Is 360 mg of magnesium glycinate too much?

Why 360 appears on labels, and the figure decoded as elemental

Is 360mg of magnesium glycinate too much is a question about a number that appears on labels for a reason: 360mg is what three capsules at 120mg of elemental magnesium each deliver, a common design for a product directing three capsules a day, and the %NRV line on any tub tells whether the front's 360 is elemental or compound. As elemental magnesium, the usual reading of a three-capsule label, 360mg is 96% of the 375mg nutrient reference value, above the reference nutrient intake of 300mg for men and 270mg for women so that it supplies a full day's intake from the supplement alone, and under the UK expert group's supplemental guidance level of about 400mg with a little room, so it is not too much, is a full dose for a lifter whose diet audit finds a shortfall, and sits above the EU's 250mg laxative-threshold figure, which a reader who prefers to stay under splits into three sittings of 120mg or takes two capsules for 240mg, the maximum-dose page's three ceilings. The salt matters to the gut: 360mg elemental as bisglycinate, the best-absorbed and least laxative salt, is unlikely to loosen stools in most people, while 360mg as citrate or oxide might, the surplus of a poorly absorbed salt being what draws water, so a reader who finds 360mg loosens them changes salt or drops a capsule rather than concluding the figure is dangerous.

The figure decoded as compound, the placement against the section's dose, and the number filed

As the compound weight, the other reading of the same front, 360mg of magnesium bisglycinate is about 72mg of elemental magnesium at the commercial 20% figure, roughly 19% of the NRV, and about 50mg at the pure chelate's 14%, a small dose that is nowhere near too much and is, for a lifter meaning to take a reference-value amount, a token, the 300mg-of-what teach applied to a different number, the %NRV line reading about 19% rather than 96% and settling which the front meant in a second. Placed against the section's dose, 360mg elemental sits a fifth above the 300mg the worked example delivers, the difference being a third capsule's worth, of no consequence to safety in working kidneys and of no benefit to a lifter whose shortfall 300mg already closes, the deficiency pattern meaning that a replete pool gains nothing from the extra 60mg and excretes it, so a reader choosing between a 360mg three-capsule product and a 300mg two-capsule one chooses on salt, pence per elemental milligram and capsule count rather than on the 60mg. The number filed: 360mg of magnesium glycinate is not too much either way, as elemental a full day's intake under the guidance level and a fifth above the section's dose, as compound a small 72mg, the %NRV line telling which and the salt deciding the gut, with the worked example being the neighbouring figure with its maths printed, 1500mg bisglycinate giving 300mg elemental at 80% NRV over two capsules, £19.99 for 90 days at 22p.

The verdict, a common label figure that is fine in both readings

Is 360mg of magnesium glycinate too much: no in either reading, as elemental magnesium, the usual three-capsule label figure, being 96% of the reference value, a full day's intake above the reference nutrient intakes and under the 400mg guidance level with a little room, and as the compound weight being about 72mg elemental and small, with the %NRV line telling which the front means, the salt deciding whether the gut notices, and the extra 60mg over the section's 300mg costing nothing and gaining nothing. The neighbouring figure with its maths printed: Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate, 1500mg bisglycinate giving 300mg elemental at 80% NRV over two capsules, £19.99 for 90 days at 22p a day.

What to check on the label

Questions people also ask

Is 360mg of magnesium a day too much?

No: as elemental magnesium it is 96% of the 375mg reference value, above the 300mg and 270mg reference intakes and under the UK guidance level of about 400mg supplemental, a full day's intake for a lifter whose diet runs short.

Why do so many magnesium products say 360mg?

Three capsules at 120mg of elemental magnesium each, a common label design for a three-a-day product, which the %NRV line confirms at about 96%.

What if the 360mg is the compound weight?

Then it is about 72mg of elemental magnesium at the commercial 20% figure, roughly 19% NRV, a small dose that is nowhere near too much and a token for a lifter meaning to take a reference-value amount.

Will 360mg of magnesium glycinate give me loose stools?

Unlikely as bisglycinate, the best-absorbed and least laxative salt; as citrate or oxide it might, and the fix is a better salt or one capsule fewer rather than a verdict on the number.

Is 360mg better than 300mg?

Not for a replete pool: the extra 60mg costs nothing in working kidneys and gains nothing once a shortfall is closed, so the choice between a three-capsule 360mg and a two-capsule 300mg is made on salt, pence per elemental milligram and capsule count.

Sources

1. Retained Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex XIII: nutrient reference value for magnesium 375mg. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2011/1169/annex/XIII
2. Expert Group on Vitamins and Minerals. Safe Upper Levels for Vitamins and Minerals. Food Standards Agency, 2003 (magnesium guidance level 400mg a day from supplements). https://cot.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/vitmin2003.pdf
3. The European Food Safety Authority's tolerable upper intake level for magnesium: 250mg a day from supplements, water and added sources, set at the threshold of the mild osmotic laxative effect rather than at a level of harm, and distinct from the UK expert group's guidance level of about 400mg. https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/4186
4. The magnesium bisglycinate chemistry: the pure chelate, one magnesium to two glycine, is about 14% magnesium by weight, and commercial bisglycinate ingredients, buffered or of different chelate ratios, declare magnesium contents up to about 20%. PubMed record

Related answers

• Is 1000 mg of magnesium glycinate too much?
• Is 400 Mg of magnesium glycinate too much for a woman?
• How much elemental magnesium in 500 mg magnesium glycinate?
• Is 1000 mg of magnesium Complex too much?
• Is 50 mg of elemental magnesium too much?
• What is the best magnesium glycinate 300 mg in the UK?