Magnesium is a vital nutrient for your wellbeing. Low levels of magnesium can affect your mental, cardiovascular, and overall health. If your diet doesn’t provide you with enough of this essential mineral, you might look at taking a supplement. However, there are many forms of magnesium supplements, and it can be difficult to work out which form to take. This blog will help you to understand the basic differences of each form, and which may be best for your needs.

Why take magnesium?

Magnesium plays an important role within your body, irrespective of your gender, age, level of physical activity or health. However, if you have a low health status, it is probably more important that you optimise your levels with foods high in magnesium and supplements. If you follow a specific diet, or restrict / avoid certain food groups or have issues with absorption / gut problems, you may also find you’re deficient in some minerals, including magnesium. When taking a magnesium supplement, many people report benefits to their sleep, anxiety levels and blood pressure. These are also some of the common reasons people search for an appropriate magnesium, to meet their needs.

Is there a risk of magnesium deficiency?

Two thirds of us may not be getting enough magnesium in our daily diets, according to the World Health Organisation.¹  If  we want optimal amounts, rather than just enough, this rate of deficiency is likely to be higher and represents most, if not all of us. This is important as magnesium deficiency has been linked to serious common medical conditions including osteoporosis, high blood pressure, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.²

Foods that are high in magnesium

Magnesium rich foods include green vegetables, nuts, seeds, dry beans, whole grains, wheat germ, wheat and oat bran.³ However if you aren’t eating these foods as regularly as you could be, or if you have family members that are reluctant to eat these foods, you might still have suboptimal intakes. So, it may be worth supplementing your diet with a good quality magnesium product.

Which magnesium supplement is best to take?

There is so much choice! Before we consider which form of magnesium to take, we need to consider three main factors:

1. How much magnesium should you take?

Whichever form we decide on, we need to ensure that we take an optimal level. The US Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA: Average daily level of intake sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of nearly all (97%–98%) healthy individuals) for males and females 18+ is 400mg and 310mg per day.⁴ This is higher than current NHS guidelines of 300mg and 270mg.⁵ From the health literature, a daily dose of 400mg is standard and most products align to this level.

2. Would you prefer to take a tablet / capsule / liquid or powder?

Another consideration when selecting a product is the method of delivery. I.e., is the magnesium supplement in a powder, tablet, liquid, or capsule form? The choice here is really down to personal preference. You need to take magnesium regularly, so pick the method that is easiest for you.

3. What form of magnesium should you take?

The last consideration, after you have thought about dose and method, is the form. Magnesium supplements are available in a variety of forms, including ascorbate, citrate, carbonate, chloride, (Bis)glycinate, malate, threonate, oxide, taurate, L-threonate.  To make it simpler, we will consider those that are more common in supplements and briefly reference any benefits for each.