Magnesium vs Magnesium Citrate for digestion
Short answer: For digestion, more users report improvement with Magnesium — 83% of 29 reports, versus 68% of 40 for Magnesium Citrate.
Magnesium has 82 meta-analyses and 210 randomized trials on PubMed; Magnesium Citrate has 14 and 135.
Based on 1,893 reports about Magnesium and 357 about Magnesium Citrate. Not medical advice.
| Magnesium Supplement | Magnesium Citrate Supplement | |
|---|---|---|
| User score | 51 | 60 |
| Verdict | Mostly positive | Mostly positive |
| Positive of reports that state an outcome | 72% | 65% |
| Reports | 1,893 | 357 |
| Research | AResearch: Strong | AResearch: Strong |
| Meta-analyses / RCTs | 82 / 210 | 14 / 135 |
| Mainly used for | ||
| Appetite % reporting improvement | 100% (2) | — |
| Focus % reporting improvement | 77% (39) | 56% (9) |
| Energy % reporting improvement | 75% (73) | 67% (12) |
| Sleep % reporting improvement | 87% (331) | 86% (74) |
| Anxiety % reporting improvement | 89% (226) | 88% (50) |
| Mood % reporting improvement | 80% (99) | 72% (25) |
| Memory % reporting improvement | 100% (7) | 33% (3) |
| Performance % reporting improvement | 87% (15) | — |
| Recovery % reporting improvement | 96% (24) | 100% (2) |
| Pain & inflammation % reporting improvement | 91% (33) | 100% (5) |
| Digestion % reporting improvement | 83% (29) | 68% (40) |
| Libido % reporting improvement | 62% (13) | — |
| Hormones % reporting improvement | 91% (22) | — |
| Blood sugar % reporting improvement | 100% (3) | — |
| Heart & lipids % reporting improvement | 95% (22) | 80% (5) |
| Skin & hair % reporting improvement | 100% (2) | — |
| Immunity % reporting improvement | 86% (7) | — |
| Longevity % reporting improvement | 100% (3) | — |
| Common side effects | diarrhea, drowsiness, stomach issues, vivid dreams | diarrhea, stomach issues, drowsiness, fatigue |
| Typical dose reported | daily | 400 mg / every night |
This review confirms that the quality of literature is substandard for physicians to make well-informed recommendations on usage of oral magnesium for older adults with insomnia. However, given that oral magnesium is very cheap and widely available, RCT evidence may support oral magnesium supplements (less than 1 g quantities given up to three times a day) for insomnia symptoms.
BMC Complement Med Ther, 2021 ↗“after supplementing with 400mg of Magnesium daily. Winter blues hit me hard and my multivitamin wasn't doing any justice, but once I began supplementing Magnesium, everything changed.”
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 ↗“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.”
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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