Magnesium Glycinate vs Magnesium Citrate – Which is Healthier?

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Our Verdict

When comparing magnesium glycinate to magnesium citrate, we picked the citrate.

Why?

Both are fine sources of magnesium, a nutrient in which it’s very common to be deficient—a lot of people don’t eat many leafy greens, beans, nuts, and so forth that contain it.

A quick word on a third contender we didn’t include here: magnesium oxide is probably the most widely-sold magnesium supplement because it’s cheapest to make. It also has woeful bioavailability, to the point that there seems to be negligible benefit to taking it. So we don’t recommend that.

Magnesium glycinate and magnesium citrate are both absorbed well, but magnesium citrate is the most well-absorbed form of magnesium supplement.

In terms of the relative merits of the glycine or the citric acid (the “other part” of magnesium glycinate and magnesium citrate, respectively), both are also great nutrients, but the amount delivered with the magnesium is quite small in each case, and so there’s nothing here to swing it one way or the other.

For this reason, we went with the magnesium citrate, as the most readily bioavailable!

Want to try them out?

Here they are on Amazon:

Magnesium glycinate | Magnesium citrate

Enjoy!

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  • Infections, Heart Failure, & More

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Some health news to round off the week:

    The Infection That Leads To Heart Failure

    It’s long been held that, for example, flossing reduces heart disease risk, with the hypothesis being that if plaque bacteria enter the blood stream, well, that’s an even worse place for plaque bacteria to be. Now, with much more data, attention has turned to

    1. actual infections, and
    2. actual heart failure

    Way to up the ante! And, it holds true regardless of what kind of infection. So, you might think that a UTI, for example, is surely “downstream” and should not affect the heart, but it does. Because of this, researchers currently believe that it is not the infection itself, so much as the body’s inflammation response to infection, that leads to the heart failure. Which is reasonable, because, for example, atherosclerosis is made mostly not of cholesterol itself, but rather mostly of dead immune cells that got stuck in the cholesterol.

    Moreover, it’s not so much about the acute inflammatory response (which is almost always a good thing, circumstantially), but rather that after cases where an infection managed to take hold, the immune system can then often stay on high alert for many years alter. Long COVID is an obvious recent example of this, but it’s hardly a new phenomenon; see for example post-polio syndrome, and consider how many more such post-infection maladies are likely to exist that never got a name because they flew under the radar or got diagnosed as fibromyalgia or something (fibromyalgia is a common diagnosis doctors give when they acknowledge something’s wrong, and it causes pain and exhaustion, but they don’t know what, and it appears to be stable—so while it can be helpful to put a name to the collection of symptoms, it’s a non-diagnosis diagnosis on the doctors’ part. It’s saying “I diagnose you with hurty tiredness”).

    The take-away from all this? Avoid infections, for your heart’s sake, and if you do get an infection, take it seriously even if it’s minor. The safe amount of infection is “no infection”.

    Read in full: Study uncovers new link between infections and heart failure

    Related: What’s the difference between a heart attack and cardiac arrest? One’s about plumbing, the other wiring

    Cold Water Immersion: Hot Or Not?

    The evidence is clear for some benefits; for others, not so much:

    • It’s great (if you’re already in fair health, and definitely not if you have a heart condition) to improve circulation and stress response
    • There may be some benefits to immune function, but however reasonable the hypothesis, actual evidence is thin on the ground
    • The oft-hyped mood benefits are a) marginal b) short-lived, with benefits fading after 3 months of regular cold baths/showers/etc

    Read in full: The big chill: Is cold-water immersion good for our health?

    Related: Ice Baths: To Dip Or Not To Dip?

    The Unspoken Trials Of Going To The Gym (While Being A Woman)

    Public health decision-makers often think that getting people to go to the gym more is a matter of public information, or perhaps branding. Some who have their thinking heads on might even realize that there may be economic factors for many. But for women, there’s an additional factor—or rather, an additionally prominent factor. The study we’ll link started with this observation (please read it in the voice of your favorite nature documentary narrator):

    ❝Despite an increase in gym memberships, women are less active than men and little is known about the barriers women face when navigating gym spaces.❞

    What then, of these shy, elusive creatures that make up a mere 51% of the world’s population?

    A medium-sized (n=279) study of women, of whom 84% being current gym-goers, reported often feeling “judged for their appearance or performance, as well as having to fight for space in the gym and to be taken seriously, while navigating harassment and unsolicited comments from men”

    Even gym attire becomes an issue:

    ❝Aligning with previous literature, women often chose attire based on comfort and functionality. However, their choices were also influenced by comparisons with others or fear of judgement for wearing non-branded attire or looking too put together. Many women also chose gym attire to hide perceived problem areas or avoid appearance concerns, including visible sweat stains.❞

    …which main seem silly; you’re at the gym, of course you’re going to sweat, but if you’re the only one with visible sweat stains, then there can be social consequences (bad ones).

    Similarly, there’s a “damned if you do; damned if you don’t” when it comes to working out while fat—on the one hand, society conflates fatness with laziness; on the other, it can be extra intimidating to be the only fat person in a gym full of people who look like they’re going to audition for a superhero movie.

