Verdict
Not enough evidence
Magnesium citrate has a laxative effect that magnesium glycinate does not.
1 source: 1 positive
By Arun AgrahriLast reviewed 1 timecoded source
Short answer
Both absorb well, so choose by side effect. Citrate has a mild laxative pull, which suits constipation; Peter Attia groups it with the forms that "speed up the bowel." Glycinate is the gentler, sleep-friendly form. Skip oxide if you want good absorption.
Magnesium supplements are worth taking.
The verdict on Magnesium overall. 8 sources: 6 positive, 2 partly
positive partly neutral negative Each researcher and each study counts once per claim, however often they come up.
Magnesium citrate has a laxative effect that magnesium glycinate does not.
1 source: 1 positive. Fewer than 3 sources so far.
Researchers say
1 positive
Mark Hyman, on The Dr. Hyman Show, at 22:12
Positive Video · Opinion
Open the tape at 22:12 →“magnesium citrate you can use if you have constipation so that actually helps you go to the bathroom”
Studies show
No study counted yet.
Mark Hyman, on The Dr. Hyman Show, at 22:12 Video · positive · Opinion
“magnesium citrate you can use if you have constipation so that actually helps you go to the bathroom”
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Magnesium citrate has a laxative effect that magnesium glycinate does not. Both are well-absorbed organic forms, so choose between them by side effect.
Citrate pulls harder on the bowel. That makes it a fair pick when constipation is the problem and a worse one when it is not. Mark Hyman, on his own show, gives patients citrate when they are constipated, and switches to glycinate because too much citrate brings diarrhea.
Hyman favors glycinate and citrate as well-absorbed chelates and warns against magnesium oxide as a cheap, poorly absorbed form.
For sleep and calm, glycinate keeps coming up. Andrew Huberman's sleep stack uses magnesium threonate or bisglycinate, a close cousin of glycinate, for falling asleep and sleeping deeper. He saves malate for gut health and recovery. Rhonda Patrick recommends the organic salts in smaller divided doses: citrate, glycinate and taurate.
Peter Attia treats the daily total as what matters, not any single form. He mixes forms to reach roughly a gram of elemental magnesium a day.
Threonate is popular for brain benefits, but Patrick notes its elemental magnesium is low and its clinical evidence thin and industry-funded. Treat it as a brain or sleep add-on, not a way to hit your daily target. Oxide is where the record splits.
Hyman and Patrick group it with the cheap, poorly absorbed forms and say to skip it. Attia still takes it as one of his forms, because he is chasing a total dose rather than the best-absorbed single pill.
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