Magnesium?

[Sochill53_]

Have anyone tried nature bounty magnesium supplement and does it really help with mood and heart etc

[Lotterypip]

Hi Floradix Magnesium liquid formula you will find this helpful in many ways. Mood, sleep, health. Some call Magnesium the bright spark. Best wishes

[Sochill53_ in reply to Lotterypip]

Is it more effective than the pill supplement kind?

[Plucky1976]

Hi! I haven’t tried that particular supplement as I find magnesium too hard on my stomach. I did discover however, 2 cups of epsom salt in a bath for 30 - 40 minutes, 3 times per week is ideal for me. Thought I’d share in case you find it difficult to take the magnesium supplements. 😊

[Slothlike]

Hi

Firstly I would say out of all the supplements being recommended on the internet, magnesium seems to have some of the highest levels of misinformation. This appears to be because there are quite a lot of small low powered scientific studies that draw very poor conclusions and very little in the way of large scale studies. Secondly most sources of magnesium are readily available and cheap to manufacture. This leads to many rather suspect and misleading product claims being made, mainly by people trying to sell stuff.

From what I have read, I think it’s safe to say that any supplements that have mineral sources like magnesium oxide are less likely to be absorbed than organic forms like magnesium citrate due to solubility. However solubility is not the only issue at play. Your body regulates the amount that is absorbed from the gut and is designed to get what it needs from food (I.e. little and often). This means that most concentrated supplements will be pretty pointless. You should be able to absorb what you need simply by eating a varied diet containing seeds, nuts, whole grains and vegetables. There is no evidence that I am aware of that suggests that low stomach acidity affects solubility or absorption of magnesium and this feels unlikely in any case.

There are some pretty outlandish claims about intensive farming and pollution reducing magnesium in vegetables. This seems to have originated from a very poor study that misinterpreted changes in book values as a reduction in magnesium when actually it was a correction due to a poor assay method used in the early part of the 20th century. Similar to the belief that spinach has a lot of iron in it leading to the popeye cartoons (incorrect assay result).

The most likely reason for reduced magnesium intake is poor diet/food choices.

If you are worried about magnesium levels (and it is difficult to confirm status to know for sure), your best bet is to eat a varied diet replacing refined flour products with whole grain and eat more nuts and seeds (and some dark chocolate in moderation).

If you want to supplement, avoid mineral origin and be mindful that oral supplements may be mostly pointless with little proof that most of it isn’t being excreted in the faeces.

Regardless to be safe you should check the label and ensure that any supplement doesn’t exceed recommended daily amounts. I believe the brand you mentioned sells supplements that exceeds the rda (probably because they know it will never be absorbed in any significant amounts).

Sorry that’s not definitive. I could have posted a few scientific studies..but as mentioned it’s more about drawing conclusions from a number of sources and sieving this out from quite a bit of speculation/conjecture.

[Sochill53_ in reply to Slothlike]

So what magnesium supplement you recommend that's safe?

[Slothlike in reply to Sochill53_]

I wouldn’t recommend any pills since there is no solid evidence that they are absorbed or needed. I would recommend getting magnesium from foods as mentioned above.

If you want to use a supplement then your best bet would probably be organic forms like magnesium citrate. But only at levels below the reference daily intake (around 350-400mg depending upon age and gender). Putting a powder dissolved in 1.5l water bottle and sipping over a day may work? (Little and often etc).

It’s far easier (and probably more effective) to get this from food.

If you are interested in the health benefits of magnesium ...the EU has a list of approved health claims for foods which have been compiled from a panel of scientists assessing the body of scientific evidence:

ec.europa.eu/food/safety/la...

[bookish]

I found that I wasn't absorbing oral vitamins and minerals or food very well, so have been using Better You oil spray or flakes in bath/footbath. Helps me sleep, keeps me regular, improves my ability to deal with histamine, helps with pain. Made a big difference to me personally.

[Starfish123]

I started taking magnesium in 2017 as it was recommended for the thyroid. Since then my previously high blood pressure is normal and has remained so. My sleep is much better and I can stop myself becoming constipated by taking magnesium. It helps with migraines as well. For me it’s win win by taking and I have tried expensive brands and cheap brands, I now take a combination of both.

[fbirder]

All magnesium supplements have done for me is to give me the runs.

[deniseinmilden]

How long is a piece of string?

Everyone is different and we get different reactions, and levels of reaction, depending on what is wrong and why.

The best option, by far, is to get it from your diet but, if like me, you have an absorption problem which means you just can't eat enough nuts and seeds, etc, to supply the level of magnesium you require you will get a benefit from a supplement in addition to your dietary sources.

I guess a simple answer to your question about those particular pills is that if you need magnesium and your body can absorb it in the form in the pills you will get a benefit; if not you won't.

Magnesium is a particularly difficult one to call because it is available in supplements in different chemical compounds. It is also unusual as it comes in tiny molecules and so is absorbed readily through the skin as well as from the digestive system.

The chemical "types" available are, in order of effectiveness on the body,

Magnesium Oxide

Magnesium Citrate

Magnesium Sulphate

Magnesium Chloride

The Nature's Bounty ones are magnesium oxide - it says so on the ingredients label - because this is the cheapest to buy in bulk to put in the pills (so the companies make most money on it) and, because it isn't very effective, it is least likely to cause any problems and therefore complaints. They are mostly relying on the placebo effect.

If you try it and it works for you then great. If not you could try a different brand made with magnesium citrate - it might be marginally more effective.

Alternatively the cheapest and most effective option is to buy "Epsom Salts" from any supermarket pharmacy or chemist. This is sold as a constipation remedy so be warned! Don't take too much! A tiny amount should be effective and if it is too effective 👀 you can either put it in a bath or mix some granules with a little water and sponge or spray it on your skin.

Although used in animal diets, I think magnesium chloride is probably only licensed for human use for skin applications, especially as a foot and body soak, because it is so effective in the body and is safest that way. I use "BetterYou" Magnesium Flakes internally, against recommendation, because they are the purest readily available magnesium chloride and I have such a problem I need the most effective solution. BetterYou now do a whole range of skin applied products which are good if you want to go down that route but I am not specifically endorsing them and seriously do NOT eat them!