Expert Position

What does Rhonda Patrick say about magnesium?

Q: How much magnesium does Rhonda Patrick recommend?

She works from the RDA of 310-320mg a day for women and 400-420mg for men, but argues that figure is a floor — set at the minimum needed to prevent deficiency disease, not the intake linked to the best outcomes. Athletes and pregnant women need more.

Biochemist (Ph.D.), founder of FoundMyFitness

Rhonda Patrick treats the magnesium RDA of 300-400mg a day as a floor rather than a target — her point is that it was set at the minimum needed to prevent deficiency disease, so hitting it leaves you "running at the bare minimum necessary to function." Around half of Americans fall below even that.

On the record (2)

Why she calls the RDA a floor

“that 300 to 400 milligrams per day threshold you are still only running at the bare minimum necessary to function”

Rhonda Patrick · Mar 2024 · watch @ 4:25 →

The threonate maths people skip

“human equivalent dose of 8.1 millgram per kilogram body weight so that would be around 662 mg for a 180 lb person”

Rhonda Patrick · Mar 2024 · watch @ 16:17 →

What Rhonda actually says

• Her framing is that the RDA is the wrong benchmark. It was derived from the least amount that prevents severe deficiency, not the amount associated with the best outcomes.
• The numbers she works from are 310-320mg a day for women, rising to about 360mg in pregnancy, and 400-420mg for men, with athletes needing more.
• She is unusually direct that magnesium threonate is oversold for general use. The cognitive data comes from animal work at a human-equivalent dose far above what threonate pills deliver.
• She links low magnesium to DNA damage and migraine, which is why she treats intake as a long-run risk factor rather than a supplement-shelf preference.

Where the other four land

3 of the other 4 experts also take a positive position on Magnesium.

Andrew Huberman Recommends

Peter Attia Recommends for Bone Health

Bryan Johnson Not Explicitly Featured

Mark Hyman Strongly Recommends as Foundational

Common Questions

How much magnesium does Rhonda Patrick recommend?

She works from the RDA of 310-320mg a day for women and 400-420mg for men, but argues that figure is a floor — set at the minimum needed to prevent deficiency disease, not the intake linked to the best outcomes. Athletes and pregnant women need more.

Does Rhonda Patrick recommend magnesium threonate?

She is sceptical of it for general use. The cognitive findings come from animal studies at a human-equivalent dose of 8.1mg per kilogram — roughly 662mg for a 180lb person — which is well above what a typical threonate capsule provides.

Why does she think magnesium deficiency matters?

She connects low magnesium to DNA damage and to migraine, and points out that average US intake sits below the RDA — around 230mg a day for women and 320mg for men.

See Rhonda Patrick's full supplement stack.