Magnesium is perhaps the single mineral with the most diverse set of benefits.
Firstly, it’s directly involved with the manufacturing of melatonin, the sleep hormone. Not only will magnesium help you to fall asleep quicker, it will improve the quality and restfulness of your sleep.
Secondly, magnesium is excellent for acne, since it increases production of glutathione. This antioxidant protects your skin from damage, and also protects muscle tissue and neurons in the brain.
Thirdly, magnesium is the best mineral for energy, since it’s vital for producing ATP, the key short term fuel of muscles. Magnesium is also a brilliant supplement for stress, manipulating neurotransmitters and reducing the stress hormone cortisol. Finally, there’s literally too many minor benefits to list here.
What’s particularly great about magnesium is that 80% of people are deficient in it – along with vitamin D, it’s the most disastrously lacking nutrient today. You therefore have a huge opportunity to improve your acne, sleep or mood, simply because you have a huge change of needing more. The wider population is slowly catching on to the glory of magnesium too…
...but that popularity has had a small downside: an explosion of cheap, ineffective, and impure supplements. Some use the wrong form of magnesium and are barely absorbed, while some contain inflammatory fillers and chemicals.
That’s why today, you will discover the 10 greatest magnesium supplements available. For a shortcut, Pure Encapsulations and NutraBio are the greatest bottles of magnesium capsules, while Ancient Minerals is a perfect, well-absorbed magnesium oil to spray onto your skin.
Let’s get started:
One – Pure Encapsulations
The bottle contains 90 capsules and each capsule contains 150mg of magnesium. There’s also a 180 capsule bottle available, which gives you a 6 month supply, or 3 months if you decide to double your dosage.
Specifically, Pure Encapsulations is in the well-absorbed magnesium citrate form. Like with zinc, it’s vital that you choose the correct form of magnesium, as some are hardly absorbed at all by the digestive tract.
Magnesium citrate consists of magnesium molecules bound to citric acid. Since citrate molecules are large, magnesium citrate contains less magnesium per weight than other forms, but more importantly, its bio-availability is extremely high. According to this 2019 study, citrate far outstripped magnesium oxide for effectiveness, resulting in higher plasma magnesium at all time points. Magnesium citrate is among the best forms of magnesium to take, and Pure Encapsulations contains it.
This brand is also pure; the only additional ingredients are vegetable cellulose, water, and ascorbyl palmitate, a type of vitamin C. Magnesium stearate is absent.
Pure Encapsulations is one of the greatest magnesium pills available today.
Amazon link: Pure Encapsulations Magnesium Citrate.
Two – Thorne Research
Importantly, it’s free from inflammatory additives: the ingredients list reads hypromellose (cellulose) capsule and medium chain triglyceride oil. Recognition of magnesium’s powers is growing rapidly these days, but the problem is that cheaper brands are sprouting up in response. Additive-filled formulas are now everywhere – you can find some brands with over a dozen ingredients.
Luckily, the ten products here are free from harsh additives, and Thorne Research is no exception. Thorne is a top quality supplement company overall, also making one of the purest lysine brands available. According to them, this magnesium is suitable for muscle support and kidney support, but any benefit of magnesium will be covered, from stress relief to dream-like sleep.
Thorne Research is another expertly produced magnesium supplement.
Amazon link: Thorne Magnesium CitraMate.
Three – Ancient Minerals
Your objective is to spray the liquid onto your body, on your chest, stomach, shoulders and arms, and allow it to absorb. The advantage? Unlike oral pills, the magnesium is absorbed directly into the bloodstream. You bypass damage during digestion, and the problem of weak digestion. Magnesium is a mineral which is particularly affected by diseases which cause poor nutrient absorption.
Ancient Minerals is magnesium chloride, a form most commonly used for topical application. It’s naturally extracted from the Ancient Sea of Zechstein, in North West Europe.
When you apply Ancient Minerals for the first time, you will feel a tingling and your skin may redden slightly; that’s a sign that your body is deficient and your skin is thirsty to absorb it. With regular usage, these sensations decline. You’ll also enjoy less acne, improved sleep, and potentially boundless energy.
Elsewhere, this brand is pure, with condensed magnesium chloride being the sole ingredient. Ancient Minerals magnesium oil is not truly an oil; its texture merely resembles one.
For the ultimate magnesium supplement, you have a clear choice: Pure Encapsulations or Superior Labs for a convenient pill, or Ancient Minerals for maximal absorption.
Amazon link: Ancient Minerals Magnesium Oil.
Four – Superior Labs
Superior Labs is also free from magnesium stearate, inflammatory fillers, and chemical preservatives. Its only ingredients are magnesium, vegetable cellulose and rice flour.
Again, Superior Labs contains the superior magnesium citrate form, rather than magnesium oxide. There’s about a dozen forms of magnesium found in supplements, but magnesium oxide is one which you need to avoid at all costs. It consists of magnesium molecules bound to oxygen and is common in cheap, grocery store supplements or multivitamins. Oxygen molecules are smaller than citrate molecules, allowing magnesium oxide to contain more magnesium by weight, but its bio-availability is terrible – just 4% in the human digestive system.
Superior Labs also succeeds with its lack of toxic heavy metals; the company specifically tests for them. It’s also a vegan supplement if that’s a requirement for you.
Superior Labs is a very hard magnesium supplement to beat.
Amazon link: Superior Labs Magnesium Citrate.
Five – NaturaLife Labs
Magnesium glycinate is essentially magnesium molecules bound to the amino acid glycine. Like citrate, its bioavailability is far superior to magnesium oxide. Again, glycine molecules are larger than oxygen, so there’s less magnesium by weight, but the gut is much more able to absorb it.
