrolytes, or when I add salt to soups or something. I could very well die of old age before going through the entire bag. For the fancy kinds of mag (orotate, glycinate, etc) different people will sometimes ascribe different effects to them, ranging from stimulating in some way or sedating. Changes in dreams can also be reported. I’ll also add that a typical magnesium level reported in a blood plasma test is worthless. What actually needs to be measured is intra-cellular mag levels, because it’s possible to have plenty of magnesium hanging out in the blood, but something is preventing the cells from properly uptaking what’s available. The tests for this are hard to find and expensive last I checked years ago. At this point you are looking at levels of magnesium research I am not able or willing to commit to digging into further, so I couldn’t tell you why (may possibly be related to diabetes) or how to ultimately resolve that condition. Magnesium is one of the safest things you can supplement (unlike potassium or calcium supplementation), typically just giving you the shits long before you can reach or maintain a harmful level of intake. That said, people with kidney complications should always discuss with their doctor about adding any electrolyte, since even sodium is no longer safe to take as desired.

modeless 2y ago
Yes, there's no reason you need to swallow a bunch of giant pills to get magnesium or potassium. It's far better to just get bulk magnesium chloride and potassium chloride and mix them into drinks or food. Also, nobody should ever take magnesium oxide as a supplement. It's only useful as a laxative.
jbotz 2y ago
> magnesium level reported in a blood plasma test is worthless. This is true, and the reason is more interesting and illuminating than what you stated here. Blood magnesium levels are a significant part of how your body regulates the speed of the heartbeat... so in a normally functioning body they need to be kept pretty constant. So if you don't get enough Mg in your diet, your body will start extracting Mg from tissues and bones keep the levels in your blood high enough. But it will be missed there, because Mg plays important roles there, too, it's just that regulating your heart-beat takes precedence. This is why, if you have any doubts at all that you're getting enough Mg in your diet, it's a good idea to supplement Mg. A bit too much doesn't do any harm, but too little can cause all sorts of problems (especially neurological) but it won't show up on any simple tests as being the cause of those problems. Mg supplements, even the "fancy ones", are relatively cheap... just know that Magnesium Oxide (the most common from in cheap multi-vitamins) is very poorly absorbed and probably useless, but pretty much any other form is fine as a supplement.
- Jensson 2y ago
  > Magnesium Oxide (the most common from in cheap multi-vitamins) is very poorly absorbed and probably useless I read the opposite, the others you absorb so fast and get peed out (resulting in high magnesium in urine) while magnesium oxide gets absorbed the most since it is so much slower. But I can see everyone saying the oxide one is bad due to it not increasing magnesium in urine as much, but you don't really want to increase magnesium in urine you want to increase magnesium in your body and that is done better when absorption is slow since you don't want it all to go to your urine.
arcticbull 2y ago
Humans cannot absorb magnesium oxide. It’s a laxative, not a magnesium supplement.
- Jensson 2y ago
  Humans do absorb magnesium oxide, what nonsense are you talking bout? > However, the difference in urinary Mg2+ levels between Mg2+ citrate (7.2±1.48 mmol) and Mg2+ oxide (6.7±1.43 mmol)-although statistically significant-is marginal https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5652077/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5652077/
  - arcticbull 2y ago
    If you continue to read that section of the paper you linked, they cite several human studies that all showed how poorly magnesium oxide was absorbed relative to all the other magnesium supplementation options, especially in the Table 4 link in section 4.2.5 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5652077/table/T4/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5652077/table/T...). > Siener et al. administered 404 mg/day of magnesium oxide to healthy volunteers and analyzed the magnesium concentration in blood and urine. There was no significant change in blood concentration of magnesium, but urinary magnesium excretion increased by 40% after administration of magnesium oxide. Yoshimura et al. performed a pharmacokinetic study of orally administered magnesium oxide in rats. They showed that 85% of magnesium is excreted in feces, while 15% of magnesium is absorbed from the intestinal tract and excreted in urine. [2] > A 2017 rat study demonstrated its low absorption rate, concluding that only 15% of orally administered magnesium oxide was absorbed, while 85% was excreted in the feces. Older research suggests the absorption rate is even lower in humans [1,2] This study puts the absorption at 4%. [5] It's normally used as an antacid or laxative. > Magnesium oxide is an inorganic salt of magnesium. Even though it contains high amounts of magnesium, it has low absorbability in the body. Still, it has been shown to offer health benefits like constipation relief. [3] Oxide is among the least bioavailable form of magnesium, right down at the none-to-almost-none tier with magnesium stearate. Which is what this study comparing various supplements shows, too. [4] What I meant was that it's a waste of time due to its ultra-low bioavailability. If you're trying to supplement, pick one of the many options that your body can actually use. Unless you're constipated I guess. Yes, I know it's sold as a supplement, and included in many multivitamins. You should know that doesn't mean much, vitamins and supplements in the US are not FDA regulated and there's no real guarantee they (a) do anything or (b) are in a form that does anything. Never hurts to be polite ;) [1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28123145/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28123145/ [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7911806/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7911806/ [3] https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/magnesium-oxide https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/magnesium-oxide [4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6683096/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6683096/ [5] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11794633/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11794633/

