Best Magnesium for Sleep? Glycinate vs Citrate vs Oxide

People google magnesium for sleep, they buy the cheapest bottle then say it doesn't work and a lot of the time you've bought the wrong form. My name is Sarah Jeffries, I'm a registered nurse with a master's in nursing and this is for educational purposes only. I'm not your nurse and before we go on, if you have kidney disease, take meds or you're pregnant, talk to your doctor before starting any new supplements. Magnesium is involved in hundreds of enzyme reactions from energy in your cells, your muscles, your nerve function, how wound up your nervous system feels. It helps you for sleep, it helps your brain and it also supports the calm side of the nervous system. It is hard to test in your blood system. Most magnesium sits inside of your cell and only a tiny fraction is in the blood. A normal serum level does not mean you're topped up at the cellular level and it doesn't mean a supplement will knock you out either. So my bloods were fine, that isn't the end of the story. So when you're looking at supplements, remember that it always comes attached to something. You never buy pure magnesium metal. It's always bound to something like oxide, citrate, glycine, threonate. Now that partner changes how magnesium is absorbed in your system. So it's the same mineral just attached to something different that helps it do a different job. So let's start with the worst one in my opinion first. This is oxide. This is crammed into cheap pills because the number on the label looks big and absorption is poorer compared to other organic forms. Now a lot of this stays in the gut, your body can't actually absorb that much magnesium and what happens it pulls water into your gut and acts like a stool softener. Now it's also common in older research which is one reason why study results on magnesium can look quite mixed. Now for sleep I would say skip it but that's just my opinion, this is for educational. so next let's skip on to magnesium chloride now you'll find this often used on the skin it can be used as a bedtime muscle rub for some people i wouldn't count it as your main way to fix low magnesium but if you like it for cramps before bed it's really common and a comfort tool but not for a full sleep strategy next we've got magnesium citrate this is better absorbed than oxide in human studies and this is also an osmotic agent meaning that it pulls water into your gut and loosens your stools. Some people use this when constipation is also part of the picture and they need help sleeping. Now, if you took citrate for sleep and spent the night in the bathroom, that's what it does. Now we've got magnesium malate. This is often positioned for energy and sore muscles, more of a daytime fatigue than a first line of sleep aid, but very common and really good for those sore muscles. Then we've got magnesium threonate. This is more marketed for the brain and cognitive support because it affects their magnesium in the nervous system differently. Interesting, this one's usually pricey, but this is not the default. Don't buy it because you just see brain on the bottle. There's other options out there. Now, if you're looking for sleep goals, you've got glycinate or bisglycinate. I can't pronounce that word. You'll see it on the screen. This is the one that is dominating research for a reason. This is generally well absorbed and gentler on the gut, less laxative effect for many people. Now glycine interestingly helps drop the body temperature, which is what you need to fall asleep. So for sleep and stress wired evenings, this is the form that I'd look to. But remember, it's still not a sleeping pill. Now two quick other ones you might see in the CVS aisle, taurate and orotate. They show up for heart and metabolic conditions, differently in serum levels unless your doctor tells you too. Now, because we're talking about magnesium, let's mention food. So adult food to get your full dose needs roughly 300 to 320 milligrams for women, 400 to 420 for men. And it's really hard to get that from just your diet. And it's also really hard to measure how much you've got in your system. So listen to your body. And if you're feeling like you might benefit from magnesium, talk to your doctor first. Like I said, if you have any medical conditions, especially if you have kidney disease, do not self-dose. Also, if you have osteoporosis medication, magnesium can block the absorption of many different medications. So please check the label, talk to your doctor and do your own research around this. Another thing when you're looking at the bottles, try and look for something that's third-party tested. This shows that you can trust the brand that you're buying. And not forgetting, if you're struggling to sleep, dark, cool room, consistent schedule, morning sunlight less alcohol that's not going to put you to sleep and remembering that the form of the magnesium matters I hope this video helped and if you're interested to know a few foods that will give you that little bit of natural dose of magnesium click here where I go over some simple foods that will help you sleep because they've got magnesium in click here and watch this one next