Thread by @BowTiedUM

How to Supplement Magnesium 101

General: Magnesium Chloride, Malate

Sleep: Magnesium Glycinate, Acetyl Taurate

Energy: Magnesium Malate

Stress: Magnesium Acetyl Taurate, L-Threonate*

Topical: Magnesium Chloride

Constipation: Magnesium Citrate

Garbage: Magnesium Oxide

How Much Magnesium Do I Need?

The RDA is 450mg of elemental magnesium

Most report significant benefits at 1000mg and even 1500mg+ elemental magnesium daily

Elemental magnesium is the actual amount of magnesium in the supplement you take

Elemental Mg Cheat Sheet

Chloride: 12% Elemental Mg
Glycinate: 14.1% Elemental Mg
Malate: 15% Elemental Mg
L-Threonate: 7.2% Elemental Mg
Acetyl Taurate: 13.85% Elemental Mg
Citrate: 16% Elemental Mg

This means for every 100mg of MgCl, you get 12mg of elemental magnesium

For every 100mg of Mag Glycinate, you get 14.1mg of elemental mag, and so forth

Sometimes the label is nice enough to tell you the amount of elemental magnesium per serving so you can avoid basic math

In this example, there is 60mg of elemental magnesium per capsule, meaning the other 340mg is glycine

This means you have to take around 8 pills to hit the RDA of 450mg, which we all know isn't optimal

In reality, you'd want 16 to 24+ pills to hit an optimal daily intake

But no one, not even @bryan_johnson is about to do that

Here are some other ways to saturate your body with magnesium without devouring handfuls of pills

1) Magnesium water

Everyone should have a bag of bulk, food grade magnesium chloride on hand

I personally like to mix 1/2 a tsp with a half liter of plain or carbonated water & sprinkle a little sea salt to provide additional flavor and electrolytes

This gives you around 360mg of elemental mag per drink, and you can drink a few of these each day

Note: @Grimhood brought up a good point. It seems that the more Mg deficient you are, the worse it tastes. I personally don't even notice the MgCl taste, but if you're struggling to get it down, you can try going down to 1/4 tsp or mixing it with juice.

2) Topical / Spray

Magnesium chloride is especially effective in topical form, meaning it absorbs through the skin and into the bloodstream

At ~95 daltons, it's well under the 500 dalton rule for transdermal absorption, so you can ignore any pop health articles that say otherwise

It's hard to calculate the exact amount of elemental mg you're getting topically, but there's no need to be that precise either

I like to do at least 4 sprays of MgCl twice per day, and estimate this gives around 100mg of elemental magnesium

Another @Grimhood pro-tip: the back of the neck is a prime spot for absorption & is overall a better location for reducing stress and anxiety

You can also take magnesium baths using magnesium chloride bath flakes, rather than Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) for superior systemic absorption

3) Diet

While it's true that tap water and foods derived from unsustainable modern agricultural practices is heavily lacking in magnesium, you can still get some magnesium directly through diet

-Dark Chocolate (look out for heavy metals)
- Avocado
- Almonds
- Brazil Nuts
- Bananas
- Pumpkin Seeds
- Fish

@mattwboyer @hubermanlab Glycinate with L Threonate or Acetyl Taurate would be synergistic - get relaxation from the glutamate receptor antagonism and glycine receptor agonism

I like glycine (if tolerable) because of its effect on lowering core body temperature, which improves sleep latency & quality

You can get the best Magnesium here:

Glycinate:


MicroMag:


L-Threonate:


Coupon Code "BIOHACKER10" for 10% off at Nootropics Depot

Spray:


Bulk Mg Chloride:
nootropicsdepot.com/magnesium-glyc…
nootropicsdepot.com/micromag-capsu…
nootropicsdepot.com/magtein-magnes…
grimmsapothecary.net/product/magnes…
amazon.com/Original-Ingre…

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