Supplementing magnesium is one of the easiest wins you can have in your health journey.
Not only is it relatively affordable, accessible and usually comes in forms that taste great – it can make you feel like a million bucks when you wake up after a hard workout.
30% of adults are estimated to be deficient in magnesium – so this is one of the areas where supplementing the item makes absolute perfect sense.
What Is Magnesium?
Magnesium is a naturally occurring mineral.
It’s very common on red meat, fish, some fruits and seeds.
That said – due to the processed nature of most people’s diets – a huge chunk of the population is deficient in this super important mineral.
Magnesium is incredibly helpful for athletes and other high performance humans when it comes to sleep, recovery and muscle growth.
What’s the Recommended Dose of Magnesium?
The recommended daily dose of magnesium is 200-400mg/day. Make sure whatever supplement you choose has an efficacious dose.
Types of Magnesium
There’s several forms of magnesium. The type magnesium you take will range the bioavailability, and effective dosage. Some of the most
The Most Common Magnesium Forms
Magnesium Citrate
One of the most common forms of magnesium, magnesium citrate is both bioavailable and soluble in liquid. This makes for easy mixing for drinks and is one of our favorite ways to take magnesium.
Magnesium Gluconate
Considered by some to be the most bioavailable form of magnesium – gluconate is not as
Magnesium Oxalate
Lower bioavailability. While it contains more elemental magnesium – it is often difficult for the body to absorb and is used more often for a laxative.
Magnesium Dihydroxide
Again, not used nutritionally, but for laxative purposes.
Other forms of magnesium:
Magnesium Glycinate
There’s a form of magnesium glycinate that is becoming more popular called “magnesium bisglycinate” – this is the same compound but with two glycine molecules. It’s a patented version of this compound and tough to source as of the 2020-2022 supply chain concerns.
Magnesium Sulfate
Magnesium Chloride
Magnesium Threonate
Magnesium Threonate has become popular from Dr. Andrew Huberman’s love of the compound. It’s ability to cross the blood-brain barrier is indeed interesting, but it’s a relatively new compound and there needs to be more studies to see just how much more effective this form is than others (but we think all forms of magnesium are awesome either way). Impossible has a great breakdown on l-threonate here.
Benefits of Magnesium
Some of the proven benefits of magnesium include:
- Significant decrease in blood pressure
- Reduction in asthmatic symptoms
- Moderate regular of insulin and increase in insulin sensitivity
- Imppovement in aerobic exercise + muscle oxygenation
- Decrease in migraine symptoms
- Decrease in PMS symptoms
- Improvement in sleep quality
- Slight reduce depressive symptoms
- Slight increase in bone mineral density.
Magnesium is one of the easiest “no-brainer” supplements we recommend and most adults are woe-fully under-supplemented on this front.
Our Top 5 Magnesium Supplements (ranked)
So you want to start taking Magnesium? Here are the best ones we’ve found:
Calm
Cost: $23.95
Servings: 56 (2 teaspoons each)
Magnesium per serving: 325mg
Type of Magnesium: Magnesium carbonate
Form: Powder
Maybe the industry leader when it comes to magnesium for sleep – Calm by Natural Vitality is one of the best.
Each serving is 325mg of magnesium carbonate. Flavored with natural flavors and stevia – Natural Calm is one of the best tasting drink mixes we’ve tried. If you don’t like stevia – you might have a hard time here, but we’ve found most people enjoy this.
→ Buy Calm Magnesium by Natural Vitality.
Thorne Bisglycinate
Cost: $40
Servings: 60 Scoops
Magnesium per serving: 200mg
Type of Magnesium: Magnesium glycinate
Form: Powder
A magnesium glycinate product from Thorne – they call it “bisglycinate” since there are two glycine molecules attached (two=bi).
Everything Thorne does Is solid and there’s no exception here – it’s even NSF Certified which is helpful if you’re an athlete. Sweetened with monk fruit – so if you’re not a fan of the flavor – that might be a deal breaker.
→ Buy Thorne Bisglycinate Magnesium
MagTech
Cost: $34.95
Servings: 60 Scoops
Magnesium per serving: 200mg
Type of Magnesium: Magnesium glycinate, taurate, l-threonate
Form: Pill
MagTech is a custom blend of magnesium taurate, magnesium glycinate, and magnesium l-threonate.
We like that in their “blend” they break down the quantities of each form of magnesium so you know exactly what your’e getting.
Natural stacks is super transparent with their ingredient which means they’re one of our favorites.
→ Buy MagTech Magnesium
MagTech Magnesium Lemonade Drink
Cost: $44.96
Servings: 20 stick packs (1 stick per serving)
Magnesium per serving: 200mg
Type of Magnesium: Magnesium glycinate, taurate, l-threonate
Form: Powder
While the pills are cheaper, this is our preferred method of MagTech. That said, the lemonade flavor is not as good as the calm product. The quality is just as good though – so if you’re looking for another option – take a peek at this one.
→ MagTech Magnesium Lemondade
Magnesium Breakthrough
Cost:$40
Servings: 60 capsules (2/serving)
Magnesium per serving: 500mg
Type of Magnesium: Magnesium chelate, bisglycinate, oxide, malate, orotate, taurate, citrate
Form: Pill
Magnesium breakthrough’s claim to fame in that they contain all 7 forms of magnesium. Now, what they don’t tell you is what quantities they’re all in. It’s sold as a “blend” so in some ways that’s actually less helpful as different form of magnesium contain different elemental levels of magnesium and are differently absorbed by the body.
Overall, this seems to be high quality and the reviews are solid, but don’t buy totally into the 7-in-1-claims like they want you to :).
→ Buy Magnesium Breakthrough
IMPOSSIBLE Sleep
Cost: $50
Servings: 30/container
Magnesium per serving: 350mg
Type of Magnesium: Magnesium citrate
Form: Drink mix powder
Impossible Sleep is a magnesium supplement, but it’s more than just a magnesium supplement. It’s a performance drink mix designed for elite athletes and high performers. Designed to the specs of the famous “Andrew Huberman sleep cocktail.“
IMPOSSIBLE backs up their formula with gobs of research and the final product is a nice evening “sleep queue” to turn the lights down, chill out and start your bedtime routine.
You might not want to go back to your regular old magnesium supplement after this.
Read more about Impossible Sleep here.
-> Purchase the impossible sleep drink mix here.
Magnesium Side effects
One word of warning when it comes to magnesium – excessive intake can cause digestion and gastronomical distress.
Be careful not to drastically raise your magnesium levels too quickly (or if you do, just be sure that you’re close to a bathroom). Thank us later :).
References & Sources
Other sources + citations we’ve referenced throughout this article:
