Three People, Three Magnesiums: What My Family Takes and Why

Ask the Pharmacist · Stevie's Stack

Three people in my family take magnesium every day. A pro basketball player who's also a wealth manager, a law student, and a pharmacist in perimenopause. None of us takes it exactly the same way.

People always ask me, "Which magnesium should I take?" After 31 years as a pharmacist, I can tell you the answer is never one bottle for everyone. So I'm going to show you exactly what I chose for the people I love most, and why.

Our shared base: magnesium glycinate

All three of us start with magnesium glycinate. It's magnesium bound to glycine, a calming amino acid. It's gentle on the stomach, and most people tolerate it well.

That's the foundation. Then each of us adds what our day actually demands. Same mineral, different jobs.

Stevie, the pro athlete and wealth manager

My son Stevie plays professional basketball. He loses magnesium every time he sweats, and he sweats a lot.

Pro athletes get drug-tested, so everything Stevie takes has to be NSF Certified for Sport. That rules out most of the supplement aisle. When I went looking, I couldn't find a standalone magnesium malate with that certification.

So during practices and games, he uses Thorne Daily Electrolytes, which is NSF Certified for Sport. It gives him magnesium as malate, plus sodium, potassium, and calcium. At about 40 mg of magnesium per packet, it's a hydration tool, not his main source.

Stevie also works as a wealth manager, so his brain has a second job to do. Every day, he takes a magnesium L-threonate that's also NSF Certified for Sport. It's the form designed to raise magnesium levels in the brain, the same one his brother uses for law school. A certified threonate like Thorne Cognitive Vitality gives about 144 mg of magnesium per serving. It builds up over weeks, so he takes it daily, not just on workdays.

His last dose comes at night: a sport-certified glycinate for muscle relaxation and sleep. Recovery happens when you sleep, so that's when I want the magnesium working. Because he added threonate, I keep his glycinate at the low end, around 100 mg. That holds his daily total near 284 mg, under the 350 mg supplement limit.

See the Athletes protocol

KJ, the law student

My son KJ is in his final year of law school. Long reading days, long nights, and a brain that's always on.

During the day, he takes magnesium L-threonate. It's the form designed to raise magnesium levels in the brain. I'll be honest with you, like I am with him: the human research is still small. But it's the form I reach for with a student who needs focus.

At night, he takes glycinate to help him wind down and actually turn his brain off.

See the Cognitive Support protocol

Me, in perimenopause

My base is simple: one glycinate in the morning and one at night. The evening dose is for those 3 a.m. wake-ups perimenopause handed me. (I wrote a whole post on why you keep waking up at 3 a.m., and it's about more than magnesium.)

But perimenopause isn't one-size-fits-all, so here are the swaps I use:

• Dragging during the day? Swap your morning glycinate for malate, a form many people choose for energy.
• Brain fog? Swap your morning glycinate for L-threonate. It isn't a quick fix. The studies used daily dosing for several weeks, so take it every day.

See the Perimenopause & Menopause protocol

The dose math most people get wrong

Adults need about 310 to 420 mg of magnesium a day, and that counts food and supplements together. For supplements alone, the general upper limit is 350 mg a day unless your provider tells you otherwise (NIH Office of Dietary Supplements).

Always count elemental magnesium, the number on the Supplement Facts panel. Not the big number on the front of the bottle.

And notice that none of us takes it all at once. That's on purpose. Your gut absorbs a bigger share of smaller doses. A big dose all at once leaves more unabsorbed in your gut, where it pulls in water, and that's when the bathroom trips start. We keep each dose around 100 to 200 mg and spread it through the day.

Match the form to the person

I didn't choose any of these because they were trending. I chose each form for the person taking it: their body, their schedule, their goal.

Taking prescriptions? Some medicines, like certain antibiotics and thyroid medicine, need to be spaced away from magnesium. Ask your pharmacist before you start. That's literally what we're here for.

From my family to yours

I've spent my career matching medicines to people. Doing it for my own family is the part I love most. Same mineral, different partners, different jobs.

Rooted in Nature. Backed by Science. Made by a Pharmacist.™

Stephanie Mitchell, R.Ph.

Founder · The Performance Pharmacist

Educational content only. Not medical advice, diagnosis, or a treatment recommendation. Talk to your own prescriber or pharmacist about your medications and health conditions.