Magnesium and Magnesium

I have (touch wood) been having great success lately (I'll post a follow-up in a couple of weeks iwith the details if the success continues) using a combination of;
a. twice a day- 500 mg Country Lfe (from iHerb) chelated mg (the label indictes 'as magnesium from oxide, citrate asparate, taurate and alph-keto-glutarate'). So, 1000 mg daily
b. twice a day - 1 tsp of Potassium power
c. twice a day - 1/2 tsp of powdered ginger
d. 1 - 2 litres of Waller Water
e. a few daily spritzes of Magnesium 'oil' made from equal parts (by volume) of Mg Cloride crystals and boiling water
f. 1 tab of CoQ10 and fish oil
g. 1 tab of vitamin D

Now my question - I'm going to (shortly) run out of the Magnesium tablets but have purchased Magnesium Glycinate (600 mg) to replace it.. Which as per the label says 'Elemental Magnesium 120 mg'). I like this label better as I think it actually indicates how much is in each tablet - any ideas how to 'guess' how much to replace my exisiting Contry Life product with??

Thanks (as always)

Rick

Rick,

Not sure if this is your product: <[www.iherb.com]

In any case, it says:
Serving Size: 2 tablets
Serving Per Container: 90
Amount Per Serving %Daily Value
Magnesium (as magnesium oxide, aspartate, citrate, taurinate, alpha-ketoglutarate)† 600 mg 150%
Potassium (as potassium citrate, aspartate, alpha-ketoglutarate)† 198 mg 6%
†Country Life always labels minerals in elemental weight.

The key here is the %Daily Value. In this case, 2 tablets (the serving size) is magnesium 600 mg, which is 150% of the the Daily Value (DV). The DV for mag is 400 mg. This means there is 300 mg of magnesium in each tablet for this product - which may not be your product...

Hope this helps

Rick - I'm pleased that your combination is working for you.

Can you give the iHerb link for the product you are using? I looked at iHerb and the Country Life and as George notes, something isn't matching your description.

In any event...when the first ingredient is oxide... that's typically not a good product choice as oxide is not considered to be very absorbable.... no while they say you are getting magnesium in the product, if much of it is oxide, you aren't actually getting that value into your cells.

The second ingredient, aspartate, is also one that should be avoided... as it tends to be excitatory. Just so you know.

Since it's working, you may not want to rock the boat by switching brands, but my thought is that if you are doing well on a sub-standard product, undoubtedly you would do even better with a product that does not list oxide as the first ingredient.

Keep us posted on your progress.

Best to you,
Jackie



.

Thanks everyone - here's the link to the Mg that I'm currently using...
http://www.iherb.com/Country-Life-Gluten-Free-Chelated-Magnesium-250-mg-180-Tablets/1628

The tablet size is 250 mg but on the back it does indicate that it's 63% of the RDA (thru oxide etc.)...

Guesses??

Rick

Rick,

I'd from looking at it, I'd say each tablet has 250 mg mag. 250/400 = 62.5%

George

Rick - on the label, it indicates ingredients are: magnesium oxide, magnesium amino acid chelate, and rice flour which is a filler.

What that indicates to me since the oxide is first in the order is that there is either more oxide or maybe even an equal amount of oxide to the chelate. Maybe, it's 60:40 hard to know... but in any event, as I initially commented, the oxide form is the least desirable to use for efficacy. It would have nothing to do with the daily value when it comes to the actual absorbability of the mineral form.

If it's working for you, then great, but typically, an oxide form does not provide enough magnesium to change the intracellular status.

Jackie

Sorry, I'm new here, but I'm confused. Is one of the magnesiums above now considered the best to take or is there abetter one?

Paulie,

Oxide is usually considered the least bioavailable. Glycinate the most.

George

Is there a brand name you recommend?

Paulie.. There is Doctor's Best that is the true amino acid chelate patented process by Albion Labs. Check the fine print on the label.

You can see the details of the product here [www.vitacost.com]

Note that it says "not buffered" which means it does not contain the magnesium oxide which is the least desirable.

Read more on the absorption issue at this link... [www.afibbers.org] ....as well as dosing suggestions for magnesium supplements and send me a PM if you need help. Dosing requirements are often different for each individual.

There are other forms that help replete magnesium as well... such as topical or transdermal delivery which does not cause the bowel tolerance issue and helps augment what you take in orally. You can also use Epsom Salts (magnesium sulfate) foot baths or body soaks to help take in more magnesium.

Consider also making the home made magnesium water using the concentrate from the formula we call Waller Water or WW.

Best to you,
Jackie

Rick, I used to take the Bluebonnet Mag Glycinate, then they got cheap and added the oxide. Then I started using Dr. Best, the hard tablets...and I ended up going into afib...after a few weeks of using it, so now I switched to Solaray Mag Glycinate, they list it as 400mg. on the bottle, but that is the serving size, each capsule is 100 mg. I am taking 6 caps or 600 mg. a day and it has been working nicely. I notice that bowel tolerance is the key to knowing how well it works for me. Dr. Best was totally worthless for me.