Ghost Fitness/Magnesium/Magnesium glycinate 300mg holland and barrett review: is it worth it for lifters?
Magnesium glycinate 300mg holland and barrett review: is it worth it for lifters?
The short answer
Price a chain's own-brand glycinate at the promotion, then check the tub still passes: pence per day at the offer price, the compound headline decoded to elemental via %NRV, and the one-a-day count.
- The promotionbuy-one-get-one and three-for-two change pence per day; run the arithmetic at the offer price
- The headline300mg is decoded to elemental via the %NRV: 80% or about 16%
- The countone-a-day directions on a glycinate often mean a small elemental dose
- The passform, elemental dose and lawful claims must survive whatever the price
Our brand: the worked example on this page
Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate
- 22p a day
- 180 capsules, 2 capsules daily
- Lab tested
- Made in the UK
The benchmark at its everyday price: Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate on Amazon UK, 300mg elemental at 80% NRV over 2 capsules, £19.99 for 90 days at 22p, no promotion required. Full label breakdown. The 300mg-of-what teach is on the pharmacy glycinate template; the cost formula on the cost guide.
The promotion arithmetic, because a chain's own-brand is bought on offer and priced on offer
A health-food chain's own-brand magnesium glycinate 300mg is bought, more often than not, on a promotion, buy-one-get-one, three-for-two, a percentage off the own-brand range, and the review therefore starts with arithmetic the cost-per-day guide's formula handles once the offer is included: the price actually paid divided by the servings actually received. A three-for-two on a 90-capsule tub at £12 is £24 for 270 capsules, which at one capsule a day is 270 days and 9p a day and at two a day is 135 days and 18p; a buy-one-get-one at the same price is £12 for 180, 7p at one a day and 13p at two; and the everyday price, £12 for 90, is 13p at one and 27p at two, so the same tub is a bargain or dear depending on the offer and the direction, and the honest comparison runs at the price paid for the doses taken. The offer's other effect is stock: three tubs of a 90-count bought at once is nine months of a one-a-day habit, or four and a half of a two-a-day, and the best-before is read against that, the expiry guide's point that a mineral will not have changed but a bottle unopened for a year has been stored somewhere for a year.
Decoding the headline and the count, the pass the tub must still make, and the verdict at any price
Once the price is right the tub must still pass, and the two decodes that follow are the ones own-brand glycinates most often fail. The headline: 300mg on the front is decoded to elemental via the %NRV on the back, 80% meaning 300mg of elemental magnesium over the two or three capsules a true bisglycinate needs, and around 16% meaning 300mg of the compound, roughly 60mg of elemental magnesium in one capsule, the pharmacy glycinate template's five-times difference, so that the 9p-a-day bargain above may be delivering 60mg elemental and the two-a-day 18p delivering 120mg, against the benchmark's 300mg at 22p, the pence per elemental milligram being the referee and the promotion often losing on it. The count: a one-a-day direction on a glycinate is a tell in itself, since a single capsule of true bisglycinate holds around 100mg of elemental magnesium at most and a one-a-day product declaring more has either used the compound convention on the front or buffered with oxide in the list, the budget glycinate template's trap, so the ingredients list is read for magnesium oxide beside the bisglycinate before the offer is taken. The pass the tub must make is the same at any price: bisglycinate alone in the list, an elemental dose read from the %NRV that a lifter would actually take, claims that stay on the register, a UK address and a certificate on request from the chain's customer service, and a form the gut tolerates nightly. The verdict the reader writes: an own-brand glycinate that passes the decodes is worth it on promotion and reasonable at everyday price, a genuine 300mg elemental over two or three capsules at 18p on offer beating the benchmark on pence, while a tub whose headline decodes to 60mg elemental is not a bargain at any offer, a cheap token dose being a token dose. The benchmark at its everyday price, stated as always: Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate, 300mg elemental at 80% NRV over two capsules, batch tested, £19.99 for 90 days at 22p a day, priced without an offer and compared at one.
