Supplement advice

[Steakxchips]

Hello, I was hoping for a bit of advice regarding supplementing with zinc and magnesium to assist with getting a better night's sleep.

I'm intending to take zinc 3 in 1 (41.7mg picolinate, 26.9mg citrate, 27.8mg clycinate and 2 mg copper) with magnesium 3 in 1 (1000mg glycinate, 400mg malate, 400mg citrate) approximately an hour before bed on an empty stomach to help get better quality sleep.

I'm currently taking 75mg of levo on an empty stomach every morning. I'm just wondering if there are any issues/problems with supplementing zinc+magnesium in the evening?

Many thanks

[Regenallotment Ambassador]

hi I take magnesium in the evening before bed and zinc about 2 hours after Levo in the morning.

Watch out for the magnesium citrate it can make your bowels move a bit quicker which may be a blessing (or not) 🫣 depending which way your normal is.

[Steakxchips in reply to Regenallotment]

Thank you for your reply 🙏

[PurpleNails Administrator]

Seems like a very high dose of magnesium in the 3 in 1 supplement. Plus what you have in the zinc / copper combination.

Zinc can enhance absorption of magnesium. So taking at same time is ok. Zinc & copper can become unbalanced so many also take as combination.

exceeding 350 mg Might bring you to toxic levels. Was it definitely mg?

healthline.com/nutrition/ma...

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to PurpleNails]

Sounds like Nutrition Geeks 2 capsules = 384mg Elemental Magnesium

[PurpleNails Administrator in reply to TiggerMe]

Ah, that’s sounds more plausible. So if taking 2 capsule it would meets recommended max, so the added 26.9mg citrate, 27.8mg Glycinate in other supplement would be too much.

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to PurpleNails]

I think the other is referring to Zinc 3 in 1 picolinate/citrate/glycinate

Which is a very high dose of zinc, I think the RDA is 10mg

[PurpleNails Administrator in reply to TiggerMe]

Yes you are right. Refers to Zinc forms, I read as magnesium forms. 😵‍💫

If it same brand it’s 25mg elemental, but interesting it does say 10mg is the RDA but the body typically absorb half.

[Francis_BE in reply to PurpleNails]

It will be difficult to reach a toxic intake of Mg (more than 5 g). I have been taking almost 1 g a day for years without any problems, not even intestinal ones. For reasons of cost as much as efficiency and ease, I buy it in 250 g boxes of Mg bisglycinate. Incidentally, this provides me with ± 5 g of glycine, an amino acid that should be considered essential for vegetarians and even more so for those over a certain age.

As FallingInReverse wrote below, don't take more than 25 mg of Zn per day. I read a study that said it can help with sleep to take Zn at bedtime, but your stomach has to be able to tolerate it.

[Francis_BE in reply to Francis_BE]

Health Risks from Excessive Magnesium :

ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/M...

[SlowDragon Administrator]

You can test zinc and copper here …..along with selenium

bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...

previous post showed low folate and B12

Presumably you are now taking daily B12 and separate vitamin B complex

In week before blood test, when you stop vitamin B complex, you might want to consider taking a separate folate supplement (eg Jarrow methyl folate 400mcg) and continue separate B12 if last test result serum B12 was below 500 or active B12 (private test) under 70

Have you tested vitamin D and ferritin levels

How much vitamin D are you taking

[FallingInReverse]

Research shows that daily doses of zinc should not exceed 25 mg daily to be safe and effective, so OPs dose makes sense.

See zinc dosing indicated for different conditions in this paper:

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articl...

Also - the ratio of zinc and copper is as important as the absolute amounts. They compete with eachother and deplete one another when not in balance.

There are fair amounts of zinc and copper in our daily diets, complicating how to define a supplementation program if one is needed.

As a broad guide, it is the ratio of copper to zinc that is referenced when assessing any individual’s status (and broadly one will see a 1:1 (or in the ballpark of 0.7-1.0) .

When it comes to supplementing it’s more in the ballpark of 10:1 (or in the ballpark of 8-15:1) zinc to copper.

It’s recommended you test both zinc and copper if supplementing either.

[andyjs2]

Your would be taking nearly 90mg zinc! That is huge! I know from personal experience that that high of a dose can tank your cortisol. I was mistakenly taking 100mg zinc for 3-4 months and my am cortisol dropped from the upper qtr of the range to lower third of the range and I felt extremely tired. Plus 2mg of copper is nowhere near enough to balance with that level of zinc so your copper will tank too!

[Bearo]

my magnesium capsules say to take with food and I think it can cause cramp if you take on their own (bisglycinate). Perhaps someone will correct me if I’m wrong or this only applies to certain kinds.