Magnesium is a common word in health circles everywhere. It is an essential mineral with plenty of benefits for your health.
Many people opt for a magnesium supplement to help improve their sleep, anxiety, energy levels or manage perimenopause symptoms.
Typically, there are lots of different types of magnesium. But, magnesium glycinate and magnesium citrate stand out as the best supplements.
This guide is going to help you understand everything relating to each magnesium type. More importantly, it will highlight the differences between magnesium glycinate vs magnesium citrate.
What Makes Magnesium Glycinate Unique?
The name alone explains what this supplement is. It’s a combination of glycine and magnesium; hence, named magnesium glycinate. Sometimes, it is called magnesium bisglcinate.
Among magnesium supplements, magnesium glycinate is the most popular, even with 10 kinds of magnesium. It has a high bioavailability. In other words, the body easily tolerates and absorbs it much effectively. Therefore, you can expect to get better and fast results.
Primarily, this form of supplement combines with an amino acid known as glycine. The glycine works together with many other chemicals such as GABA in your brain or neurotransmitters to create the feeling of calm.
This type of magnesium is also extremely effective for muscle relaxation, stress relief, and sleep improvements. Moreover, glycine can enhance a healthy cardiovascular rhythm.
What Makes Magnesium Citrate Unique?
Magnesium citrate has similar benefits to magnesium glycinate. However, it also has certain key differences which makes it unique from the other types of magnesium, such as:
- When citric acid and magnesium combine, they form magnesium citrate. Again, it is another popular form of supplement for your health needs.
- The reason behind its popularity is that it is easily available in most health and grocery stores.
- It is widely recommended for constipation or irregular bowel movements. Additionally, it can also help relieve symptoms of stress, anxiety, and insomnia.
Since magnesium has a positive effect on the nervous system, it can also improve your mood swings or depression.
Based on current data, magnesium taurate and glycinate have the most research supporting their effects on anxiety and other mental health disorders.
Benefits of Magnesium Glycinate
Magnesium glycinate is the clear winner when it comes to reducing stress and anxiety without making you poop more. That is why we include magnesium glycinate in our popular stress relief supplement Real Chill.
Here are the many benefits of magnesium glycinate.
Improves Sleep
Magnesium glycinate is capable of decreasing cortisol levels by reducing stress. Thus, it helps you improve your sleep quality at night. When you sleep well, the next day will be a productive one.
Makes Your Bodily Functions Work Properly
Magnesium glycinate regulates nerve function in the brain, muscles, and heart. When there is no magnesium present within your system, these bodily functions will malfunction.
May Help Reduce Anxiety and Stress
When you take a magnesium supplement with an appropriate dosage, it can help reduce anxiety symptoms.
Magnesium Has Anti-Oxidant Power
Free radical is a natural by-product of your body’s metabolism. Many people don’t know this, but magnesium can boost the immune system in your body. It also helps prevent cell damage from free radicals.
Magnesium Glycinate in Treating Migraines and Headaches
Many people experience migraines or headaches from time to time. These headaches are not only painful but also pretty disruptive to our daily life. Studies have shown that magnesium glycinate can help ease migraine pain.
Your body needs magnesium for better and faster recovery. Therefore, if you suffer from chronic headaches or migraines, try to find the best magnesium glycinate supplements.
For better results, get the best supplements available. Use balanced-mineral water before taking your magnesium glycinate supplement.
Preferably, we recommend you use the magnesium-rich mineral water from Long Island or Fiji. They have the highest concentration of natural magnesium in their waters.
What are the Key Differences Between Magnesium Glycinate vs Citrate?
At this point, you already get an idea of what these two supplements can do for your health. They seem to have many similarities, such as boosting metabolism or improving sleep quality.
But once you dig deeper, you’ll find out that they have notable differences.
The first and most notable difference is the source of magnesium used in these two supplements. Magnesium glycinate uses magnesium from glycine, while magnesium citrate contains both magnesium and citric acid.
Since both are equally popular forms, it’s really hard to decide which is better or worse. However, having a clear picture of the differences between both supplements should help you decide which supplement to choose.
Magnesium Glycinate vs Citrate: Which Is Better For Sleep?
Magnesium supplements can help with sleep problems. As mentioned earlier, glycine helps with stress and anxiety relief. Magnesium is also known to be effective in promoting good sleep quality.
If your insomnia is caused by stress and anxiety, you may want to try out magnesium glycinate to better sleep quality.
Magnesium Glycinate vs Citrate: Which is Better For Stomach Issues?
Since magnesium citrate has an acidic taste on the tongue, it’s not surprising for some people to experience stomach issues. It is common to use this supplement for constipation and irregular bowel movements.
Magnesium glycinate has lesser side effects when compared with magnesium citrate because it comes without any acidic ingredients. Therefore, you can expect fewer or no side effects using this particular type of supplement.
Magnesium Glycinate vs Citrate: Which is Better For Fatigue?
Fatigue or tiredness is common with any medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and others. Magnesium glycinate has been shown to boost the energy level, while magnesium citrate can alleviate muscle cramps.
Tiredness is an early warning sign of several chronic illnesses, and you should not wait until your body can no longer function before taking note of it. Therefore, you should consider any magnesium supplements to help alleviate fatigue as soon as possible.
Magnesium Glycinate vs Citrate: Which Is Better For Muscle Cramps?
Are you often susceptible to muscle cramps? Then you may want to check out magnesium citrate supplements. Magnesium glycinate can also help relieve muscle cramps. But it is not as effective as the latter.
You can also try both and see which one works best for your needs. If nothing seems to work, then your doctor or medical professional may have to look into your medical history for other factors that may be the cause of your cramps.
When to Expect Results?
It takes 1-2 months for your daily magnesium glycinate or citrate dose to give noticeable results within your system. However, some people may take a less or higher dosage which will change their time of recovery. If you don’t know what dosage is right for you, consult a doctor.
What Are The Side Effects?
Some people may experience diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting when taking magnesium citrate supplements. That’s because of the mineral’s effect on the digestive system.
Its laxative effect will help relieve constipation, but it can also cause diarrhea. Suppose you experience these symptoms, stop taking the supplement, and consult with your doctor or medical professional as soon as possible.
Some people may experience loose bowels after taking any form of magnesium supplements. If this happens to be you, try switching to a slower release version of either citrate or glycinate to avoid the side effects.
How Much To Take?
The typical adult dosage for both citrate and glycinate is 300-400mg per day. However, this can change depending on your situation, such as conditions that may require more of a supplement for relief from pain or other symptoms.
Magnesium Glycinate vs Citrate: Conclusion
Although there are numerous forms of magnesium, it is often recommended to use magnesium glycinate and, or magnesium citrate. Both of these supplements are great for helping to relieve various symptoms.
However, citrate is the most powerful and effective for managing constipation. Glycinate form is ideal for conditions such as insomnia, chronic stress, inflammatory conditions, and anxiety.
If you are looking for a magnesium glycinate supplement for anxiety, stress or insomnia, check out our scientifically backed formula called Chill.