| The item | The check | The trap |
|---|---|---|
| The promotion | Price paid over servings received, at the label's direction | A per-tub price that ignores the offer, or an offer that ignores the direction |
| The headline | 300mg decoded via %NRV: 80% elemental or ~16% compound | 60mg elemental sold as 300 |
| The count | One-a-day on a glycinate: around 100mg elemental at most | A high one-capsule figure means compound or oxide |
| The list | Bisglycinate alone | Oxide beside it: buffered |
| The pass | Form, elemental dose, lawful claims, address, certificate | The same at any price |
| The verdict | A genuine 300mg elemental on offer beats 22p | A token dose is a token dose at 9p |
The verdict, priced on offer and passed on the label
Is a health-food chain's own-brand magnesium glycinate 300mg worth it for lifters: priced at the promotion actually taken, the price paid over the servings received at the label's direction, and then decoded, the 300mg headline read via the %NRV as elemental at 80% or compound at about 16%, the one-a-day count read as a tell for a small dose or a buffered blend, and the tub passed on form, elemental dose, lawful claims, address and certificate at any price, a genuine 300mg elemental on offer beating the benchmark and a token dose being a token dose however cheap. The benchmark at its everyday price: Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate, 300mg elemental at 80% NRV over two capsules, batch tested, £19.99 for 90 days at 22p a day.
What to check on the label
- Price at the offer: paid over received, at the direction.
- Decode the headline: %NRV of 80% or 16%.
- Read the count as a tell: one-a-day glycinate is small or buffered.
- Pass the tub regardless of price: form, dose, claims, address, certificate.
- Read the best-before against the stock bought: three tubs is nine months.
Our brand
The worked example: Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate
Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate is the worked example for magnesium reviews because its label states every number a review needs: 1500mg magnesium bisglycinate at 20%, 300mg elemental, 80% NRV, 2 capsules a day, 180 capsules for £19.99, 22p a day, UK made, vegan HPMC shell, batch tested for lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium, and only the register's own magnesium claims printed.
- Elemental magnesium per serving
- 300mg (80% NRV)
- Form
- magnesium bisglycinate 20%
- Serving
- 2 capsules a day
- Bottle
- 180 capsules, 90 days
- Price
- £19.99 (22p a day)
- Capsule
- vegetarian shell, vegan product
Questions people also ask
How do I work out the real price of a supplement on a three-for-two?
Price paid divided by servings received at the label's direction: three 90-capsule tubs for the price of two at £12 is £24 for 270 capsules, 9p a day at one a day and 18p at two.
Is an own-brand magnesium glycinate 300mg a full dose?
Only if the %NRV reads 80%, meaning 300mg of elemental magnesium over two or three capsules; around 16% means 300mg of the compound, about 60mg elemental in one capsule, a token dose whatever the offer.
Why is a one-a-day glycinate suspicious?
A single capsule of true bisglycinate holds around 100mg of elemental magnesium at most, so a one-a-day product declaring more has used the compound weight on the front or buffered with oxide in the ingredients list.
Does buying several tubs on offer cause a problem?
Only for the best-before: a mineral will not have changed, but three tubs of a one-a-day habit is nine months of stock to store cool and dry, and the date is read against that.
Can an own-brand glycinate beat the benchmark?
Yes, on pence: a genuine 300mg elemental over two or three capsules at 18p on offer undercuts 22p, provided the list is bisglycinate alone, the claims stay lawful and the chain can produce a certificate on request.
Sources
- Retained Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex XIII: nutrient reference value for magnesium 375mg. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2011/1169/annex/XIII
- Firoz M, Graber M. Bioavailability of US commercial magnesium preparations. Magnesium Research 2001;14(4):257-262. PubMed record
- The GB claims register, magnesium entries: magnesium contributes to a reduction of tiredness and fatigue, normal psychological function, normal nervous system function, normal muscle function and electrolyte balance, among others. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/great-britain-nutrition-and-health-claims-nhc-register
- 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