What does magnesium as magnesium glycinate mean?

The as-convention decoded, because the bracket is the whole meaning

What magnesium as magnesium glycinate means on a label is a question about a bracket, and the bracket is the whole meaning. The phrasing magnesium (as magnesium glycinate) 300mg, or magnesium 300mg (as bisglycinate), is the as-convention, the way most supplement nutrient tables declare a mineral: the figure belongs to the word before the bracket, magnesium, and means 300mg of elemental magnesium, the mineral itself, the number the %NRV is calculated from and the number every guidance level is written in, while the words inside the bracket name the vehicle, the salt or chelate that delivered the mineral, here magnesium glycinate, chosen for absorption and tolerance and not counted in the figure. So magnesium (as magnesium glycinate) 300mg is a full lifter's dose, 80% of the 375mg nutrient reference value, delivered by roughly 1500mg of the bisglycinate compound at the commercial 20% figure, over two or three capsules, the worked example's specification in the as-convention's words. The phrasing differs from magnesium glycinate 300mg with no bracket and no as, which is a compound weight, 300mg of the salt, delivering about 60mg of elemental magnesium at 20%, roughly 16% NRV, a token dose in a good form, the 300mg-of-what teach's five-times difference, so that the presence or absence of the word as and the bracket changes the dose by a factor of five and a reader who reads the label's phrasing carefully has read the dose.

The three ways labels phrase the same capsule, the check that confirms which, and the convention filed

Three phrasings describe the same capsule, and reading them side by side fixes the convention. The as-convention: magnesium (as magnesium glycinate) 300mg, elemental first, vehicle in the bracket, the commonest on compliant UK labels and the one the nutrient table's per-dose column uses. The compound convention: magnesium glycinate 1500mg, the salt's weight, honest but incomplete, since the reader must know the salt's magnesium content to reach the dose, and misleading when a front label prints it beside a competitor's elemental figure. The fullest phrasing: magnesium bisglycinate 1500mg providing magnesium 300mg, or 1500mg magnesium bisglycinate of which magnesium 300mg, both figures printed so that the reader sees the vehicle's weight and the mineral's, the phrasing this section prefers and the worked example prints, and the one that leaves no arithmetic to do. The check that confirms which convention a label uses is the %NRV beside the figure: 80% beside 300mg confirms elemental, since 300 over 375 is 80%, and about 16% beside 300mg confirms compound, since 60 over 375 is 16%, the conversion pages' settling line. The variations a reader meets: as magnesium bisglycinate, as bisglycinate, as glycinate and as magnesium glycinate chelate all name the same vehicle, bisglycinate being the correct chemical name for magnesium bound to two glycine molecules and glycinate the common shortening; as magnesium bisglycinate and magnesium oxide names a buffered blend, the budget glycinate page's trap, where the bracket lists two vehicles and the oxide supplies much of the elemental figure. The convention filed: magnesium as magnesium glycinate means the figure is elemental magnesium and the bracket is the vehicle, a compound-only phrasing means the figure is the salt's weight, the fullest phrasing prints both, and the %NRV confirms which, the worked example being the fullest phrasing in full, 1500mg bisglycinate giving 300mg elemental at 80% NRV, £19.99 for 90 days at 22p.

The verdict, a bracket that names the vehicle and a figure that is the mineral

What does magnesium as magnesium glycinate mean: the as-convention, the figure before the bracket being elemental magnesium, the mineral itself and the number the %NRV and every guidance level use, and the words inside the bracket naming the vehicle, the glycinate salt that delivered it, so that magnesium (as magnesium glycinate) 300mg is a full 300mg elemental dose at 80% NRV over two or three capsules, unlike magnesium glycinate 300mg with no bracket, which is a compound weight at about 60mg of magnesium, the %NRV beside the figure confirming which convention a label uses. The fullest phrasing with both figures printed: Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate, 1500mg bisglycinate giving 300mg elemental at 80% NRV, £19.99 for 90 days at 22p a day.

What to check on the label

Questions people also ask

What does as magnesium glycinate mean on a supplement label?

That the glycinate salt is the vehicle delivering the magnesium, with the figure before the bracket being elemental magnesium: magnesium (as magnesium glycinate) 300mg is 300mg of the mineral, delivered by roughly 1500mg of bisglycinate.

Is magnesium as magnesium glycinate 300mg the same as magnesium glycinate 300mg?

No: the first is 300mg of elemental magnesium at 80% NRV, and the second, with no as and no bracket, is 300mg of the compound at about 60mg of magnesium, roughly 16% NRV, a five-times difference the %NRV line reveals.

Why do labels use the as-convention?

Because the mineral is what the body absorbs and what the reference values are written for, so compliant nutrient tables declare the elemental figure per daily dose and name the salt in a bracket as the vehicle chosen for absorption and tolerance.

Are bisglycinate, glycinate and glycinate chelate different things?

The same vehicle under three names: bisglycinate is the correct chemical name for magnesium bound to two glycine molecules, glycinate the common shortening and chelate a description of the bond, with none changing the elemental figure.

What if the bracket says as bisglycinate and magnesium oxide?

A buffered blend: the bracket lists two vehicles and the oxide, at about 60% magnesium, supplies much of the elemental figure, so the ingredients list is read and the product is judged as the budget glycinate page describes.

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. 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
3. The Food Supplements (England) Regulations 2003 (food supplements are regulated as foods in the UK). https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2003/1387/contents/made
4. Firoz M, Graber M. Bioavailability of US commercial magnesium preparations. Magnesium Research 2001;14(4):257-262. PubMed record

Related answers

• What does magnesium glycinate cost per day in the UK?
• Is elemental magnesium the same as magnesium glycinate?
• What does elemental magnesium mean in supplements?
• Is magnesium 500 mg the same as magnesium glycinate?
• What does magnesium bisglycinate 20% mean on a label?
• Does magnesium glycinate contain zinc or vitamin B6?