Magnesium... what's in your supplement? - continued

In addition to the initial thread on this topic, here's another eyeopener:

I saw in the current Life Extension magazine, a full page ad for their magnesium product and decided to check out the labeled ingredients at their website... which indicated 1 capsule contained:

500 mg Magnesium (as magnesium oxide, citrate, succinate, TRAACS® magnesium lysyl glycinate chelate)

Other ingredients: vegetable cellulose (capsule), vegetable stearate, silica, maltodextrin, microcrystalline cellulose, citric acid. TRAACS® is a registered trademark of Albion Laboratories, Inc.

So based on what we've been discussing about magnesium oxide and other added components, I called their customer advisor support group...and BTW... they are most efficient and courteous and certainly willing to provide help so I found exactly what I wanted to know... actually, I was surprised I received as much info as I did. Here's the breakdown:

98% of the product is the oxide form of magnesium and that amounts to

481.25 mg magnesium oxide
Also included
6.25 mg magnesium citrate
6.25 mg magnesium succinate
6.25 mg magnesium lysl glycinate chelate... !!!! 6.25 chelate.

Now.. note they do not advertise this product as a chelated version... in fact the support rep commented he didn't understand why they didn't label it Mag oxide.

This makes it quite understandable for people reading about the importance of magnesium for heart health and other ailments...and then they find this bargain... 500 mg in 1 capsule and after using a bottle or two, decide that magnesium really isn't helping whatever they were trying to support or reverse. That's how nutrients get bad reputations for not helping. I have often heard afibbers say they have taken tons of magnesium and don't think it helps...and when I learn the form ... things like this crop up and prove once again, that the magnesium has to be the form that 1) actually is absorbed easily by the body and 2) can be transported across the cell membranes to the cells' interiors.

Now that we are on alert for citric acid... doesn't this make us wonder if that used in Mag Citrate such as Natural Calm might be that to which Larry alerted us?

FYI,
Jackie


Original Jan. 05, 2015 - [www.afibbers.org]

Hey Jackie,

According to this site: "Natural Calm is made from sea sources of magnesium. The citric acid in the formula comes from non-GMO sugar beets and all organic ingredients are used in its flavored varieties. Natural Calm comes in 8oz containers or boxes of individual packets." <[breakingmuscle.com] Though I don't use it today, I have used Natural Calm in the past and have found it effective in keeping myself in rhythm.

George

Disappointing........

[www.huffingtonpost.com]

Geez....this stuff is like trying to break the devinci code! So based on a past article I invested in Swanson Albion Chelated Mag Glycinate which list as its ingredient TRACCS Mag bisglycinate chelate 400 mg. Does this mean it prob breaks down into better part mag oxide and useless??

We should just generate a final purchase list of what minerals and brands are a buy and what are a do not buy

I sent you a PM also Jackie thanks for your help.
Tim

Hi tsco,

I seriously doubt the a product you bought labeled as TRACCS chelated Mag Bisglycinate would have anything more than very small amounts of oxide in it, it that.

That particular Life Extension version of magnesium Jackie discusses above was not labeled and advertised as chelated Magnesium, as I understand her report, and while it would have been much better to just clearly label it mag oxide on the bottle, I don't see any outright fraudulent attempt at deception in that case by claiming it to be one thing like chelates TRAACS bisglycinate only to have mostly all mag oxide instead which would be truly deceiving.

With regard to buying supplements at big chain stores noted for discounted budget products .. The well established and recommended advice at many of the functional medicine/BHRT conferences I have attended is to NOT shop at such stores for nutritional supplements. And especially don't go for regular in your rebranding of some bulk supplements no doubt used in a multitude of other discount fire sale versions of the same nutrient or herbal formula.

It's best ., typically ... to try and stick with the better known brands from dedicated GMP rated supplement companies, and steer clear of these big box store-like rebranded versions made who knows where.

To save money try to shop at places like Iherb.com, vitacost and some other dedicated supplement brand name online retailers who can generally cut the costs down some by economy of scale while delivering a full array of theirs respected supplement brands in the business.

The many benefits we have of not having a strongly regulated nutritional market in the form of a tremendously greater variety of supplements being brought to market and at more solid effective dosage ranges than would be the case if the FDA got its paws on the field, requires that the consumer become better informed and more discriminating in what products they do buy in order to have better confidence they are getting what they expect to be getting.

