Magnesium Citrate

What Is Magnesium Citrate?

Magnesium bound to citric acid, the six-carbon acid that makes a lemon sour. There is 400 mg of elemental magnesium per serving, drawn from 2,667 mg of magnesium citrate, and a serving is three veg capsules. Most of that weight is the citrate, not the mineral.

How It Works in the Body

Citrate is a small, water-loving anion, so the salt breaks up readily in the gut. In solution the two parts go their separate ways. The magnesium ion pairs with ATP, and enzymes that spend ATP handle the magnesium-ATP pair rather than bare ATP. The citrate is the opening intermediate of the citric acid cycle, the loop cells run to pull energy out of food. Magnesium the intestine leaves behind draws water into the lower intestine by osmosis.

What It Supports

• Enzyme work: Magnesium acts as a cofactor in hundreds of reactions, including every one that spends ATP.
• Muscle and nerve signaling: Magnesium gates the calcium movement behind each contraction and supports normal muscle function.
• Regularity: Citrate salts hold water in the gut, which supports regularity.
• Bone mineral: More than half the body's magnesium sits in bone, where it supports the crystal structure.

Who It May Suit

People whose meals are light on leafy greens, nuts, seeds, beans and whole grains, the foods magnesium concentrates in. The capsule is hypromellose, a plant cellulose, so it fits a vegetarian or vegan diet. It also suits anyone who prefers a soluble citrus-acid salt.

Good To Know

Citrate is heavy, so the elemental figure is the one that tracks the mineral itself. Magnesium salts pull water into the gut, and a large serving can loosen stools. Talk with your provider before use if you have kidney disease, since the kidneys clear magnesium, or if you take a thyroid medicine or an antibiotic that magnesium can bind.