Magnesium vs Probiotics for digestion
Short answer: For digestion, users rate them about the same: 83% report improvement with Magnesium (29 reports) and 81% with Probiotics (63 reports).
Magnesium has 82 meta-analyses and 210 randomized trials on PubMed; Probiotics has 2,293 and 2,235.
Based on 1,893 reports about Magnesium and 386 about Probiotics. Not medical advice.
| Magnesium Supplement | Probiotics Supplement | |
|---|---|---|
| User score | 51 | 44 |
| Verdict | Mostly positive | Mostly positive |
| Positive of reports that state an outcome | 72% | 61% |
| Reports | 1,893 | 386 |
| Research | AResearch: Strong | AResearch: Strong |
| Meta-analyses / RCTs | 82 / 210 | 2,293 / 2,235 |
| Mainly used for | ||
| Appetite % reporting improvement | 100% (2) | 100% (3) |
| Focus % reporting improvement | 77% (39) | 70% (10) |
| Energy % reporting improvement | 75% (73) | 78% (9) |
| Sleep % reporting improvement | 87% (331) | 71% (7) |
| Anxiety % reporting improvement | 89% (226) | 89% (27) |
| Mood % reporting improvement | 80% (99) | 100% (48) |
| Memory % reporting improvement | 100% (7) | — |
| Performance % reporting improvement | 87% (15) | — |
| Recovery % reporting improvement | 96% (24) | — |
| Pain & inflammation % reporting improvement | 91% (33) | — |
| Digestion % reporting improvement | 83% (29) | 81% (63) |
| Libido % reporting improvement | 62% (13) | — |
| Hormones % reporting improvement | 91% (22) | — |
| Blood sugar % reporting improvement | 100% (3) | — |
| Heart & lipids % reporting improvement | 95% (22) | — |
| Skin & hair % reporting improvement | 100% (2) | 100% (5) |
| Immunity % reporting improvement | 86% (7) | 100% (2) |
| Longevity % reporting improvement | 100% (3) | — |
| Common side effects | diarrhea, drowsiness, stomach issues, vivid dreams | stomach issues, brain fog, diarrhea, withdrawal |
| Typical dose reported | daily | daily |
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.”
Some combinations of probiotics or strains may be beneficial in IBS. However, certainty in the evidence for efficacy by GRADE criteria was low to very low across almost all of our analyses.
Gastroenterology, 2023 ↗“What finally made a difference was taking probiotics...I felt better fairly quickly.”
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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