PlainPill

Magnesium Citrate vs Magnesium Malate for sleep

Short answer: For sleep, users rate them about the same: 86% report improvement with Magnesium Citrate (74 reports) and 83% with Magnesium Malate (12 reports).

Magnesium Citrate has 14 meta-analyses and 135 randomized trials on PubMed; Magnesium Malate has 0 and 0.

Based on 357 reports about Magnesium Citrate and 139 about Magnesium Malate. Not medical advice.

Magnesium Citrate
Supplement
Magnesium Malate
Supplement
User score6062
Verdict
Mostly positive
Mostly positive
Positive
of reports that state an outcome
65%82%
Reports357139
ResearchAResearch: StrongDResearch: None
Meta-analyses / RCTs14 / 1350 / 0
Mainly used for
Focus
% reporting improvement
56% (9)100% (4)
Energy
% reporting improvement
67% (12)96% (28)
Sleep
% reporting improvement
86% (74)83% (12)
Anxiety
% reporting improvement
88% (50)64% (11)
Mood
% reporting improvement
72% (25)100% (5)
Memory
% reporting improvement
33% (3)—
Performance
% reporting improvement
—100% (6)
Recovery
% reporting improvement
100% (2)100% (6)
Pain & inflammation
% reporting improvement
100% (5)100% (3)
Digestion
% reporting improvement
68% (40)100% (2)
Heart & lipids
% reporting improvement
80% (5)—
Common side effectsdiarrhea, stomach issues, drowsiness, fatiguestomach issues, anxiety, indigestion, drowsiness
Typical dose reported400 mg / every night1600 mg / every morning
Magnesium Citrate
Latest review conclusion

This systematic review provides Grade C (possibly effective) evidence for prevention of migraine with magnesium. Prophylactic treatment of migraine by means of high levels of magnesium dicitrate (600 mg) seems to be a safe and cost efficient strategy in clinical use.

Headache, 2018 ↗
What a user said
“Magnesium citrate is the bees knees for me. I know everyone man and his dog always talks about it but it does seriously help with sleep onset for me personally.”
Full Magnesium Citrate profile →
Magnesium Malate
What a user said
“malate is a much better option for me (though stil gives me some energy, just not the panic/sense of dread that glycinate does)”
Full Magnesium Malate profile →

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Percentages come from first-hand user reports and are not clinical outcomes. Talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or combining anything. How we rate