At the same time , it's up to the major players in his field to step up their already active 'self-policing' of their multi billion dollar industry as well. But I wouldn't be too concerned that your Swanson chelates Mag was really just Mag oxide.

Shannon

The Huffington report is not surprising. There are many reputable supplement bottlers that are reliable and we know them by Brand names.... but they are typically not found at Target, WalMart... etc. Cheaper is not necessarily better when it comes to nutritional supplements... and this report just verifies what has been known all along about quality control and bottlers who just buy 'stuff' off-shore and slap their house brand label on it. No checking for purity, content, etc. When you buy a cheap product that is virtually worthless, that's an expensive product by comparison.

Reliable nutritional supplement brands are abundant. Typically, you'll find them at places like local health food stores or online at iHerb, Willner Chemists and selectively at other outlets such as VitaCost or Swansons...but you have to know the brands to avoid as well and also know the forms of the various nutrients that are actually effective rather than just taking up space and appearing on an ingredient list.

Companies such as Natural Factors, Enzymatic Therapies, Carlsons, Nordic Naturals, Solgar, Source Naturals, Thorne, Nutricology.... just a few that come to mind out of many.... are reliable because they have formal operations that check for quality assurance and produce to GMP standards.

Become a label reader to check the fine print to determine the added ingredients you may not want to be consuming on a regular basis that may be used as fillers or bulking agents... especially if the product is very inexpensive by comparison to other top brands.

Jackie

I'm with tsco. Right now I'm using both Doctor's Best and Seeking Health magnesium, trying to stave off the fibs that became all too frequent when I stopped using the old Bluebonnet formula.

It would be great to just have a list of 5-6 different brands, what's in them that works, and doesn't work.
Nancy

that would really benefit everyone

I use Dr. Best chelated magnesium and NOW Magnesium Citrate. I will also use Magnesium Oxide at bedtime for constipation.

My regiment is usually 300 mg of Dr. Best chelated magnesium at 7AM; 400 mg of NOW Magnesium Citrate at 1PM and 1000 mg of Phillips Milk of Magnesia tablets at bedtime.

It works for me; I do have to adjust sometimes depending on what I eat but generally the above regiment works for me and I have had Cather ablation by Dr, Natale almost a year ago. I use magnesium for the Health benefits and my bowels let me know when I need to adjust.

Jackie's questioning of the citric acid in Natural Calm is reasonable, and something which for those of us who affirm the importance of quality ingredients should be doing regularly with all food and supplement products. The deeper one delves, the greater the surprises to the downside quite often become.

So happens that the citric acid in Natural Calm was at one time derived from corn, but by February 2013 only it's Kids Calm Magnesium/Calcium still was being manufactured with corn, and it was soon to be switched from corn to sugar beets. Sugar beet currently used in Natural Calm is marketed as GMO free, and the citric acid is purchased from the Citrique Belge Tienen Company in Belgium.

For me the fog has not cleared just because corn is replaced by sugar beets. I personally have not used Natural Calm so have no personal experiences to drawn from and for which to share. What I can share is that I have spoken with a representative of Natural Vitality about their Natural Calm and have also forwarded and e-mail to the Citrique Belge Tienen Company regarding the citric acid they provide to Natural Vitality. The citric acid manufacturing process at the Citrique Belge Tienen plant follows the industrial production processes which we read about in the earlier thread on this forum, beginning with the use of Aspergillus Niger mold applied to the sugar source. [www.citriquebelge.com]

My understanding is that the Aspergillus Niger mold has itself, prior to application to the sugar source (corn, sugar beet, etc.) undergone many re-engineering modifications over the decades in order to enhance citric acid production while decreasing any unwanted byproducts. Many generations of genetic modifications have occurred to the mold to get it ready for economics of scale required for mass production of citric acid. So, even with a non-GMO beet, we have a genetically modified mold used at the beginning of the manufacturing process.

