What if Label Just Says "Magnesium Glycinate"?

After a bunch of research in here I understand we want to look for amino acid chelated forms of magnesium glycinate - specifically Albion patent products. I found a magnesium product that looks good except all it says on the label is: magnesium (as magnesium glycinate). There is 120mg of it per capsule. This is the link to the product:
[www.pureencapsulations.com]

Would this be a good magnesium product to consider even without the Albion patent? Without the Albion designation what does that mean exactly? I'm still confused about all the different forms of magnesium. Are there forms of magnesium glycinate that aren't amino acid chelated? Since this doesn't say Albion on it, it probably isn't a good product, right?

Travis

Hi Travis,

I've used KAL brand magnesium glycinate for 10 years successfully. I currently consume magnesium from a number of sources - mag chloride solution I make from Nigari (mag chloride that the Japanese use to coagulate tofu <[www.naturalimport.com] 1/2 cup in 2 liters of water, from memory 900 mg mag/125 ml of the water), an Albion dimagnesium malate powder product that I purchase from an equine supplier <[shop.performanceequinenutrition.com] ~1/2 tsp = 1,000 mg mag (from memory) magnesium bicarbonate as Waller Water concentrate <[www.afibbers.org] 150 mg mag/100 ml solution

I take so much, I don't see huge differences between products, but that doesn't mean you won't...

George

Travis -
The Albion patented amino acid chelate process uses a pharmaceutical grade magnesium and that mineral (magnesium) ion is chemically bonded by a chelating process to a protein or amino acid ligand (glycine) and that bond is a tightly formed ring that withstands the influences of stomach acid and gastric enzymes that otherwise separate the two elements of compounds such as (plain) magneisum glycinate, magnesium malate, magnesium chloride, magnesium citrate, magnesium sulfate and so on.

Yes, of course you can use the 'unchelated' magnesium glycinate. Glycine, itself, has beneficial properties. The main point is that when minerals are unchelated and when they are in the environment of stomach acid and gastric enzymes, they break down into separate elements and can then combine with other elements which may not necessarily gain easy access to the cells interior. That doesn't mean that some magnesium doesn't reach the target. It's just that you may have to take a lot more of the non-chelated to achieve the effect we want for NSR and the amino acid chelated version offers the best possible chance to accomplish that without reaching bowel tolerance or laxation issues as rapidly as you might with a compound such as magneisum glycinate or magnesium malate.

Much will depend on your bowel tolerance level. The Albion chelated version is far less likely to cause laxation at higher doses than the non-chelated versions. People using magnesium citrate, as an example, will reach laxation more rapidly and may have the illusion that they are optimized intracellularly, where in reality, they may still be deficient.

The only way you'll really know the efficacy of your dosing and which product works is to have the intracellular measurement of all the electrolytes... by Exatest..... and of course, if your heart remains stable... as George does with continual optimizing of daily magnesium supplement intake.

And remember, the dosing is not a standard or static thing. Many influences deplete IC magnesium quickly... stress is a huge factor as are Rx drugs for depleting, so this is a highly individual requirement thing... no one size fits all approach works here. We are all experiments of one, as we are fond of saying.

Jackie

I take 300 mg of chelated magnesium a day (Dr. Best Brand) in the morning and then approx. 800 mg og Magnesium Citrate(The NOW brand) a day. If I am constipated because of diet, I will take Magnesium oxide.

I know of no magical way to determine if what I take is sufficient. You ask a Doctor around here where I live about a Exatest and they look at you like a Deer looks into Headlights at night; Confused.

I try and take to Bowel tolerance. My wife takes 300 mg of chelated magnesium a day at bedtime and it has eliminated her cramps in her legs(calfs and toes) at night.

smackman...isn't that crazy that doctors don't know what an Exatest is? It's crazy.

Travis

David and Travis..... it's not at all unusual that doctors don't know about the Exatest. Here in NE Ohio we have a huge population of doctors and three major hospital systems but few functional medicine/holistic type practitioners.

In order to get my first Exatest, I used my chiropractor who was a Medicare provider so he just ordered in the kit for me and I did the collection samples myself, sent back, and the results were sent back to him. Later, I asked my Primary Care Physician who is a D.O. and more attuned to accepting my preference for treating with nutritional interventions if he would order the Exatest... he said it was not in his list of approved tests for ordering. I was dumbfounded because it had nothing to do with being processed by the Cleveland Clinic... just that he was writing a script for me to receive the kit... they wouldn't not have had to handle any of it. So, then, I had to educate my FM MD about why I wanted the test and she did order it.

When we first started looking into Exatest, I called them and learned that while some insurers do cover it, and Medicare definitely covers it, others without insurance or those who just want the test and are not going to submit an insurance claim, can order the test themselves and pay cash. The kit would be sent to them... or at least that's how it worked back then which is probably 10 years ago. The cash payment then was $250 and I believe it's now $275. Otherwise, the cost of the test is over $500 as billed to Medicare or other insurance.

Jackie