Read These 5 Magnesium Threonate Reviews Before You Buy

Magnesium Threonate Reviews: Our Recommendations At A Glance

Magnesium is a crucial mineral that plays a major role in muscle and nerve function, facilitating energy production, and improving heart health. There are several different forms of magnesium supplements that exist today, such as magnesium citrate, magnesium oxide, and magnesium glycinate, but you may not be aware of the best form for cognitive function – magnesium L-threonate.

Here, I’ll explain why magnesium L-threonate is superior for use as a nootropic and discuss how it compares to the most common forms of magnesium sold in stores and online. I’ll also show you exactly where to buy magnesium threonate so you can ensure that the product you buy is legitimate and contains a clinically effective dosage for your health goals.

Why Magnesium Is Important – But Most Magnesium Supplements Are Terrible

Magnesium L-threonate is the magnesium salt of the naturally occurring vitamin C metabolite, threonic acid. Supplementing with magnesium threonate is specifically used for normalizing intracellular magnesium levels in the brain, though other benefits also occur. 

Magnesium, a divalent cation, is important for neuronal activity as it is a cofactor for neural receptors in the brain. This is especially the case in hippocampal neurons which control memory. In the last decade, scientists have found that increasing intracellular Mg2+ promotes structural synapse density, plasticity, and also increases the number of presynaptic terminals.

Outside the brain, magnesium is utilized for many other biochemical reactions including (but not limited to) bone and muscle function, blood clotting and insulin secretion. In addition, magnesium promotes a strong immune system. 

The plethora of roles filled by magnesium means that magnesium deficiency can result in severe health conditions. These vary along the spectrum, starting from appetite loss and nausea, and worsen to cramps, seizures and coronary spasms. 

Severe magnesium deficiency can also result in other ion deficiencies which are incredibly harmful for your body. This is especially common in people who have high protein, calcium, or vitamin D intake as they increase your need for magnesium due to intracellular competition between ions in the intestine – a key process in homeostasis.

To avoid deficiency, supplementing with magnesium is recommended. However, magnesium is not available in pure elemental form, and is only provided in various salt forms. Different magnesium salts vary hugely in their affect on your body. For example, the cheapest salt, magnesium citrate, is used clinically as a laxative for bowel preparation before colorectal surgery.

Unsurprisingly, most magnesium citrate supplements result in diarrhea – a major cause of dehydration and electrolyte loss. This is due to too many unabsorbed magnesium ions in the gut which draw out water into the intestines, and also causes bowel over-stimulation. As a result, the patient suffers from malabsorption, which defeats the point of a multivitamin.

Like magnesium citrate, other magnesium supplements including magnesium oxide, chloride, gluconate and carbonate also result in diarrhea. However, magnesium L-threonate does not.

Compared to other magnesium salts, magnesium L-threonate has higher bioavailability, higher absorption levels in the GI tract, and higher cellular penetration whereby it crosses the blood-brain barrier very effectively. The high absorptive rate is also crucial as it means magnesium threonate does not cause gastrointestinal discomfort.

Magnesium L-Threonate Benefits

Different magnesium salts target different body tissues by selectively delivering magnesium to that part of the body. Magnesium L-threonate targets the brain, and accordingly it’s considered a nootropic, even though other forms of magnesium generally aren’t.  

Magnesium L-threonate delivers magnesium to the brain far more effectively than other forms of magnesium. This is because threonate promotes Mg2+ influx into neurons as Mg2+ acts as a second messenger for threonate. The increase in intracellular Mg2+ then improves cognitive function.

However, the patented magnesium L-threonate drug, Magtein, contains relatively little elemental magnesium by weight compared to other magnesium salts, since threonate weighs so much – 2000 mg of MgT has 144 mg of elemental magnesium. Thus, it is not the best form of magnesium for overcoming a magnesium deficiency, but merely the best when you want to target the brain specifically. Or the hair follicles, as you’ll see.

Magnesium L-Threonate Studies

Magnesium L-Threonate, Depression

Supplementation with magnesium L-threonate also shows success in treating depression due to its effect in the brain. Magnesium is an essential mineral for regulating NMDA receptors which release glutamate. Overactive NMDA receptors produce too much glutamate which is linked with depression. 

So far, depressive-like symptoms have been reduced with magnesium threonate in healthy rats. Magnesium can also rapidly treat major depressive episodes in many cases. However it’s often applied intravenously to get around the diarrhea issue – this is not necessary with Magtein. 

Magnesium L-Threonate For Anxiety

Magnesium is important in psychoneuroendocrine systems within the brain. If magnesium levels are low, elevated anxiety states have been observed in mouse models. Further, in humans, subjective surveys showed inverse correlations between dietary magnesium levels and anxiety levels.

