How much elemental magnesium is in magnesium glycinate?
Our pick for each type, capsules and powder ranked separately: Glycinate, capsules: Nature Made High Absorption Magnesium Glycinate 200 mg (60 capsules); Glycinate, powder: Thorne Magnesium Bisglycinate (60 servings); Citrate, capsules: Nature Made High Absorption Magnesium Citrate 250 mg (120 softgels); Citrate, powder: BulkSupplements.com Magnesium Citrate Powder (1 kg) (before delivery); L-Threonate: Momentous Magnesium L-Threonate (90 capsules) (before delivery). Types with no certified product are listed below. Where to buy
About 11% to 18% of it, on the 5 magnesium glycinate panels we have read that print both numbers. A bottle marked “magnesium glycinate 1,000 mg” is naming the weight of the compound. The magnesium inside it is what the Supplement Facts panel states, and on that package it is 180 mg. Both numbers are true and they are not the same number.
Every form is a magnesium salt, and each carries a different weight of other things: glycine, taurine, malic acid, threonate. So the share that is magnesium differs by form, and on the panels we have read it runs from 7.2% to 60%.
It also differs inside a single form, by more than the chemistry allows: the glycinate panels we have read run from 11% to 18%. One compound has one ratio, so a spread that wide means the labels are not all describing the same material, or not all counting it the same way. We report what each panel states and do not reconcile them, which is why the honest answer to the question in the heading is a range and not a number.
A high share is not a better supplement. This is a weight ratio computed from two numbers on one panel. It says nothing about how much of the magnesium is absorbed, which is the thing the forms are actually argued about, and which this site does not measure. It is here because the number on the front of a bottle is the one people are quoted, and it is not the number the panel states.
| Form | Share that is magnesium | Panels stating both | What one panel prints |
|---|---|---|---|
| Magnesium Glycinate | 11% to 18% | 5 | 1,000 mg of the compound, 180 mg of magnesium, on Micro Ingredients Magnesium Glycinate 1,000 mg (150 capsules) |
| Magnesium L-Threonate | 7.2% to 7.5% | 7 | 2,000 mg of the compound, 150 mg of magnesium, on Nutricost Magnesium L-Threonate, Magtein (90 capsules) |
| Magnesium Oxide | 56% to 60% | 4 | 400 mg of the compound, 240 mg of magnesium, on Micro Ingredients Magnesium Oxide (500 capsules) |
| Magnesium Malate | 15% to 20% | 3 | 2,100 mg of the compound, 420 mg of magnesium, on Nutricost Magnesium Malate (180 capsules) |
| Magnesium Taurate | 8% to 9% | 3 | 2,000 mg of the compound, 180 mg of magnesium, on Micro Ingredients Magnesium Taurate (240 capsules) |
| Magnesium Citrate | 14% | 1 | 800 mg of the compound, 112 mg of magnesium, on Double Wood Supplements Magnesium Citrate (180 capsules) |
23 of the 75 magnesium packages we track give us both figures. On 52 of the rest we hold no compound weight at all, which is what a panel printing only the magnesium leaves us with. The magnesium figure is the one that matters and is the one every price on this site is computed from. Where a front label names a compound weight that the panel does not repeat, we do not carry it: we record what the panel states.
Every figure is read from a product's own Supplement Facts panel, and each product page names the source. What this site prices magnesium against, and why, is on how we compare.
Where to buy: the pick for each type
The pick is the cheapest certified product, at the exact package sold where the certifier names packages, with no adverse finding on record, a price its retailer let us read recently, and no more than a year’s supply at the label’s serving; per delivered dose where the retailer publishes a delivery rate. Where none does, it is the cheapest such product before delivery, and it says how far the order is from free delivery. It is the same pick the category page shows.
How these lines are chosen
Among 19 products and 19 retailer listings we track; Amazon and Walmart are not included. A month is thirty doses of the size in the heading, priced the same way as the per-dose figure beside it. “Delivery known” ranks only products whose retailer publishes a delivery rate; a cheaper product with an unpublished rate is on its own line, or in the full list below.
How these lines are chosen
Among 8 products and 8 retailer listings we track; Amazon and Walmart are not included. A month is thirty doses of the size in the heading, priced the same way as the per-dose figure beside it. “Delivery known” ranks only products whose retailer publishes a delivery rate; a cheaper product with an unpublished rate is on its own line, or in the full list below.
How these lines are chosen
Among 9 products and 9 retailer listings we track; Amazon and Walmart are not included. A month is thirty doses of the size in the heading, priced the same way as the per-dose figure beside it. “Delivery known” ranks only products whose retailer publishes a delivery rate; a cheaper product with an unpublished rate is on its own line, or in the full list below.
How these lines are chosen
Among 5 products and 5 retailer listings we track; Amazon and Walmart are not included. A month is thirty doses of the size in the heading, priced the same way as the per-dose figure beside it. “Delivery known” ranks only products whose retailer publishes a delivery rate; a cheaper product with an unpublished rate is on its own line, or in the full list below. No product here publishes a delivery rate below its free-delivery threshold, so the pick is priced before delivery.
A pick has to be independently certified, at the exact package sold where the certifier names packages, and carry no recall or failed test. Nothing we track here is yet. Each of these misses at least one bar, and says which:
A pick has to be independently certified, at the exact package sold where the certifier names packages, and carry no recall or failed test. Nothing we track here is yet. Each of these misses at least one bar, and says which:
A pick has to be independently certified, at the exact package sold where the certifier names packages, and carry no recall or failed test. Nothing we track here is yet. Each of these misses at least one bar, and says which:
A pick has to be independently certified, at the exact package sold where the certifier names packages, and carry no recall or failed test. Nothing we track here is yet. Each of these misses at least one bar, and says which:
How these lines are chosen
Among 7 products and 7 retailer listings we track; Amazon and Walmart are not included. A month is thirty doses of the size in the heading, priced the same way as the per-dose figure beside it. “Delivery known” ranks only products whose retailer publishes a delivery rate; a cheaper product with an unpublished rate is on its own line, or in the full list below. No product here publishes a delivery rate below its free-delivery threshold, so the pick is priced before delivery.
A pick has to be independently certified, at the exact package sold where the certifier names packages, and carry no recall or failed test. Nothing we track here is yet. Each of these misses at least one bar, and says which:
A pick has to be independently certified, at the exact package sold where the certifier names packages, and carry no recall or failed test. Nothing we track here is yet. Each of these misses at least one bar, and says which:
Full comparison of every product in this category: Magnesium. Every question we answer: the question index.
What this rests on: prices we last recorded at the retailer named on each product page, which go stale, and each page says when it was checked; the products we track, not every product sold, and Amazon and Walmart are not among the stores; listings and labels read at the source, each linked from the page. Found an error? Tell us. The full method: How we compare.