    ❝In the gym, just like in other areas of life, women often feel stuck between being seen as ‘too much’ and ‘not enough’, dealing with judgement about how they look, how they perform, and even how much space they take up. Even though the pressure to be super thin is decreasing, the growing focus on being muscular and athletic is creating new challenges. It is pushing unrealistic standards that can negatively affect women’s body image and overall well-being.❞

    Writer’s note: I live a few minutes walk from my nearest gym, and I work out at home instead. This way, if I want to do yoga in my pajamas, I can. If I want to use my treadmill naked and watch my T+A bounce in the mirror, I can. If I want to lift weights in the dress I happened to be wearing, I can. Alas that I can’t swim at home!

    Read in full: Women face multiple barriers while exercising in gyms

    Related: Body Image Dissatisfaction/Appreciation Across The Ages

    Take care!

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  • Real Self-Care – by Pooja Lakshmin MD

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    As the subtitle says, “crystals, cleanses, and bubble baths not included”. So, if it’s not about that sort of self-care, what is it about?

    Dr. Lakshmin starts by acknowledging something that many self-help books don’t:

    We can do everything correctly and still lose. Not only that, but for many of us, that is the probable outcome. Not because of any fault or weakness of ours, but simply because one way or another the game is rigged against us from the start.

    So, should we throw in the towel, throw our hands in the air, and throw the book out of the window?

    Nope! Dr. Lakshmin has actually helpful advice, that pertains to:

    • creating healthy boundaries and challenging guilt
    • treating oneself with compassion
    • identifying and aligning oneself with one’s personal values
    • asserting one’s personal power to fight for one’s own self-interest

    If you’re reading this and thinking “that seems very selfish”, then let’s remember the “challenging guilt” part of that. We’ve all-too-often been conditioned to neglect our own needs and self-sacrifice for others.

    And, while selfless service really does have its place, needlessly self-destructive martyrdom does not!

    Bottom line: this book delivers a lot of “real talk” on a subject that otherwise often gets removed from reality rather. In short, it’s a great primer for finding the right place to draw the line between being a good-hearted person and being a doormat.

    Click here to check out Real Self-Care and “put your own oxygen mask on first”!

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  • CBD Oil’s Many Benefits

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    CBD Oil: What Does The Science Say?

    CBD and THC are both derived from the hemp or cannabis plant, but only the latter has euphoriant psychoactive effects, i.e., will get you high. We’re writing here about CBD derived from hemp and not containing THC (thus, will not get you high).

    Laws and regulations differ far too much from place to place for us to try to advise here, so please check your own local laws and regulations. And also, while you’re at it, with your doctor and/or pharmacist.

    As ever, this newsletter is for purposes of education and enjoyment, and does not constitute any kind of legal (or medical) advice.

    With that in mind, onwards to today’s research review…

    CBD for Pain Relief

    CBD has been popularly touted as a pain relief panacea, and there are a lot of pop-science articles out there “debunking” this, but…

    The science seems to back it up. We couldn’t find studies refuting the claim (of CBD as a viable pain relief option). We did, however, find research showing it was good against:

    Note that that latter (itself a research review, not a single study, hence covering a lot of bases) describes it matter-of-factly, with no caveats or weasel-words, as:

    “CBD, a non-euphoriant, anti-inflammatory analgesic with CB1 receptor antagonist and endocannabinoid modulating effects”

    As a quick note: all of the above is about the topical use of CBD oil, not any kind of ingestion

    CBD for Anxiety/Depression

    There’s a well-cited study with what honestly we think was a bit of a small sample size, but compelling results within that:

    A study published in the Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry tested the anxiety levels of 57 men in a simulated public speaking test.

    Compared to placebo…

    • Those who received 300mg of CBD experienced significantly reduced anxiety during the test.
    • Those who received either 150mg or 600mg of CBD experienced more anxiety during the test than the 300mg group
    • This means there’s a sweet spot to the dosage

    There was also a clinical study that found CBD to have anti-depressant effects.

    The methodology was a lot more robust, but the subjects were mice. We can’t have everything in one study, apparently! There is probably a paucity of human volunteers to have their brain slices looked at after tests, though.

    Anyway, what makes this study interesting is that it measured quite an assortment of biological markers in the brain, and found that the CBD had a similar physiological effect to the antidepressant imipramine.

    CBD for Treating Opioid Addiction

    There are a lot of studies for this, both animal and human, but we’d like to put the spotlight on a human study (with the participation of heroin users) that found:

    ❝Within one week, CBD significantly reduced cravings, anxiety, resting heart rate, and salivary cortisol levels. No serious adverse effects were found.❞

    This is groundbreaking because the very thing about heroin is that it’s so addictive and the body rapidly needs more and more of it. You might think “duh”, but most people don’t realize this part:

    Heroin is attractive because it offers (and delivers) an immediate guaranteed “downer”, instant relaxation… with none of the bad side effects of, for example, alcohol. No nausea, no hangover, nothing.

    The problem is that the body gets tolerant to heroin very quickly, meaning your doses need to get bigger and more frequent to have the same effect.

