Dear Friends,
Today we’re reviewing a mineral getting a lot of attention, and frankly it should be on just about everyone’s supplement list.
As you may have guessed, it’s magnesium.
Here’s the issue: it’s estimated that at least 75% of adults in the U.S. fail to get the recommended daily amount of magnesium in their diet.
The RDA — or recommended daily allowance — for magnesium is around 400mg per day for adults, slightly more for men and a little less for women.
Some magnesium advocates think the 400mg RDA is too low, but as mentioned most of us fail to even reach the 400mg target each day.
That’s not just unfortunate — it’s a real health concern because magnesium helps supports the function of just about everything that happens in our bodies.
In case you don’t know, magnesium is involved in over 300 biochemical reactions in your body.
It impacts everything from your muscles and nerves to your sleep, energy levels, blood sugar metabolism, bone strength, cognitive function, and mood, and even your heart and cardiovascular health.
Why is it a Struggle to Get 400mg of Magnesium Daily from Food?
It’s the same reasons why we come up short on many other nutrients.
First, our soil has become depleted of minerals from over-farming. And second, modern diets are often heavy in processed foods that are typically lower in magnesium.
About 100 years ago, it’s believed people got around 500mg of magnesium daily through food – plenty to help our bodies function normally. Today, most people are lucky to get 150 to 300mg per day.
Some of the best food sources of magnesium include spinach, pumpkin seeds, almonds, avocados, black beans, and whole grains.
Your protein sources like meats and fish typically give you around 30mg to 50mg per serving of magnesium depending on portion size.
Looking at foods I eat regularly, most of my magnesium is coming from arugula (which I prefer to spinach), avocado, and nuts like almonds, cashews and walnuts.
I used to add pumpkin seeds to the salad I make and bring to the office for lunch each day – they are a great source of magnesium. I stopped because pumpkin seeds also have high amounts of phytates – which can hinder absorption of magnesium and other minerals.
Roasting can reduce phytate levels significantly, so I’m going to try roasted pumpkin seeds.
As far as beans and other legumes, I know they have pros and cons, but between beans and whole grains, I probably get around 3 servings in a week on average, so that adds some magnesium to my food intake.
All in, I estimate that I average around 250mg to 300mg a day, not enough, which is why I need to take a supplement.
Signals You May Not Be Consuming Enough Magnesium
If you’re dealing with sleeplessness, muscle cramps, feeling 'off' mentally, struggling to stay regular, have low energy, or even the occasional heart flutter — it may be your body waving a magnesium flag, requesting help.
And the tricky part is standard blood tests don’t always reveal a magnesium deficiency or shortfall, because only about 1% of magnesium is found in the blood.
Most of it is stored in muscles, bones, and soft tissues — so sometimes the best tool for spotting a magnesium shortfall is just listening to how your body feels.
You may be surprised how increasing magnesium intake can make a difference.
I can tell you it makes a world of a difference for my wife Beth, who suffers with nighttime leg and foot cramps.
After I tell you a little about my favorite form of magnesium for supplements, I’ll tell you more about her magnesium story.
The Best Magnesium Choice for Supplements
Our favorite form of magnesium checks all the boxes — highly absorbable, gentle on the gastrointestinal system, and effective.
It’s magnesium bisglycinate chelate.
It’s what we include in TrueMagnesium — a convenient, great-tasting drink powder featuring the Albion® magnesium bisglycinate chelate, which is made in the United States.
Now I know magnesium bisglycinate chelate is a mouthful, so let’s break it down.
This form combines magnesium with the amino acid glycine in a special chelated structure – essentially, magnesium bonded to glycine, which surrounds it.
That chelation process mimics what plants do in nature — making the magnesium easier for your body to absorb and use, and importantly, without the digestive distress you can get from other magnesium forms.
There are 2 glycine molecules used for every 1 magnesium molecule that’s the “bi” in bisglycinate chelate – so putting in all together you get magnesium bisglycinate chelate.
Importantly, magnesium bisglycinate is both soluble and fully chelated — this makes it very easy for your body to absorb and protects the magnesium from interacting with other compounds in your gut.
So for example, this helps it pass through your intestinal wall more easily, without competing with other minerals like calcium.
It’s also protected from other dietary substances that can impede absorption and bioavailability, like phytates or phosphates.
Plus, it's much less likely to cause stomach upset or loose stools — which can be a problem with other forms of magnesium.
Where Other Common Forms Fall Short
You may often see magnesium oxide in supplements — it’s one of the most common forms found in supplements, mostly because it’s cheap.
But cheap comes at a cost. Magnesium oxide is poorly absorbed and often causes gastrointestinal issues, especially at higher doses.
It’s an inorganic, insoluble form of magnesium, meaning your digestive system has to work overtime just to break it down — and consequently much of it ends up being flushed out unused.
Then there's magnesium citrate — better absorbed, but often used as a laxative. This may be fine if you’re preparing for a colonoscopy, but not the ideal way to make magnesium available for the body to use each day.
The reason magnesium citrate has a strong laxative effect is it increases acidic ions in the intestines, which increases osmotic pressure.
To dilute these ions and ease the pressure, your body releases water that results in loose stools or diarrhea. So you have be careful with magnesium citrate.
You do not have this issue with magnesium bisglycinate chelate.
It offers the best of all worlds – a highly absorbable form of magnesium that doesn’t requires your gut to do tons of prep work, no competition for absorption with minerals like calcium, and no digestive or gastrointestinal distress.
Plus, glycine — the amino acid the magnesium is bound to — has its own benefits. It helps support glutathione (your body's master antioxidant), and it's a key player in collagen formation.
Just make sure your supplement contains the magnesium bisglycinate chelate. Many supplements use a blend of magnesium and glycine, and it’s not the same.
Easy Way to Boost Magnesium Intake
Our TrueMagnesium drink powder supplement only contains magnesium bisglycinate chelate, which offers high absorption without the digestive downside.
Each scoop of TrueMagnesium gives you 200mg of magnesium. If you want to meet the full RDA of 400mg, just take two scoops per day — ideally spaced out for best absorption.
It mixes easily, tastes great with a natural berry flavor, and is sweetened with organic stevia — no sugar, no junk.
So if you’re dealing with sleep troubles, muscle cramps, mood swings, or just want to stay on top of your health, TrueMagnesium can make a big difference.
How We Take It at Home
Let me tell you a little more about how we use TrueMagnesium in the Pradelli household.
As I mentioned, Beth is very susceptible to leg and foot cramps during the night. If you’ve ever experienced these cramps, they are miserable and very painful and can wreck a good night’s sleep.
To combat this, she takes TrueMagnesium before bedtime – but it must be a regular thing, taking it every night. As mentioned earlier, your body has a lot of use and demand for magnesium, and it needs to be replenished daily.
Sometimes she’s tired and forgets, so I make the drink and bring it to her – no night’s off, and as a result no cramping.
Here’s what I do: I add 2 scoops of TrueMagnesium – that gives you 400mg of magnesium – to a glass and add about 4 ounces of water.
Now the TrueMagnesium directions say combine with 8oz of water, but there’s no magic to that number, it’s really about personal taste preference.
And since we’re taking it before bedtime, we like to limit our water intake, so it doesn’t cause any nighttime bathroom breaks.
In a perfect world, you would separate the 2 servings of TrueMagnesium and take them at different times of day. That is most optimal, but if you forget, you can combine the 2 servings at night like we do.
And to really help take your sleep to a new level, take a TrueZs capsule with your TrueMagnesium drink before bedtime, like we do.
TrueZs and TrueMagnesium is a great nighttime sleep combination!
Yours for Good Health,
Carl Pradelli
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