magnesium bisglycinate help, please

[JoJoloveschocolate]

I bought some mag bisglycinate capsules, looking at the label it says:

“600mg providing 120mg elemental magnesium”

Does this sound right/ok? It’s the “600mg” bit that worries me. Why two different values? 600/120

[FallingInReverse]

Magnesium bisglycinate has magnesium… and the glycinate part. The total weight includes both.

The 120 is the actual magnesium part!

edit: I also happened to read this just this morning regards to dosing, a pretty good article!

healthline.com/nutrition/ma...

[JoJoloveschocolate in reply to FallingInReverse]

Thanks, FiR! I’ve never seen this kind of dose info before. The last magnesium I had was a tablet and it just said Magnesium 375mg (i took half a tablet daily to try it, but the type of mg didn’t suit me)

[FallingInReverse in reply to JoJoloveschocolate]

I’ll have to look at my own magnesium, but I have def seen it with iron… almost all non -heme iron supplements have an elemental iron component. Off to check my magnesium!

[FallingInReverse in reply to FallingInReverse]

Looks like my label just calls it “Magnesium”but then counts the other stuff as “Magnesium Complex.”

Magnesium label

[JoJoloveschocolate in reply to FallingInReverse]

3 capsules serving size…that sounds like a lot. The article link gives the daily recommended dose as being lower. Does it depend on the type of mg?

[FallingInReverse in reply to JoJoloveschocolate]

I just did a double take on that also… but it’s just that the 3 capsules equals 270… NOT that I should take 270x3 : )

I thought the same thing.

Also remembering we do get magnesium from food ( no idea how much)

But reason I took another look is that I started at one per day, then after a few weeks started 2 per day.

And I have already dropped my melatonin and am falling asleep naturally. I’m going to ponder whether I even need the full 3 (270) a day. I prob will and see if I feel even better, but these are expensive and so if I can do just as fine on 2 ( ie 2/3 x 270) then I will.

It’s been great though actually feeling/noticing the improvement!

[JoJoloveschocolate in reply to FallingInReverse]

Ahh, yes, of course…it says “amount per serving” **quickly tries to think up an excuse for being so thick, but can’t find one…

I tried a different magnesium and slept really well but they gave me an irritable bladder so I stopped them and the irritation went away. Weird. Going to give these new ones a try but will start at 1 capsule - low and slow.

[FallingInReverse in reply to JoJoloveschocolate]

Well I had already started a post reply trying to figure out why I thought I’d been taking 540 a day lol. No excuses here just a constant need to double check everything I do these days : )

ALSO

The other thing I researched today coincidentally was whether we need to space out the doses.

It is suggested but not for the reason I thought. I thought it was like a half-life thing, which apparently it is not.

What I read was that a large single dose of magnesium can cause gastrointestinal issues. Because duh it is ultimately the original natural laxative!

So I’m not sure if irritable bladder is in that category … but if so depending on how you react it might be you can try to spread out and divide the dose to ameliorate (steering 4 hours clear of Levo of course).

I currently take one at noon and one at 4 pm. Levo/t3 at waking and bedtime.

[JoJoloveschocolate in reply to FallingInReverse]

I’m a ruthless double-checker! lol. That’s interesting about spacing the doses out - makes sense. So…just reading your reply…you split your doses of Levo too?

[FallingInReverse in reply to JoJoloveschocolate]

No - I split T3 : )

Pretty straightforward - 100 Levo upon waking with 5 T3. And an additional 5 T3 T bedtime. So supplements are between noon and 6 pm for a wide buffer.

I did earlier split T3 as 2.5 on waking plus 2.5 at noon and 5 at bedtime. As I get better overall I can make it through most afternoons without splitting. Plus I’m so tired of the complexity of all those little pill bits.

Dropping the itty bitty 2.5 T3 in favor of my single 5 pill was so simple.

Once I titrated from 75 (which was a 50 + a half of 50, then I was doing half a 100 + a quarter of a 100) to a straight 100 in a single pill it was the cherry on top!

[JoJoloveschocolate in reply to FallingInReverse]

I’m hoping to go up to the 100 single pill (from 87.5) after my blood test next week. I’ll be glad to do away with fiddly pill-cutting for a while too.

[helvella Administrator in reply to FallingInReverse]

It is entirely normal for this to be mentioned.

I've just looked at some 1000 milligram magnesium malate - which says 450 milligram elemental magnesium.

The difference in weight (technically, mass) between the dose and the elemental substance (in this case magnesium) varies hugely. The only sensible way of getting anywhere near a dose equivalence is using the elemental content.

Even that is not perfect!

The precise way it is stated does vary. But if they don't tell you, you have to revert to molecular weights, etc. And, even then, you might not know how much allowance to make - depending on things like how hydrated the product is.

[JoJoloveschocolate in reply to helvella]

Thanks, Helvella.

[helvella Administrator]

We need to find the molecular formula of magnesium bisglycinate.

C4H8MgN2O4

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magne...

And look up the atomic masses of the five elements. Then multiply the number of atoms by the atomic mass for each element. Adding them gives the total molecular mass.

If we take the mass of magnesium (24.305) and divide by the total molecular mass (172.423) that works out at 0.14096147. Which can be expressed as 14.1%

But 120 milligrams of magnesium in 600 milligrams of magnesium bisglycinate is 20%.

So there is something wrong with their number - or my working. I suspect they are wrong.

Screenshot of document showing full working.

[JoJoloveschocolate in reply to helvella]

That has blown my mind! Now the small voice in my mind keeps saying…“Elemental”, my dear, Watson…😂

[helvella Administrator in reply to JoJoloveschocolate]

As you swallow it, alimentary, my dear Watson.

I have done exactly the same for magnesium malate - and my working is very close to what it says on the pack. So I am even more sure they are wrong.

[JoJoloveschocolate]

Hahahaha!! 😂😂😂 Brilliant! I’m sure you’re right.