    Before you know it, what seemed like an affordable “self-medication for a stressful life” is very much out of control! Many doctors have personally found this out the hard way.

    So, it’s ruinous:

    • first to your financial health, as the costs rapidly spiral
    • then to your physical health, as you either suffer from withdrawal or eventually overdose

    Consequently, heroin is an incredibly easy drug to get hooked onto, and incredibly difficult to get back off.

    So CBD offering relief is really a game-changer.

    Read it for yourself here!

    And more…

    CBD has been well-studied and found to be effective for a lot of things, more than we could hope to cover in a single edition here.

    Some further reading that may interest you includes:

    Let us know if there’s any of these (or other) conditions you’d like us to look more into the CBD-related research for, because there’s a lot! You can always hit reply to any of our emails, or use the feedback widget at the bottom

    Read (and shop, if you want and it’s permitted where you are):

    10 Best CBD Oils of 2023, According to the Forbes Health Advisory Board

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  • Two Awesome Hours – by Dr. Josh Davis

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    The brain is an amazing and powerful organ, with theoretically unlimited potential in some respects. So why doesn’t it feel that way a lot of the time?

    The truth is that not only are we often tired, dehydrated, or facing other obvious physiological challenges to peak brain health, but also… We’re simply not making the best use of it!

    What Dr. Davis does is outline for us how we can create the conditions for “two awesome hours” of effective mental performance by:

    • Recognizing when to most effectively flip the switch on our automatic thinking
    • Scheduling tasks based on their “processing demand” and recovery time
    • Learning how to direct attention, rather than avoid distractions
    • Feeding and moving our bodies in ways that prep us for success
    • Identifying what matters in our environment to be at the top of our mental game

    Why only two hours? Why not four, or eight, or more?

    Well, our brains need recovery time too, so we can’t be “always on” and operating and peak efficiency. But, what we can do is optimize a couple of hours for absolute peak efficiency, and then enjoy the rest of time with lower cognitive-load activities.

    Bottom line: if the idea of what you could accomplish if you could just be guaranteed two schedulable hours (your preference when!) of peak cognitive performance per day, then this is a great book for you.

    Get your copy of “Two Awesome Hours” from Amazon today!

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  • The Teenage Brain – by Dr. Frances Jensen

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    We realize that we probably have more grandparents of teenagers than parents of teenagers here, but most of us have at least some teenage relative(s). Which makes this book interesting.

    There are a lot of myths about the teenage brain, and a lot of popular assumptions that usually have some basis in fact but are often misleading.

    Dr. Jensen gives us a strong foundational grounding in the neurophysiology of adolescence, from the obvious-but-often-unclear (such as the role of hormones) to less-known things like the teenage brain’s general lack of myelination. Not just “heightened neuroplasticity” but, if you imagine the brain as an electrical machine, then think of myelin as the insulation between the wires. Little wonder some wires may get crossed sometimes!

    She also talks about such things as the teenage circadian rhythm’s innate differences, the impact of success and failure on the brain, and harder topics such as addiction—and the adolescent cortisol functions that can lead to teenagers needing to seek something to relax in the first place.

    In criticism, we can only say that sometimes the author makes sweeping generalizations without acknowledging such, but that doesn’t detract from what she has to say on the topic of neurophysiology.

    Bottom line: if there’s a teenager in your life whose behavior and/or moods are sometimes baffling to you, and whose mysteries you’d like to unravel, this is a great book.

    Click here to check out the Teenage Brain, and better understand those around you!

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  • SMOL Bowl With Sautéed Greens

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Whole grains are good, and gluten is bad for some people. Today’s dish has four whole grains, and no gluten (assuming no cross-contamination, so look for the gluten-free label if that’s important to you). Breafast? Brunch? Lunch? Supper, even? This is good at any time of day, packed with nutrients and full of flavor!

    You will need (per person)

    • 1 cup mixed cooked grains of equal parts sorghum, millet, oats, lentils (SMOL)—these can be cooked in bulk in advance and frozen in portions, as it’s often good to used mixed grains, and these four are a great combination for many purposes.
    • ½ cup low sodium vegetable stock (ideally you made this yourself from vegetable offcuts you kept in the freezer until you had enough for this purpose, but failing that, low-sodium stock cubes can be bought at most large supermarkets).
    • ½ cup finely chopped red onion
    • 6 oz cavolo nero, finely chopped
    • 1 small carrot, finely chopped
    • 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
    • 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
    • 1 tsp black pepper, coarse ground
    • 1 tsp white miso paste
    • To serve: 1 lemon wedge

    Method

    (we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)

    1) Add the stock to a sauté pan over a medium heat, and add the onion, garlic, and carrot. Stir frequently for about 7 minutes.

    2) Add the cavolo nero and miso paste, stirring for another 4 minutes. If there is any liquid remaining, drain it off now.

    3) Warm the SMOL mixture (microwave is fine) and spoon it into a bowl, topping with the nutritional yeast and black pepper. Finally, add the hot cavolo nero mixture.

    4) Serve with the lemon wedge on the side, to add a dash of lemon at will.

    Enjoy!

    Want to learn more?

    For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:

    Take care!

    Don’t Forget…

    Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

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