PlainPill

Magnesium vs ZMA for sleep

Short answer: For sleep, users rate them about the same: 88% report improvement with Magnesium (443 reports) and 87% with ZMA (116 reports).

Magnesium has 82 meta-analyses and 210 randomized trials on PubMed; ZMA has 3 and 1.

Based on 2,448 reports about Magnesium and 321 about ZMA. Not medical advice.

Magnesium
Supplement
ZMA
Supplement
Users say it helped73%helped1,004 reports · high confidence64%helped151 reports · high confidence
Verdict
Mostly positive
Mostly positive
ResearchAResearch: StrongBResearch: Moderate
Meta-analyses / RCTs82 / 2103 / 1
Mainly used for
Sleep
% reporting improvement
88% (443)87% (116)
Anxiety
% reporting improvement
90% (295)100% (2)
Mood
% reporting improvement
82% (119)57% (7)
Energy
% reporting improvement
75% (83)55% (11)
Recovery
% reporting improvement
97% (32)94% (18)
Common side effectsdiarrhea, drowsiness, stomach issues, vivid dreamsvivid dreams, drowsiness, stomach issues, depression
Typical dose reported500 mg / daily30 mg zinc, 450 mg magnesium, 10.5 mg B6 / nightly
Magnesium
Latest review conclusion

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 ↗
What a user said
“Fixing my magnesium deficiency was life-changing. No more headaches, brain fog, sleep issues, back pain, or blood flow issues.”
Full Magnesium profile →
ZMA
Latest review conclusion

IOI improved the adequacy of the procedure and led to a better postoperative appearance, especially for patients with variable ZMA fractures. Furthermore, the use of IOI avoided the risk of secondary surgery. In future studies, researchers should standardize the scale and outcomes to facilitate the intuitive evaluation of reduction adequacy.

J Oral Maxillofac Surg, 2023 ↗
What a user said
“The only thing that is affordable and has seemed to help me is ZMA. I only have the anecdote that ZMA seemed to improve sex drive, sleep, dreams, erectile quality when I first t began taking it at age 18.”
Full ZMA 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