January 26, 2025

Boosting sleep quality with magnesium glycinate

Physical and mental health depend heavily on sleep. It is common for people to struggle to sleep after a full night of sleep. Inconsistent sleep schedules, underlying health issues, blue light, stress, and more inhibit sleep.

Why magnesium matters for sleep?

It participates in protein synthesis, nerve transmission, blood glucose control, blood pressure regulation, and more. Magnesium also helps regulate melatonin and GABA, two neurotransmitters that induce calmness and control sleep-wake cycles. Some signs that you may be deficient in magnesium include muscle cramps or twitches, anxiety, trouble sleeping, fatigue, and headaches. Stress depletes magnesium quickly, making deficiency more likely for stressed individuals.

  • Difficulty falling asleep due to restless mind and body
  • Waking up frequently through the night
  • Sleeping too little and waking up early
  • Sleeping well but feeling unrefreshed

Correcting a magnesium deficiency and meeting the recommended daily intake often enhance sleep quality. The recommended daily magnesium intake for adults is 310-420 mg for men and 310-360 mg for women.

Why does magnesium glycinate stand out?

Magnesium supplements are available in many forms, including magnesium oxide, magnesium citrate, magnesium chloride, and magnesium glycinate. Magnesium glycinate has emerged as an ideal option, especially for sleep and stress support.

  • Greater bioavailability – Each type of magnesium supplement varies in bioavailability, which is the actual absorbable magnesium content. Magnesium glycinate has the highest bioavailability, meaning your body uses more of it.
  • Better tolerability – Some forms of magnesium supplements, magnesium oxide, often cause digestive upset or diarrhea when taken at higher doses. Magnesium glycinate rarely results in these negative gastrointestinal side effects.
  • Calming effects – In magnesium glycinate, magnesium is bound to glycine, a calming neurotransmitter. It magnifies relaxation and anxiety-relieving benefits, making sleep more enjoyable.

best magnesium supplement offers multiple advantages over other forms – it has soothing properties, is gentler on digestion, and delivers more usable magnesium to cells and tissues. These attributes make it the best magnesium for sleep support.

How to use magnesium glycinate for better sleep?

Taking magnesium glycinate as part of your nighttime routine enhances sleep quality.

  • Take it 1-2 hours before bed – This gives it enough time to take effect before you get into bed. Taking it too close to bedtime makes you need to urinate during the night.
  • Start with a moderate dose – For sleep benefits, most people do well starting with 200-400 mg of active elemental magnesium. Pay attention to how you feel taking magnesium glycinate across a range of doses to guide your ideal intake.
  • Pair with other sleep supplements – Stack magnesium glycinate with other sleep-supportive supplements like melatonin, chamomile, CBD oil, or L-theanine for added benefit. Just be sure to add new supplements one at a time.
  • Try a powdered form – Magnesium glycinate powder offers versatility to mix into drinks or foods. The magnesium gets absorbed whether taken on an empty stomach or with food.
  • Use it daily – To keep sleep-promoting magnesium levels topped up, take magnesium glycinate nightly as part of your bedtime ritual.

Signs that magnesium glycinate is improving your sleep include: falling asleep faster, staying asleep through the night, feeling more rested in the morning, having more energy throughout the day, improved mood, and fewer muscle cramps or headaches. Give magnesium glycinate at least 2 weeks of routine use to allow its effects to develop. Pay attention to dosage as well – increase your dose slowly over several nights if a lower dose isn’t fully addressing your sleep issues. The optimal magnesium glycinate dosage tends to level off once sleep quality notably improves – taking more than your body uses likely won’t amplify benefits. Back off your dosage if loose stools develop.

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