mineral · for stress
Magnesium Glycinate
Steadies the hormone system that runs your stress response, and quietens over-excited nerve signalling.
Say that in clinical terms
Magnesium regulates the HPA axis by modulating ACTH-driven cortisol release. It also blocks excessive calcium influx through NMDA receptors, preventing stress-induced glutamate excitotoxicity and supporting GABAergic calming pathways.
How strong is the research?
1 paper read, 1 supporting.
Who was studied: Mildly anxious adults and women with PMS — closer to most people than a clinical group.
How much to take
daily (evening preferred)
300–400 mg
Stress depletes magnesium, and magnesium deficiency worsens stress response. Glycinate form adds calming glycine.
Before you take it
- NIH ODS Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for supplemental magnesium is 350 mg/day for adults; the principal adverse effect above the UL is osmotic diarrhea; hypermagnesemia is rare with intact renal function but possible with chronically elevated doses.
- Tetracycline antibiotics (e.g., doxycycline, demeclocycline) and quinolone antibiotics (e.g., ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin): take the antibiotic at least 2 hours BEFORE or 4-6 hours AFTER magnesium supplementation, per NIH ODS. Note: this timing requirement is asymmetric.
- Bisphosphonates (e.g., alendronate): magnesium reduces oral bisphosphonate absorption; take at least 2 hours apart, per NIH ODS.
- Antihypertensive medications (ACE inhibitors, ARBs, calcium channel blockers): magnesium may potentiate blood-pressure-lowering effects; blood pressure should be monitored when these are combined.
- Loop diuretics (furosemide) and thiazide diuretics increase renal magnesium excretion; potassium-sparing diuretics decrease magnesium excretion — both are clinically relevant interactions in common patient populations.
- Long-term proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use reduces intestinal magnesium absorption and causes hypomagnesemia independent of dietary intake.
- Renal insufficiency and chronic kidney disease: impaired renal magnesium excretion substantially increases hypermagnesemia risk; supplementation requires medical supervision.
- The antacid effect seen with magnesium hydroxide, carbonate, and oxide forms is form-specific and does not apply to magnesium glycinate at typical supplement doses.
- Sanofi, a commercial producer of magnesium supplements, funded the database search for this systematic review and provided access to three unpublished studies that were included in the evidence base — a publication-bias risk that is specific to the anxiety/stress evidence claim supported by this paper
When to take it
Best taken: evening
What we make of it
The review itself calls its evidence poor.
The detail
The source is a systematic review rather than a trial, and it states plainly that the quality of existing evidence is poor and that properly designed trials are still needed.