Supplement evidence

007 / 575Mineral

Magnesium

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The short answer

Correcting deficiency; selected compounds also work as clinically used laxatives.

Evidence and scope: Conditional or population-specific
This status does not grade the ingredient for every goal, outcome, or person.
Important limitation: Broad claims for sleep, stress, testosterone, or longevity remain inconsistent in people without deficiency.
Before deciding: Supplemental magnesium commonly causes diarrhea; impaired kidneys increase toxicity risk.

01 / PRACTICAL GUIDE

Dose, absorption, and combinations

These are indication-specific reference or studied ranges—not a personalized prescription. Start with the objective, then check the form, label, medicines, and health conditions.

Reference range by objective

Meeting usual needsFood first; U.S. supplemental upper limit is 350 mg/day for self-directed use

Reference or studied range—not a personalized prescription. The product label or a clinician may specify a different dose.

Dose source ↗

Confirmed deficiencyForm and dose should follow cause, kidney function, and tolerance

Reference or studied range—not a personalized prescription. The product label or a clinician may specify a different dose.

Dose source ↗

More is not automatically better. A clinician or product label may specify a different amount.

Absorption / solubilityFormulation-dependent

Not usefully classified as a fat- or water-soluble vitamin; absorption depends on the salt, extract, delivery system, and meal.

How it is commonly taken

Often better tolerated with food; divide larger doses.

Do not combine casually

Separate from tetracycline/quinolone antibiotics and bisphosphonates; kidney impairment increases toxicity risk.

Dose and use source ↗

Dose and use links lead to primary or official source material. Search links are discovery tools, not proof that every returned paper applies.

02 / EVIDENCE

What the research says

We keep supportive, mixed, negative, safety, and contextual findings together. The headline never replaces the underlying papers.

5research papers in this ledger

14unique primary studies represented

886unique participants represented

These are audited counts for this JIVANA collection, not search-result totals. Participants are counted once when multiple papers use the same cohort; review papers are not added again to participant totals.

Open the research timelineResearch timeline

Entries are ordered by publication year. A study period appears only when the source reports it.

2025

Mixed or qualifiedPMID 40918053 · DRKS00031494

Magnesium Bisglycinate Supplementation in Healthy Adults Reporting Poor Sleep: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial

Insomnia scores improved slightly more than placebo, but the effect was small (Cohen’s d = 0.2) and other psychological outcomes did not differ.

Published: 2025Duration: 4 weeks

Study design and methods

Design: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
Population: Adults aged 18–65 reporting poor sleep quality
Intervention: Magnesium bisglycinate providing 250 mg elemental magnesium daily versus placebo
Outcome: Insomnia Severity Index and psychological questionnaires

Funding or conflict note: One author leads a contract research organization funded by nutraceutical companies and has received nutraceutical presentation honoraria.

Open research record ↗

2021

Mixed or qualifiedPMID 33865376

Oral magnesium supplementation for insomnia in older adults: a Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis

Sleep onset was 17.36 minutes earlier in the pooled estimate, but total sleep time was not significantly improved. All three trials had moderate-to-high risk of bias and the evidence was low to very low certainty.

Published: 2021n=151 participants3 primary studies represented

Study design and methods

Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials
Population: Older adults with insomnia
Intervention: Oral magnesium versus placebo
Outcome: Sleep onset latency, total sleep time, sleep quality, and adverse events

Open research record ↗

2021

Evidence contextPMID 34111673

Bioavailability of magnesium food supplements: A systematic review

Inorganic formulations appeared less bioavailable than organic formulations and absorption was dose-dependent. The authors cautioned that findings could not be assumed to apply to older, ill, or magnesium-deficient people.

Published: 2021

Study design and methods

Design: Systematic review of formulation-comparison studies
Population: Human participants in 14 selected studies
Intervention: Different organic and inorganic magnesium formulations
Outcome: Absorption and bioavailability

Funding or conflict note: The authors reported no known competing financial interests or personal relationships.

Open research record ↗

2020

Does not support the tested claimPMID 32956536 · CD009402

Magnesium for skeletal muscle cramps

Magnesium was unlikely to provide clinically meaningful prevention for idiopathic cramps in older adults. Pregnancy findings conflicted, and no randomized trials addressed exercise-associated cramps.

Published: 2020n=735 participants11 primary studies represented

Study design and methods

Design: Cochrane systematic review of randomized trials
Population: Older adults with idiopathic cramps, pregnant people, and a small cirrhosis group
Intervention: Oral or intravenous magnesium versus placebo or another comparator
Outcome: Cramp frequency, intensity, duration, and adverse events

Open research record ↗

2018

Mixed or qualifiedPMID 29131326

Magnesium in Migraine Prophylaxis—Is There an Evidence-Based Rationale? A Systematic Review

Five eligible trials produced Grade C, “possibly effective” evidence. Results were not consistently positive, and the review highlighted 600 mg magnesium dicitrate as the best-supported studied regimen.

Published: 2018

Study design and methods

Design: Systematic review of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials
Population: Adults aged 18–65 with migraine
Intervention: Preventive magnesium regimens versus placebo
Outcome: Migraine days and attacks

Open research record ↗

Unscreened discovery appendix—not evidence436 candidate publicationsSearch run: Aug 21, 2026

Complete for the displayed PubMed query at the search timestamp—not for all databases or every possible synonym. Candidates can be irrelevant, duplicate the same study, or report negative findings. They are never summed as evidence or participants until screened.

03 / SOURCES

Start with the source material

Official evidence overviewNIH Office of Dietary Supplements Live PubMed discovery searchNational Library of Medicine

The live search is for discovery only. Search-result counts change and are not included in the audited totals above.

Recent PubMed discovery recordsDirect links to the first 12 records returned by the reproducible search. These are discovery candidates—not reviewed summaries or a count of supportive findings.

04 / EXPERT CONTEXT

Expert context—not evidence

Expert positions are dated context—not scientific evidence. They never raise the evidence status or become consensus by repetition.

No direct, source-verified endorsement is currently recorded. Research authorship or discussion alone is not treated as endorsement.