Comparison guide

Which magnesium should you take?

Magnesium forms differ in two things that matter: how much elemental magnesium you absorb, and what the carrier molecule does. The rest is marketing. Whichever form you choose, the target is 200–400 mg of elemental magnesium — check the label, because compound weight is not magnesium weight.

The options, compared

Option	Evidence	Best for	The honest note
Magnesium	Moderate evidence	Most people — evenings, sleep, tolerance	The glycinate/bisglycinate form: well absorbed, gentle on the gut, and the glycine adds a mild calming effect.	View
Magnesium Citrate	Moderate evidence	Best value + constipation	Good absorption at a lower price; the mild laxative effect is a feature if you're constipated, a bug if you're not.	View
Magnesium Malate	Limited evidence	Daytime use	Good absorption without sedation; popular for energy claims that remain unproven.	View
Magnesium Taurate	Limited evidence	Blood-pressure focus	Pairs magnesium with taurine, which has its own modest BP data — direct comparative trials are scarce.	View
Magnesium L-Threonate	Limited evidence	Brain claims — premium price, early data	The only form with brain-penetration data, but human trials are small and each capsule carries little elemental magnesium.	View
Magnesium Orotate	Limited evidence	Niche cardiac use	Some heart-failure adjunct data; expensive per mg of magnesium.	View
Magnesium Chloride	Moderate evidence	Topical/liquid preference	Decent oral absorption; 'magnesium oil' sprays lack good evidence for transdermal delivery.	View
Magnesium Oxide	Moderate evidence	Laxative use only	Cheapest and most common in multis, but poorly absorbed — fine as a laxative, poor as repletion.	View

Our verdict

Glycinate at night if your goal is sleep, stress, or gut comfort; citrate if you want to spend less or also need help with regularity. Skip oxide except as a laxative, and treat threonate as an experiment, not a proven upgrade.