modeless 2y ago

Yes, there's no reason you need to swallow a bunch of giant pills to get magnesium or potassium. It's far better to just get bulk magnesium chloride and potassium chloride and mix them into drinks or food. Also, nobody should ever take magnesium oxide as a supplement. It's only useful as a laxative.

jbotz 2y ago

> magnesium level reported in a blood plasma test is worthless. This is true, and the reason is more interesting and illuminating than what you stated here. Blood magnesium levels are a significant part of how your body regulates the speed of the heartbeat... so in a normally functioning body they need to be kept pretty constant. So if you don't get enough Mg in your diet, your body will start extracting Mg from tissues and bones keep the levels in your blood high enough. But it will be missed there, because Mg plays important roles there, too, it's just that regulating your heart-beat takes precedence. This is why, if you have any doubts at all that you're getting enough Mg in your diet, it's a good idea to supplement Mg. A bit too much doesn't do any harm, but too little can cause all sorts of problems (especially neurological) but it won't show up on any simple tests as being the cause of those problems. Mg supplements, even the "fancy ones", are relatively cheap... just know that Magnesium Oxide (the most common from in cheap multi-vitamins) is very poorly absorbed and probably useless, but pretty much any other form is fine as a supplement.

Jensson 2y ago
> Magnesium Oxide (the most common from in cheap multi-vitamins) is very poorly absorbed and probably useless I read the opposite, the others you absorb so fast and get peed out (resulting in high magnesium in urine) while magnesium oxide gets absorbed the most since it is so much slower. But I can see everyone saying the oxide one is bad due to it not increasing magnesium in urine as much, but you don't really want to increase magnesium in urine you want to increase magnesium in your body and that is done better when absorption is slow since you don't want it all to go to your urine.

arcticbull 2y ago

Humans cannot absorb magnesium oxide. It’s a laxative, not a magnesium supplement.

Jensson 2y ago
Humans do absorb magnesium oxide, what nonsense are you talking bout? > However, the difference in urinary Mg2+ levels between Mg2+ citrate (7.2±1.48 mmol) and Mg2+ oxide (6.7±1.43 mmol)-although statistically significant-is marginal https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5652077/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5652077/
- arcticbull 2y ago
  If you continue to read that section of the paper you linked, they cite several human studies that all showed how poorly magnesium oxide was absorbed relative to all the other magnesium supplementation options, especially in the Table 4 link in section 4.2.5 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5652077/table/T4/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5652077/table/T...). > Siener et al. administered 404 mg/day of magnesium oxide to healthy volunteers and analyzed the magnesium concentration in blood and urine. There was no significant change in blood concentration of magnesium, but urinary magnesium excretion increased by 40% after administration of magnesium oxide. Yoshimura et al. performed a pharmacokinetic study of orally administered magnesium oxide in rats. They showed that 85% of magnesium is excreted in feces, while 15% of magnesium is absorbed from the intestinal tract and excreted in urine. [2] > A 2017 rat study demonstrated its low absorption rate, concluding that only 15% of orally administered magnesium oxide was absorbed, while 85% was excreted in the feces. Older research suggests the absorption rate is even lower in humans [1,2] This study puts the absorption at 4%. [5] It's normally used as an antacid or laxative. > Magnesium oxide is an inorganic salt of magnesium. Even though it contains high amounts of magnesium, it has low absorbability in the body. Still, it has been shown to offer health benefits like constipation relief. [3] Oxide is among the least bioavailable form of magnesium, right down at the none-to-almost-none tier with magnesium stearate. Which is what this study comparing various supplements shows, too. [4] What I meant was that it's a waste of time due to its ultra-low bioavailability. If you're trying to supplement, pick one of the many options that your body can actually use. Unless you're constipated I guess. Yes, I know it's sold as a supplement, and included in many multivitamins. You should know that doesn't mean much, vitamins and supplements in the US are not FDA regulated and there's no real guarantee they (a) do anything or (b) are in a form that does anything. Never hurts to be polite ;) [1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28123145/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28123145/ [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7911806/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7911806/ [3] https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/magnesium-oxide https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/magnesium-oxide [4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6683096/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6683096/ [5] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11794633/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11794633/