A little background on USA sugar beet production. Corn and sugar beets are two of the most used GMO commodities. Around 2008 US genetically modified sugar beet seed usage became mandatory with the use of Roundup Ready genetically modified seed varieties by Monsanto. There was a legal challenge to this over several years but in July 2012 following a plant pest risk assessment study, the USDA deregulated Monsanto's Roundup Ready sugar beets allowing their usage. Ninety-five percent of sugar beets grown in the US are now genetically engineered. [www.huffingtonpost.com]

Tim, Nancy,

This may provide enough overview that will be helpful.
[www.toxinless.com]

Thanks for this important information, Larry. Guess the citric acid is the reason that I can't take Natural Calm. Citric acid is in so many products and supplements that I am really limited in what I can buy.

Nancy M

O.K. I'll ask the obvious question. As a relative newbie here, are you telling me there isn't a "master list" of recommended brands??? That sounds totally crazy to me. I just did a search and I couldn't find anything explicit.

Can we get a list going? This should be super easy to do. There are probably only a handful of recommended brands/products, right? And I'd prefer specific products not just general brands.

Travis

Travis,

Welcome to the forum. There is a wealth of information here for those who are challenged with A-fib, as board participants gladly share knowledge without expecting anything in return.

Contribution by the participants is the key to the forums success and what enables each of us to find information helpful to our own particular challenges. Since you see pulling together a list of specific products as "super easy", the "master list" might just be your first contribution.

Come join in. Welcome

Larry:

Yup. I'm going to work on putting together a list. And what I mean by "super easy" is that it would be super easy for someone to simply chime in with the products they're using. Jackie has written extensively on the topic of magnesium so I would imagine she has a wealth of information on which specific products are good to start with. George is another one who knows a ton about magnesium products and I know he just replied to my other post with some of the brands he uses (thanks George).

But yes, I will work on putting a list together. Until I get a chance to do it, here is a great review I found on Amazon where a guy reviewed 9 magnesium brands. It is pretty informative as it covers many of the brands I've read about either in this forum or other sources:

[www.amazon.com]

Travis

Hi Travis,

Welcome! You will find this bulletin board extremely helpful. There are many knowledgeable, caring people here who will assist you in your desire to learn more about afib and the best ways to treat it.

I'm currently taking Designs for Health Magnesium Buffered Chelate. It used to be called DFH Magnesium Glycinate Chelate, but just recently changed names due to the need to reveal that it is not pure magnesium glycinate, as we all thought, but contains up to 20% magnesium oxide, which we are not happy about. If you are making a master list, I would definitely include this product, at least until the company comes out with its new, improved version without mag oxide. The vegetarian capsules contain 150mg of magnesium bisglycinate chelate with mag oxide. The capsules are easy to swallow, and the 150mg size is nice because one can take small doses throughout the day with meals. Most importantly, it is a TRAACS and Albion Medallion product, which is GMP as well.

My understanding is that the heart prefers magnesium glycinate over other forms of magnesium, so look for this in your search. Do not look at products that contain calcium, since calcium pushes magnesium out of the cell. Of course, Jackie and others on this bulletin board are the experts, so I'm sure they will help as well with your list.

Hope this is helpful.

Blessings,
Nancy M

Thanks Nancy! I've had a chance to look over the Amazon review I linked to and thought I would copy the author's conclusions here for those like me that just want the bottom line!

From the review author:

"Based upon my analysis, in my opinion, Doctor's Best High Absorption 100% Chelated Magnesium, Nutrigold Magnesium Gold, and JigSaw Magnesium w/SRT are the best performers in this comparison. However, JigSaw Magnesium w/SRT is not only expensive, but its price fluctuates greatly from day to day; sometimes it's $39.99 per bottle and sometimes it's $28.50 per bottle. I'm not impressed with its price instability."

Travis

Travis - that's an interesting link you provided with the various product analyses. I was especially pleased to see the notation about ingredients sourced from China... wonder if that was the only country singled out as an off-shore supplier.

The notation about laxative effect is mostly without merit because if taken in a large enough quantity, most magnesium form will cause laxation, eventually. Some much sooner than others...ie, citrate or hydroxide. That's the nature of the mineral.

For afibbers, when selecting a product based on ingredients, it should also be noted to avoid those including aspartate or aspartic acid as a ligand as that is known to be an excitatory influence. Some individuals may be more vulnerable than others but typically, it's said to avoid that form...whether it is magnesium or another mineral combination when you have heart arrhythmia.

Jackie