Specific anxiety disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and phobias, can be treated with magnesium L-threonate supplementation. To treat these disorders, enhancing synaptic plasticity in the brain is one approach. 

Magnesium L-threonate supplementation elevates brain magnesium which increases synaptic plasticity in a region-specific manner – this sustains fear extinction and prevents the spontaneous reappearance of fear memories. Currently, these predictions have only been demonstrated in rodent models.

Though there are no trials as of yet which have demonstrated magnesium L-threonate’s role in treating anxiety in humans, based on rodent studies it appears that weeks of regular administration may help you to get over fear and anxiety more permanently.

Magnesium L-Threonate For Learning

The nootropic properties of magnesium L-threonate are thought to enhance learning. In rats, improved synaptic connections in the hippocampus – the centre for memory in the brain – have shown short-term facilitation and long-term potentiation from magnesium threonate supplementation.

Magnesium L-threonate shows promise for treating memory loss associated with dementia disorders such as Alzheimer’s. In transgenic mice models of Alzheimer’s disease, magnesium L-threonate supplementation provided synaptic-protective effects which could reverse neurodegeneration. Clinical trials are currently underway where patients are receiving Magtein to explore this hypothesis.

Magnesium L Threonate, Hair Loss

Interestingly, L-threonate appears to help slow or prevent male-pattern baldness by inhibiting the effects of dihydrotestosterone on hair cells. Though this finding only comes from one study and may simply be an artifact of the cell culture environment.

Magnesium L-Threonate For Parkinson’s And Other Dopamine-Related Disorders

Parkinson’s disease results from nerve cell loss in the substantia nigra (an area in the brain) – this results in low dopamine production which subsequently impairs healthy motor function. An epidemiological study has associated magnesium deficiency with motor deficit.

Increasing magnesium in the cerebrospinal fluid is necessary to increase magnesium in the brain. Thus, supplementation with magnesium L-threonate is vital to cross the blood-brain barrier and achieve this. 

Subsequently, mouse models of Parkinson’s disease have received magnesium L-threonate. This increased magnesium levels in the cerebrospinal fluid and prevented disease-associated motor deficits and dopamine neuron loss.

Please note: if you have a dopamine-related disorder, do not take magnesium without asking your doctor first, as it may interact harmfully with prescription dopamine agonists such as cabergoline.  

Magnesium L-Threonate Safety

Overall, magnesium L-threonate has relatively few side effects and is safe for most individuals to use. It is extremely bioavailable and is by far one of the most gentle forms of magnesium available today.

However, some people who use high dosages of magnesium l-threonate may experience watery stools, mild headaches, slight fatigue, or other minor side effects that usually resolve on their own and do not require medical attention.

Certain individuals that are advised to avoid using magnesium supplements include those who have a history of hypertension, osteoporosis, or kidney disease as well as those who are currently using antibiotics, blood thinners, or muscle relaxants.

What Is Magtein, And Are There Magtein Benefits?

Magtein is simply the patented brand name for magnesium L-threonate and was initially developed by researchers in Tsinghua university, China. The aim of Magtein was to get magnesium into the brain efficiently by passing through the blood-brain barrier.

L-threonate, a metabolite of vitamin C, was used in conjunction with magnesium to create Magtein due to its ability to increase intracellular magnesium levels specifically in nerve cells. Thus, the result is L-threonate which acts in the brain, and magnesium which increases magnesium levels throughout the body.

Magtein remains patented, which partly explains why it is more expensive than other magnesium supplements. However, Magtein is also more expensive to produce than other forms of magnesium.

When searching for magnesium L-threonate supplements, you may or may not see the brand name Magtein. Sometimes companies choose not to include the brand name due to branding decisions. The seller of a magnesium L-threonate supplement has to pay royalties to Magceutics either way, though they might have to pay an extra royalty for using the Magtein brand name.

Our Magnesium L-Threonate Reviews – What Are The Best Brands For Magnesium L-Threonate Powder And Magnesium Threonate Capsules?

Good magnesium L-threonate products tend to only contain magnesium L-threonate and nothing else. This is due to the bulkiness of magnesium L-threonate – as mentioned, it takes 2000 mg of it to get 144 mg of elemental magnesium – which doesn’t leave room for other ingredients to be combined. This tends to be the case with bulkier supplements– you may recall us mentioning it with respect to reishi mushroom capsules.

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Read our full-length review on magnesium threonate.

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Editor’s note: we are regularly updating this review. If you see any problems, weird interpretations of the data, or just want to say hi, please reach out to hello@the-unwinder.com.