What’s more, magnesium glycinate provides you with bonus glycine, an amino acid which is excellent for acne, by helping to make glutathione and aiding sleep. Its powers are similar to magnesium itself. Additionally, NaturaLife Labs contains a patented form of magnesium glycinate which is 100% chelated, making the absorption even higher.
Elsewhere, NaturaLife’s purity is up to standard: the ingredients are magnesium glycinate, plant cellulose and rice flour. The glycinate also has a potential advantage: magnesium citrate is a mild laxative, and sensitive people may wish to avoid it. A 2013 study found that magnesium glycinate lacks this effect.
NaturaLife is another great brand of magnesium to take.
Amazon link: NaturaLife Labs Magnesium Glycinate.
Six – NutraBio
The glycinate is also in bisglycinate form, where the magnesium is attached to two glycine molecules instead of one. This is the system used for the most modern zinc supplements. As for the magnesium malate which makes up the bulk of NutraBio, a 2019 study tested 5 magnesium forms on rats, and found that malate produced the strongest plasma increase, followed by magnesium acetyl taurate.
The only other ingredient in NutraBio’s magnesium is “vegetable capsule”. NutraBio offers a 90 day refund guarantee, and comes in easy to swallow capsules, rather than hard tablets. They sell many other supplements I recommend, such as their zinc.
Whether you’re frazzled with stress or zombified by sleep deprivation, NutraBio is an excellent magnesium supplement.
Amazon link: NutraBio Reacted Magnesium Supplement.
Seven – YounGlo Research
Firstly, YounGlo Research contains magnesium glycinate, in 180 capsules. The recommended serving is two capsules daily, which combines to form 150mg of elemental magnesium. This gives you a 90 day supply, which is the perfect testing period for magnesium. The low price makes this excellent value for money, but YounGlo Research also contains 2.5mg of BioPerine per serving, to enhance the absorption.
BioPerine is a supplemental form of piperine, which itself is a phytonutrient extracted from black pepper. Piperine is famous for its power to increase the bioavailability of endless compounds; combining turmeric with piperine increases the absorption of curcumin (turmeric’s active compound) by 2000%.
By adding BioPerine, YounGlo Research could be a particularly effective magnesium supplement. Its ingredients are all in order too: just magnesium glycinate, BioPerine, the vegetable capsule, and rice flour. YounGlo Research is made in the USA and also has a 90 day money back guarantee.
YounGlo Research is among the most promising magnesium supplements available.
Amazon link: YounGlo Research Magnesium Plus BioPerine.
Eight – Divine Bounty
Divine Bounty contains magnesium citrate and is well absorbed, assuming that your digestion is working properly. The dosage is 208mg per serving or 2 capsules, or 104mg per capsule. There’s 120 capsules, and you thus receive a 60 day supply. Note that Divine Bounty contains 1300mg of magnesium citrate per serving, but the actual elemental magnesium content is 208mg; that’s an important distinction to remember, for several supplements.
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Divine Bounty meets all the requirements for being pure and non-inflammatory, lacking magnesium stearate, preservatives and unhealthy fillers. The only additives are rice concentrate and the methylcellulose capsule. Like other magnesium citrates, the sole downside is a slight risk of an upset stomach, if you’re sensitive to such things. In that case, magnesium glycinate is your glorious alternative.
All in all, Divine Bounty has no unique features, but ranks among the elite magnesium supplements.
Amazon link: Divine Bounty Pure Magnesium Citrate.
Nine – Metabolic Maintenence
Metabolic Maintenance is free from magnesium stearate, preservatives, unhealthy fillers, and allergens like soy. Its only ingredients are magnesium, vegetarian cellulose capsule, and 25mg of vitamin C.
Metabolic Maintenance is another magnesium with a bonus: vitamin C can enhance your skin tone by increasing collagen formation, prolonging your youth and increasing your glow. Vitamin C even reduces the stress hormone cortisol, combining with magnesium for a double hit.
The form of magnesium in Metabolic Maintenance is glycinate, while each capsule contains 125mg, and you receive 180 of them. Essentially, you have a 90 day supply again. The supplement comes in capsules, which are moderately sized and easy to swallow.
If you’re determined to eliminate acne, sleep deprivation or fatigue, Metabolic Maintenance is a top quality magnesium supplement.
Amazon link: Metabolic Maintenance Magnesium Glycinate.
Ten – Elite Life Nutrition
Elite Nutrition is among the better deals as well; the dosage is 200mg per serving of 2 capsules and you receive 180 capsules, for a moderate price. Take two daily and you have a 90 day supply.
Reading this, you might be wondering exactly how long magnesium takes to work. Generally, it’s a supplement you have to be patient with. For example, two of the best studies on sleep deprivation tested patients for 8 weeks. Magnesium takes time to increase in the bloodstream, and longer to exert its benefits through controlling neurotransmitters and increasing glutathione levels in the skin.
60 days is my recommended testing period, and Elite Life Nutrition fits the bill. This brand also has a 30 day refund guarantee.
Elite Life Nutrition is yet another solid brand. If magnesium is what you need, this supplement will easily succeed.
Amazon link: Elite Life Nutrition Magnesium Citrate.
Conclusion
With these supplements, your search is complete: you have ten excellent options, and several styles among them.
You have Pure Encapsulations and Superior labs as top quality, pure, well-absorbed magnesium citrate pills. If your stomach gets upset easily, you have NaturaLife Labs and YounGlo Research for equally pure magnesium glycinate.
Finally, you have the greatest supplement of all, the less convenient but maximally absorbed Ancient Minerals spray, the supplement which I use.
Impure, ineffective magnesium supplements are a dime a dozen nowadays, but this list will help you to bypass that nonsense: none of these brands contain magnesium oxide, inflammatory fillers, or any toxic chemicals.
NEXT: discover the root causes of acne and banish your pimples forever
Thanks for reading!